5 comments about Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas (50th Anniversary Edition) (50th Anniversary Edition).

1. This is a highly unique biography and is a well-deserved classic in the world of literature. Sandoz did not write the standard Native American story from the point of view of the outsider (that is, the white conquerors), but created a book that feels as if it was written by the Indians from their own world view. Sandoz had the great advantage, in the 1930s, of interviewing still-living oldtimers who really knew Crazy Horse, and her combination of first-hand Indian accounts and meticulously well-crafted prose makes for an extremely compelling story of the last years of Indian freedom. In fact, this is not so much a biography of Crazy Horse, but a much larger story of the Lakota (Sioux) people in which he is the central character. The book does not include much historical detail, as that would be the white man's method of writing, so for such information on late Sioux history you would have to look elsewhere (such as *Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee* by Dee Brown).

   However, we do get a book full of beautiful and poetic prose such as "there was a star with a long white tail to speak of good things," and consistent use of Indian terminology such as "burning cup" for whiskey or "soldier chief" for army officers. This style of writing does make the reading of this book stiff and long-winded in places, but Sandoz must be commended for her very unique and moving methods. In the end, Crazy Horse himself comes across as a troubled loner among his people, a bit manic-depressive but a strong leader and warrior, and he remains as dark and mysterious to us as he was to his friends and enemies. And as usual for Native American histories from this period, the end of the story gives us the depressing loss of the people's freedom and the noble but hopeless efforts of a great leader to save his people. Concerning the special 50th anniversary edition of the book, you can ignore the rather sycophantic introduction by Stephen B. Oates, but the stunning cover painting by Ed Lindlof is almost worth the price of admission alone. [~doomsdayer520~]




2. The strange man of the Lakotas made very little contact with the "white man" and remains a mysterious character of native American culture. Not much is known about him, his birth, his death, his burial.
   
   Sandoz attempts to document as much history is known about this man, and she puts it in the form of a novel. It is easy to read and entertaining. Yet it includes historical facts, events and characters. While it is difficult to pen a biography about someone who so little is known about, Sandoz documents all that is known about him in this book. Many of the facts were taken from interviews with people who knew him and lived with him. Those people are all long gone. The only comprehensive memory of Crazy Horse is this book.



3. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and couldn't recommend it more. If you are a Native American history buff, or have any interest at all in the so-called Indian wars of the Great Plains, this book is a must-read. It is written in the vernacular of a Native American who speaks English tolerably well, and I believe this adds a great deal of character to the writing. The story of Crazy Horse's life is a sad one filled with the mistrust and back-stabbing deeds of his own people, along with the well known deeds committed by the American settlers and soldiers. Crazy Horse's ultimate downfall was aided by the restraining hands of his own people, as foretold by his vision. A sad ending to his life indeed, but Sandoz's re-telling provides a fascinating work of history. One word of advice to the reader: A much better understanding of the events that occur in this book can be had by "pre-reading" a good, concise history such as Indian Wars by Utley and Washburn.



4. Little is known about Crazy Horse in comparison to other legendary chiefs, warriors and heroes due to the quiet-spoken and solitude-seeking nature he possessed. Indeed, Crazy Horse was considered "strange" due to standing true to his ideals and who he really was, instead of the conventional ways of others no matter how traditional. Born of lighter hair and skin, young Curly stood out as different from the beginning of his days. Most humble and purely strong and good-hearted, Crazy Horse grew to be the truest and most brilliant leader of the Lakotas. Self-sacrificing even to the bitter end, Crazy Horse earned his place of honor as a hero to be respected.
   
   Combining interview information of Eleanor Hinman with survivors who knew Crazy Horse, with Mari Sandoz's meticulous research, gives "Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of The Oglalas" clout in accuracy of detail and fact in the day and time of Crazy Horse. I very highly recommend this book.



