An Indian Among Los Indígenas

A Native Travel Memoir

De: Ursula Pike

Narrado por: Diana Bustelo

A gripping, witty memoir about indigeneity, travel, and colonialism.

"Ursula Pike's memoir is unlike any other I've read, with her perceptive, always-seeking, and lovely narrative voice."—Susan Straight, author of Mecca

"This book is alive with a spirit that welcomed mine to meet it."—Elissa Washuta, author of White Magic

When she was twenty-five, Ursula Pike boarded a plane to Bolivia and began her term of service in the Peace Corps. A member of the Karuk Tribe, Pike sought to make meaningful connections with Indigenous people halfway around the world. But she arrived in La Paz with trepidation as well as excitement, 'knowing I followed in the footsteps of Western colonizers and missionaries who had also claimed they were there to help.' In the following two years, as a series of dramatic episodes brought that tension to boiling point, she began to ask: what does it mean to have experienced the effects of colonialism firsthand, and yet to risk becoming a colonizing force in turn?

An Indian Among los Indígenas, Pike’s memoir of this experience, upends a canon of travel memoirs that has historically been dominated by white writers. It is a sharp, honest, and unnerving examination of the shadows that colonial history casts over even the most well-intentioned attempts at cross-cultural aid. It is also the debut of an exceptionally astute writer with a mastery of deadpan wit. It signals a shift in travel writing that is long overdue.

©2021 Ursula Pike (P)2025 Dreamscape Media

Immature woman has affair...

...with a married man while working for the Peace Corps in Bolivia. Pretty pathetic. Was more interested in what the book was supposedly about. But she was right: poor ROI when it came to her.

I read two other Peace Corps memoirs after this (Out of Jordan--4 stars and Monique and the Mango Rains--5 stars) and it made me wonder why I even stuck with this one till the end.

If I compare "Monique" to this one, the difference is so stark. Ursula is 26 to 28 in this book and Kris Holloway is about 21. Kris seems like an adult (who meets the man who will become her husband but it is NOT the focus of the book--Monique and her work is) while Ursula seems like an immature teenager and we have to suffer through her doomed love affair, which takes up about half of the book.) Kris actually does a lot of good, Ursula accomplishes little. The relationship between Kris and Monique is rich and deep and as the reader you feel it because the writing is so good. Ursula has some friends, who are not well fleshed-out, and the writing is mediocre.

Going by the synopsis, THIS book was right up my alley. In reality, a book about a young woman and her Mali Midwife friend (NOT a subject I have any interest in on the surface) was one of my only 5 star books this year.

If you're looking for a memoir about Indians, read Julian Brave Noiscat's "We Survived the Night," which was excellent.