Helen Hunt Jackson (October 15, 1830-August 12, 1885) was an American poet, writer, and Native American activist. She brought awareness to the mismanagement of Indian affairs by the United States government through her non-fiction book, A Century of Dishonor (1881). She gave every member of Congress a copy of the book. Years later, after moving to Southern California, she was appointed special commissioner to investigate the conditions of the Indians living on the California missions. After concluding her research, she determined this time to write a novel which spoke with a voice of conscience for Native Americans as Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) did for African-American slaves thirty years before. Ramona was quickly a best-seller and inspired many to come to see the sites she described in the work.