Birthright by Constance Lindsay Skinner

Precious is unaware that she was sent away for schooling to avoid the shame and discrimination which would occur should the secret get out that she is part Native. The son of the local chief, himself a product of a mixed marriage, is in love with her but so too is the son of the house. What will happen when, as it must, the secret of her parentage gets out?
Determined to walk her own revolutionary path for freedom, Precious's actions trigger in others all the prejudices and hypocrisies of the day. Skinner pulls no punches, and her indictment of these prejudices, both Native and white, religious and secular, while often couched in humour, touches as many raw nerves as ever.