My husband Eric’s great-great grandmother was Arapaho, adopted by his Caucasian great-great-great grandparents. There was a history at the time of children being removed from the reservations for schooling or adoption that was not always with the blessing of the birth parents. We know nothing about her before she joined their family. In fact, my husband has done DNA testing hoping to discover Arapaho relations by shared DNA. That missing chunk of her past and the possible reasons for it gnaws at her family.
Eric’s maternal grandmother migrated from Hungary to the United States alone at the age of eighteen. What courage! She self-described her upbringing as Gypsy and did not return to Hungary before the death of her own parents. The family has often wondered whether she was moving to something or away from something. She always said it was because she wanted to be an American.
These women’s genes would later merge into a beautiful blend across generations. They intrigue and inspire me, as do my own forebears, among them many strong women. I hope at some point Delaney will discover a Hungarian ancestor. That would be fun to write, someday. But it is the adopted Arapaho girl who influenced my desire to write Her Forgotten Shadow.
My deepest thanks to both women. You would be very proud of the man who carries on your legacy as well as his wonderful (grown) children.
I wrote Her Forgotten Shadow write after the birth of my first granddaughter. I think as a result I was really dialed in to how hard it is to “grow up girl” and to my instinct to protect all girls. Combined with the long-term travesty of how much more dangerous it is to grow up Native girl in North America and Eric's Arapaho great grandmother, this book practically wrote itself. If this topic pulls at your heart, there are many great resources available online to read by searching on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. For a wonderful account of Native Americans in the modern West, I recommend the documentary White Buffalo: Voices of the West.
You can get a copy of Her Forgotten Shadow here: https://www.amazon.com/Her-Forgotten-Shadow-completely-unputdownable-ebook/dp/B0DCCB5WR9