By Yvonne Gonzalez, Las Vegas Sun

A flower in one hand and a book in the other, Sarah Winnemucca’s sculpted presence in Washington, D.C., and Nevada pays tribute to a legacy that state lawmakers are looking to enhance.

Winnemucca is the first Native American woman to write a book, titled “Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims” and published in 1883. In it, she describes seeing Western settlement in the 1800s.

“I was a very small child when the first white people came into our country,” she wrote. “They came like a lion, yes, like a roaring lion, and have continued so ever since, and I have never forgotten their first coming. My people were scattered at that time over nearly all the territory now known as Nevada.”

In the 125 years since her death, Nevada has marked her legacy with statues of her in Carson City, Las Vegas and Washington. The most recent effort is a bill that seeks to designate Oct. 16 as the state’s Sarah Winnemucca Day.

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