Callahan, Sophia Alice (1868–1894)

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Callahan, Sophia Alice (1868–1894)

Creek novelist. Born 1868 near Sulphur Springs, Texas, of Creek descent; died of pleurisy, Jan 7, 1894, age 26, in Muskogee, Oklahoma; dau. of Samuel Benton Callahan (captain in Confederate Army, of Creek descent) and Sara Elizabeth (Thornberg) Callahan; attended Wesleyan Female Institute in Staunton, VA (1887–88).

Taught at Harrell International Institute and Wealaka School; wrote Wynema, A Child of the Forest (1891), one of the earliest novels by a Native American woman, which focuses on Creek culture and women's rights, and defends the Sioux role in events at Wounded Knee (1890).

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