Talk:Olive Oatman

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 19 August 2019 and 13 December 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Peer reviewers: Kmorris66.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 05:39, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Uh, what about the tattoo?
It's a prominent part of the story and certainly the picture, but is not mentioned...?

The tattooing is mentioned in the introductory section and again in "Abduction and captivity" JVV198 (talk) 19:07, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

Needs rewrite
This article tells the story of Olive Oatman twice in two different ways. It needs to be rewritten as a single narrative. Rsduhamel (talk) 23:26, 16 November 2008 (UTC)

new book
the blue tatoo is a book advertised in the new yorker 2009 from nebraska press and margot mifflin —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.71.161.204 (talk) 19:47, 7 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Yes, I've read part of it. It is excellent.  The author engages in a great deal of discussion of the various conflicting and corroborrating stories about Oatman's life and captivity.  It's just what we need. 68.197.217.41 (talk) 20:19, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

Hell On Wheels
The character, "Eva", on the tv series "Hell on Wheels" is based on Olive Oatman. They bear similarities in both appearance (same design facial tattoo) as well as a very similar backstory (according to Eva, her family was ambushed & killed by the Yavapai and she was eventually sold to a neighboring tribe.) There are several sites which point to this but AMC's own site would likely be the best to use as they openly explain that she was indeed the character's inspiration:

Olive Oatman a Historical Counterpart to Eva

Not sure how to add this to the article or even if it should be added to it. 174.49.19.28 (talk) 15:11, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Route does not make sense
"Dissension caused the group to split near Santa Fe, with Brewster following the northern route. Royce Oatman and several other families chose the southern route via Socorro, Santa Cruz, and Tucson. Near Socorro, Royce assumed command of the party. They reached New Mexico early in 1851 only to find the country and climate wholly unsuited to their purpose."

So they travelled from Missouri, all the way to Santa Fe,  then they went to Tucson,   and then they reached New Mexico. Oh and then they died near Yuma Az. Excuse me, which way were these people going again ?Eregli bob (talk) 07:57, 22 June 2012 (UTC)
 * The New Mexico Territory extended from West of Texas to the California border, encompassing modern-day Arizona. 1850 was before the Arizona Territory was declared and definitely prior to AZ statehood.--Mike - Μολὼν λαβέ 23:05, 5 October 2016 (UTC)

confluence of the Gila and Colorado riveruma
An excerpt from the article ..... after which the girls walked for days to a Mohave village at the confluence of the Gila and Colorado rivers (in what today is Needles, California).

The confluence of the gila and colorado is not at Needles, its at Yuma — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.212.174.22 (talk) 00:54, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Tattoo
Hi, do you have a source for this edit? It doesn't seem to fit the description Mifflin gives (e.g. pp. 78–79), though perhaps there's a better source. Sarah (SV) (talk) 05:05, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Yes, I do. I read it in one of the ethnographic texts that I read for Irataba - think it was Sherer or Kroeber. I can't be bothered to find it though, so remove the text if you think it better.·maunus · snunɐɯ· 05:22, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Jennifer Putzi writes about it in "Capturing Identity in Ink: The Captivities of Olive Oatman", Western American Literature, 39(2), Summer 2004 (pp. 176–199), p. 186ff. She discusses it as a mark of acceptance into the community, regarded as spiritually necessary, though she says it's impossible to know exactly what it meant. Sarah (SV) (talk) 05:50, 13 April 2015 (UTC)

Ughh. This is a perfect example of why an old-school encyclopedia > Wikipedia.
...the arch-phrasing of the word "memoir" over simply stating that the memoir might have been written by someone else.

God help us, we might actually have professional editing at some point.

First tattooed American woman on record?
I see the source is linked to an article but how can she be the first tattooed American woman on record when the Indigenous Americans who tattooed her had obviously already held the tradition of tattooing? Also, to suggest that she's the first tattooed American woman is an erasure of the history of the people who were tattooed long before an Olive Oatman.

Maybe the first tattooed white woman? White does not equal American here. Please revise. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2605:A601:54B4:1BE:4944:6991:E922:CB7F (talk) 03:17, 13 January 2020 (UTC)

Death of Lorenzo
Her brother Lorenzo died in 1901, and she only outlived him by 2 years. Where should this information fit? The Mysterious El Willstro (talk) 03:35, 8 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Done. The Mysterious El Willstro (talk) 00:22, 14 March 2020 (UTC)

Oatman's title
When you google this wiki page in Danish, Olive Oatman stands - in Danish - as "American explorer". She was a slave! Imagine if the enslaved black Americans were referred to as "explorers". 83.88.115.112 (talk) 18:52, 19 December 2023 (UTC)

"celebrated in her time for her slavery and later release"
Hi,

I'm aware that "celebrities" are supposed to be celebrated, although most of the times they are just popular.

But saying that she was celebrated for being abducted and enslaved sounds completely stupid.

Someone would be celebrated when returning from slavery, sure, but that's another thing.

A shorter version of a sentence is not by all means the same :)

For example, being celebrated when she returned from slavery already sounds different, although being 1 or 2 words longer.

"Celebrated for her release" would also sound stupid, but be much better.

But still, "being celebrated for her release" sounds as if she had done something, when in fact something happened to her.

So, "when she was released" would sound a lot better.

I'm aware that when someone criticizes your work you'll hate her/his alternative :)

That's natural.

This is why I'm only suggesting examples. I'm sure you who have made this article can do some tiny additional improvement, too, to make it perfect.

Goes without saying: I respect your work! :) &#45;-peter.josvai (talk) 05:07, 6 June 2024 (UTC)