High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Sarah Winnemucca (born Thocmentony or Tocmetone,Paiute: Shell Flower) (ca. 1844 – October 17, 1891) was a prominent female Native American activist and educator, and an influential figure in the United States` nineteenth-century Indian policies. Winnemucca was notable for being the first Native American woman known to secure a copyright and to publish in the English language. She was also known by her married name, Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins, under which she was published. Her book, Life Among the Paiutes: Their Wrongs and Claims, is an autobiographical account of her people during their first forty years of contact with explorers and settlers.