Daughter of Warriors
In this captivating debut novel set in the early 1900s, Kimberly introduces us to Lucy, a young Osage living her nearly idyllic early years on the Osage Reservation in northeast Oklahoma. When the demands of colonization impose continual upheaval, Lucy’s life changes forever. And keeps changing. Small pox and Indian Boarding School turn Lucy’s tranquil childhood into an existence bound by fear. The sudden wealth created by the discovery of oil on Osage land dramatically changes the once simple Osage way of life into a reality dictated by the Bureau of Indian affairs and gives rise to the notorious Osage murders that kill so many of Lucy’s family and friends. The horrors all around her eventually lead Lucy to move, with her white husband and their child, to Kansas City, where she steps into her husband’s life. Confronted by the mostly lawless operation of the reining Political Machine, the Mafia, Prohibition, bootlegging, the magic of Kansas City Jazz—and the continued racism that simply takes new forms—Lucy tries very hard to embrace her husband’s life and friends. But the fears that drove her to leave Oklahoma follow her to her new home, unwilling to let her go.
Reviews For Daughter of Warriors
Cordelia
Meet some of Lucy's special people
The child of a Negro mother and Chinese father, Cordelia was beautiful—and devoted to her family. Living in Tulsa, in the Greenwood District, she grew up watching her parents – and all the Negros in the district—flourish. They created a community jealously named, by the white residents of Tulsa, Negro Wall Street. When a young black male was accused of assaulting a young white female, no effort was made to determine truth. The white citizens of Tulsa attacked from land and sky, burning the Greenwood District to the ground. Cordelia and her mother watched as her father was gunned down. Cordelia’s mother made her run—without her. Many miles later, Cordelia crawled into a barn and gave herself to sleep. Awakened by a young Osage woman, and knowing her family was lost to her, she accepted this woman’s protection. Cordelia and Lucy became staunch friends.
Hawk
Hawk grew up among the Osage Hill People, with his Osage father and Choctaw mother, until he was torn from his family and sent to Indian Boarding School. Determined to live up to the bravery of his ancestors, Hawk escaped—but home was no longer home. His father died fighting in the white man’s great war in Europe and his mother had gone to her own people. The disease brought home by soldiers who survived World War I was called the Spanish Flu. It killed millions. It took Hawk’s mother and Cocktaw grandmother, leaving him with only one living relative, his Osage uncle. In time, his uncle insisted that he move in with Edward and Lucy. To protect them. To keep them safe. Hawk’s devotion to his uncle became devotion to Edward and Lucy and, eventually, their child.
Edward
Lucy came to Edward, her Guardian, determined to learn about her wealth: oil proceeds and land and the investments made on her behalf. She wanted the power knowledge would give her. Edward fell in love with the beautiful and intelligent young Osage almost as soon as he met her. A second generation Irish American, he didn’t readily believe that the Osage were ‘savages,’ or illiterates or drunks. He’d been subject to the brutal discrimination of this country’s white European descendants; they called his family shanty Irish; worthless, dirty beggars. Then, in Kansas City, he met Big Tom Pendergast and his life changed. Big Tom was Irish and Big Tom pretty much ruled Kansas City. Edward believed that in moving Lucy and their daughter to Kansas City he could keep them safe.
Lucy
Born on the Osage Reservation, her life began with family, clan and tribe, the mournful sound of coyotes and the majesty of buffalo. She knew peace and love and joy. Then came the Indian Boarding School that nearly killed her and the Oil Rigs that multiplied and made her tribe rich—and targets in the infamous Osage murders. She survived it all. Strong, beautiful, and resourceful but haunted by death, she married the handsome young Irishman who was her government-appointed Guardian. Attempting to keep her and their child safe, he moved them to Kansas City. Tom’s town. The Paris of the Plains. The Roaring Twenties, bootlegging and Prohibition. Kansas City Jazz. And brand new forms of racism and danger.
Loula Long Combs
Who was she and why is she the narrator?
Loula, like many of the characters in this historical novel, lived in the early part of the twentieth century.
She lived in Kansas City and was the daughter of enormously successful and fabulously wealthy Robert Long. Loula was a horsewoman, respected around the world. Her home was Kansas City’s Longview Farm. Loula’s love for horses matched Lucy’s and combined with her family’s known devotion to doing good works, made it easy to imagine this confident woman would, if she met someone like Lucy, be curious and caring. Mindful that many Indigenous People aren’t happy with white people writing their stories, when the author found Loula, she made Loula the older white woman who befriended and loved Lucy – and believed her story should be told. Always emphasizing how much she can’t ever understand about Lucy’s life, it is her voice and her perspective that tells the story of the DAUGHTER OF WARRIORS.
About Kimberly Seidman
Kimberly Kirkland Seidman’s professional life always involved writing. Spending ten years with an international hair care company, she wrote books about salon management and cosmetology school texts. When she moved to health care, she wrote about young adults facing life-long disease, about caregiving and finding support, and chapters for medical texts. The list goes on. Growing up in the Midwest, her mother’s closest friend and the writer’s Godmother was an Osage woman. Kimberly adored her and when she died, ‘promised’ she would write her story. Her name, in the book, is Nevie.
Though she’s a part of the story Kimbery tells here, early research revealed that the first story that needed to be told was about Nevie’s mother, Lucy. DAUGHTER OF WARRIORS is about Lucy. But Nevie’s story is still important. Her story will be published soon.
6 Things this book will teach you
The Power of Cultural Identity
Despite the U.S. government’s attempts to erase the Osage people’s heritage through boarding schools, the story shows how culture, tradition, and connection to one's roots can survive—even under devastating pressure.
