A stirring portrait chronicles the life of Patricia Locke—Compassionate Woman of Lakota and Chippewa heritage—whose tireless advocacy for endangered tribal languages earned her a MacArthur Fellowship in 1991. From her bold beginnings in Anchorage, Alaska, she founded a community centre to support Native American, Eskimo and Aleut newcomers, addressing challenges of urban displacement with empathy and ingenuity.

Her vision expanded into higher education, where she championed the establishment of reservation-based colleges and the integration of Native culture and language into academic curricula. As a freelance writer, university instructor and social activist, Locke lent her voice to the marginalized, advancing justice and opportunity. Her leadership extended to the Bahá’í National Spiritual Assembly of the United States—where she became the first American Indian senior officer—and culminated in posthumous induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

This biography offers profound insights into the power of compassionate service, indigenous resilience and cultural revival, illuminating a model of leadership that bridges traditions and transforms communities.