5. I had never read Mari Sandoz so I can't compare this to her other books. The writing style is unique and pleasant. It is a very interesting, and unfortunately sad story about Indian life on the great plains. The book seems very well researched and therefore more interesting to read since it is about history. The Indians suffered strategically from a lack of organization, but their whole life style was about independence and in fact a much more pure form of democracy in selecting and de-selecting their leaders. In reading the story with regard to the lies and deceipt of the white men it reminded me that world politics and war is no different today than then. Crazy Horse had attributes that leaders should aspire to, he wanted to help his people and he was not vain about himself as leader. In the end he was tricked into surrender by his own people.
   
   I thought it was one of the best books of Indian life and history that I have read.

3 comments about The Morning the Sun Went Down.

1. from "Kirkus Reviews" (starred review): A slim, modest, and altogether extraordinary memoir of rural Native American life. Wilson, a poet and scholar from the Achumawe and Atsugewi tribes of northeastern California, came into adolescence in the mid-1950s, when his people had all but disappeared through assimilation or extermination. Blame for part of that disappearance he lays squarely at the door of whites; but, he adds, "the neglect of our Elders to teach us our traditions was equally damaging." His own parents did their best to teach Wilson and his siblings something of the old ways: how to hunt deer, how to tame rattlesnakes, how to listen for mountain lions, lessons that he imparts to his readers with precision and grace- and not a little humor. But when his mother and younger brother were killed in a collision with a logging truck, Wilson was sent off to live with white foster parents among unfriendly neighbors (he remembers, touchingly, one young girl "who did not accuse me with her eyes or attitude," principally "because we were not enemies"). Whe it appeared that his foster parents wanted to strip away his Indian identity, Wilson rebelled, for which he was sent off to a boarding school where the young California Indian charges were locked in their rooms at nights and punished by day for minor infractions. Wilson recounts these horros matter-of-factly but doesn't dwell on them; instead, he celebrates a teacher who sagely corrected his compositions, encouraged him to improve himself, and urged him to become a writer. Readers have reason to be grateful to that teacher as well. Wilson is a careful and compassionate obeserver of his life and those of other young Indians, and his book is a fine addition to the growing library of Native American autobiography.



2. Every once in a while a book is written that changes everything. THE MORNING THE SUN WENT DOWN is one of those books. This autobiography written by Darryl Babe Wilson about his Achomawi/Atsugewi (Pit River) childhood in northeastern California is filled with wonder and lyrical beauty, and at the same time with painful tragedy and brutality. This is the masterful recounting of a personal journey that enfolds us warmly in a child eye's view of Wilson's family and tribal relations, as well as the intrinsic and permanent relationship with the land in its ancient and essential dimensions. This book is simultaneously literature, an autobiography and the history of a People. It is highly recommended.//This is a portion of the review by Susan Lobo that will appear in the journal NATIVE AMERICAS (Cornell)



3. Every once in a while a book is written that changes everything. This is one of those books. This autobiography written by Darryl Babe Wilson about his Achomawi/Atsugewi (Pit River) Indian childhood in northern California is filled with wonder and lyrical beauty, and at the same time with painful tragedy and brutality. This is the masterful recounting of a personal journey that enfolds us warmly in a child eye's view ofWilson'sfamily and tribal relations, as well as the intrinsic and permanent relationship with theland in its ancient and essential dimensions. This book is simultaneously literature, an autobiography and the history of a People. Thebook begins with a dream in which Wilson is tested and reminded by the Elders of his responsibility to his People. It combines observations both minute and practical with those that sweepinglyencompass infinate place and time, understood both by the heart and mind. We are deftly drawn into a world that is simultaneously rugged and sweet. The family tragedy, the death of his mother and baby brother, and the subsequent family separation are described in wrenching detail, mirroring and paralleling the descriptions of historic events resulting from the lethal coming of whites into his homeland following the discovery of gold in California. Wilson places us, as readers, in a spot that is at the same time ancient, historical and contemporary. This is a story of growingself-assurance and human understanding as Wilson matures and comes to see the world from a broader vision, as well as his place and potential role within that world. He says, "...we must seek a power or a series of powers outside of ourselves which we identify as 'helpers.' Helpers can be a tree or animals, rocks or mountains, stars or flowers, frogs or rainbows. Helpers come to us in our time of need, and they guide our dreams." This book is utlimately the story of strength and power. Near the end of the book, he says, "For it was a song, according to our narratives, that caused all of the universe to have a beginning. We must seek within ourselves the spiritual terrain from our watu/ah'lo (spiritual umbilical cord) to the Great Power, cultivating our personal power and creating wholesomeness with our thoughts and intentions...It is taught in our lessons and legends, and by our Elders, that The People are responsible for life upon earth. Honoring the lessons then becomes a mandate from Great Power/GReat Wonder/Great Spirit that we are bound to obey. All people must obey the Great Law, so the sweetness of life can continue."

