In 1906 anthropologist Gilbert L. Wilson arrived at Independence, an isolated settlement on the Fort Berthold reservation in western North Dakota--the home of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. There he met three Hidatsa people who would take him into their homes and tell him their stories: Buffalo Bird Woman, an accomplished, dignified, and conservative older woman; her brother Wolf Chief, a handsome and ambitious man willing to try new ways; and her son Goodbird, who grew up balancing the new with the old. With Goodbird acting as interpreter, Wilson took notes as Wolf Chief and Buffalo Bird Woman recounted memories reaching back over 65 years. Wilson's penciled notebooks, his photography album, and the artifacts he purchased from them form the basis for this book. The Way to Independence is a powerful and personal description of the Hidatsa people's journey from a traditional clan-oriented society of the 1840s to the industrialized, individualistic world of 20th-century America. Through the words of Buffalo Bird Woman and her family, and using hundreds of stunning photographs of artworks and artifacts, this book tells the story of the tribe. Authors Carolyn Gilman and Mary Jane Schneider provide both text and illustrations to explore the material culture, spirituality, and adaptations of the Hidatsa people during a time of tremendous change.

Throughout these years, the Hidatsa coped with these radical changes, but they never surrendered to them. They adopted many white political and religious institutions, but those institutions took on a Hidatsa flavor; similarly, they used the tools of the industrialized world, but they produced Hidatsa things with them. Thus the people found their way to a new kind of independence. In a separate section of the book, several experts on the Hidatsa contribute essays discussing the tribe's origins, religion, and natural environment, as well as the Hidatsa studies of Gilbert Wilson and his brother Frederick. This book, first published to accompany a major exhibition at the Minnesota Historical Society, continues to provide a vital story of a resilient and creative people.