Feb 6, 2025
Through My Eyes: Olive Oatman’s Fight for Identity
By Ezra Kidowski Olive Oatman’s story has always fascinated me, but not in the way it was meant to. Her life, framed as a tale of tragedy, survival, and redemption, has always seemed like something else entirely — a story of control — something I can keenly relate to. A story of being shaped by others, of living between worlds and never quite belonging in either. A story of a woman whose…
#1857 portrait#19th-century portrait#American West#captivity narrative#DeGolyer Library#frontier history#historical figures#historical photography#identity and belonging#Indigenous culture#Mojave tattoos#Native American history#Olive Oatman#pioneer history#SMU digital collections#survival stories#tattoo history#Western Americana#women&039;s history#women&039;s resilience
