Helen Hunt Jackson

Helen Hunt Jackson (1830–1885) was an American poet, writer, and activist. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, she published poetry and essays before turning to advocacy for Native American rights. Her nonfiction work *A Century of Dishonor* (1881) documented injustices against Indigenous peoples and urged federal reform. Jackson also wrote the novel *Ramona* (1884), set in Southern California, to reach a wider audience with a story shaped by the region’s history and the mistreatment of Native communities. She traveled in the American West, including California, and served as a U.S. government agent investigating conditions among the Mission Indians.