The Strength of Women in the Face of Violence and Loss
Lucy’s journey reflects extraordinary resilience. She faces trauma, racism, displacement, and personal grief, yet continuously finds ways to move forward, making her a beacon of courage.
Friendship as a Lifeline Through Hardship
The relationship between Lucy and Loula highlights how genuine friendship can bring comfort, support, and accountability, even when cultural differences and guilt create distance.
The Deep Connection Between the Osage People and Animals
After witnessing the loss of the buffalo, reveling in her clan’s relationship with eagles and observing the wily coyote, Lucy’s bond with horses reminds us that partnership is built on trust and respect—not dominance.
The Tragic Consequences of Greed and Exploitation
The story exposes how wealth from natural resources invited corruption and violence against the Osage people. It serves as a reminder of the dark consequences when greed outweighs humanity.
Healing Is Not Linear
Lucy’s struggle with addiction and emotional wounds shows that healing can be messy, nonlinear, and deeply human. Her story honors the reality of trauma while also emphasizing hope.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Still curious? Want to know more about the people and places in DAUGHTER OF WARRIORS? That makes my heart happy.
Most of the books I read, listed here, will educate and some will even entertain. All will open minds – a little or perhaps a lot. Reading does that.
ABOUT THE OSAGE
- A PIPE FOR FEBRUARY by Charles H. Red Corn
- CHANGES IN OSAGE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION by Garrick Alan Bailey
- COLONIAL ENTANGLEMENT by Jean Dennison
- KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON by David Grann
- MEAN SPIRIT by Linda Hogan
- OSAGE INDIAN CUSTOMS AND MYTHS by Louis F. Burns
- OSAGE INDIAN REIGN OF TERROR by Lonnie E. Underhill
- SUNDOWN by John Joseph Matthews
- TALKING TO THE MOON by John Joseph Matthews
- THE DEATH OF SYBIL BOLTON by Dennis McAuliffe, Jr.
- THE OSAGE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLD by Francis La Fletcher
- THE OSAGE CEREMONIAL DANCE I’N-LON-SCHKA
- THE OSAGES: CHILDREN OF THE MIDDLE WATERS by John Joseph Matthews
- THE OSAGE INDIAN MURDERS by Lawrence J. Hogan
- TRADITIONS OF THE OSAGE by Garrick Bailey
- WAH’KON-TAH: THE OSAGE AND THE WHITE MAN’S ROAD by John Joseph
- Matthews
ABOUT INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOLS
- AWAY FROM HOME edited by Margaret Archuleta, Brenda J. Child and K. Tsianina Lomawaima
- EDUCATION FOR EXTINCTION by David Wallace Adam’s
- KILL THE INDIAN, SAVE THE MAN by Ward Churchill
- KISS OF THE FUR QUEEN by Tomson Highway
ABOUT OTHER (NATIVE AMERICAN) PEOPLE AND THINGS
- AN INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
- BLOOD SISTERS by Vanessa Lillie
- DWELLINGS by Linda Hogan
- EIGHT by Sherman Alexis
- EMPIRE OF THE SUMMER MOON by S.C. Gwynn
- HOW IT IS by V.F. Cordova
- INDIGENOUS CONTINENT by Pekka Hamalainen
- NIGHT OF THE LIVING REZ by Morgan Talty
- POWER by Linda Hogan
- RECKONINGS A Collection of short stories by Native American Women
- SMOKE SIGNALS by Sherman Alexis
- SOLAR STORMS by Linda Hogan
- THE HEARTBEAT OF WOUNDED KNEE by David Treurer
- THE INDIAN CARD by Sherry Lowrie Schuettpelz
- THE NATIVE AMERICANS, The Smithsonian Institute
- THE ONLY GOOD INDIAN by Stephen Graham Jones
- THE REDISCOVERY OF AMERICA by Ned Blackhawk
- THE WOMAN WHO WATCHES THE WORLD by Linda Hogan
- THERE THERE by Tommy Orange
- URBAN INDIAN EXPERIENCE IN AMERICA by Donald L. Fixico
- WARRIOR GIRL UNEARTHED by Angeline Boulley
ABOUT PEOPLE AND THINGS IN AND AROUND KANSAS CITY IN THE 1920S
- ALL ABOARD by Lynn Johnson and Michael O’Leary
- CITY OF THE FUTURE by Henry C. Haskell, Jr., and Richard B. Fowler
- DUKE, A LIFE OF DUKE ELLINGTON by Terry Teachout OPEN CITY by William Ouseley
- PARIS OF THE PLAINS by John Simonson
- GOIN’ TO KANSAS CITY by Nathan W. Pearson, Jr.
- HARZFELDS, A BRIEF HISTORY by Joe and Michele Boeckholt
- HORSES NEVER LIE by Mark Rashid
- JAZZ STYLES IN KANSAS CITY AND THE SOUTHWEST by Ross Russell
- JAZZ TOWN by Beth Lyon Barnet
- KANSAS CITY JAZZ: from Ragtime to Bebop, a history by Frank Driggs and Chuck Haddix
- MOBSTERS IN OUR MIDST by William Ouseley MY REVELATION by Loula Long Combs
- STORIED AND SCANDALOUS KANSAS CITY by Karla Deel
- THE AMERICAN ROYAL by Heather N. Paxton
- THE HISTORY OF HORSERACING by John Carter
- THE MAFIA AND THE MACHINE by Frank R. Hayde
- TOM BASS BLACK HORSEMAN by Bill Downey
- TOM’S TOWN by William Redding
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