5 comments about The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux : Black Elk, Holy Man of the Oglala.

1. Joseph Epes Brown was fortunate in meeting men who possessed great human and spiritual qualities, especially Black Elk who had a unique quality of power, kindliness and sense of mission. Born in 1862, Black Elk grew up when his people had the freedom of the plains, hunted bison; he fought at Little Bighorn and at Wounded Knee Creek and knew Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, and American Horse. He traveled with Buffalo Bill to Italy, France and England. During his youth Black Elk was instructed in the sacred love of his people by Whirlwind Chaser, Black Road and Elk Head from whom he learned the history and deep meanings of his people's spiritual heritage. Through prayer, fasting and deep understanding of his heritage, Black Elk became a wise man, receiving visions and acquiring special powers to be used for the good of his nation. Because of his sense of mission Black Elk wanted this book to be written so that the reader could gain a better understanding of the truths of the Indian traditions.

   In his foreword Black Elk tells us: "There is much talk of peace among the Christians, yet this is just talk. Perhaps it may be, and this is my prayer, through our sacred pipe, and through this book in which I shall explain what our pipe really is, peace may come to those people who can understand, an understanding which must be of the heart and not of the head alone. Then they will realize that we Indians know the One true God, and that we pray to Him continually. I have wished to make this book through no other desire than to help my people in understanding the greatness and truth of our own tradition, and also to help in bringing peace upon the earth, not only among men, but within men and between the whole of creation."

   The wisdom of the Indians is based on such concepts as "The Earth is your Grandmother and Mother, and She is sacred. Every step that is taken upon her should be as a prayer" and "Every dawn as it comes is a holy event, every day is holy." The Indians developed their own religion based on the gift of the sacred pipe given by a very beautiful woman who approached two Lakota Indians out hunting. One of them had bad intentions and he and the mysterious woman were wrapped in a cloud. When the cloud lifted the sacred woman was standing there and at her feet was the man who was nothing but bones and terrible snakes were eating him. Black Elk interpreted this as an eternal truth: "Any man who is attached to the senses and to the things of this world, is one who lives in ignorance and is being consumed by snakes which represent his own passions." The mysterious woman presented the tribe with a pipe and stone, explaining the significance of the gift. On her departure she said to the Standing Hollow Horn: "Behold this pipe! Always remember how sacred it is, and treat it as such, for it will take you to the end. Remember, in me there are four ages. I am leaving now, but I shall look back upon your people in every age, and at the end I shall return." These four ages find a parallel in the Hindu tradition during which true spirituality becomes increasingly obscured until the cycle closes with catastrophe, after which the primordial spirituality is restored and the cycle begins once again.

   Through the rite of the keeping of the soul, the Indians purified the souls of the dead and increased love for one another. This rite is followed by the rite of purification, known to us as the sacred lodge. The ritual of "Crying for a Vision" was used long before the coming of the sacred pipe. Crazy Horse received most of his power through "lamenting" or crying for a vision for some great event or ordeal such as going on the war path. "But perhaps the most important reason for 'lamenting' is that it helps us to realize our oneness with all things, to know that all things are our relatives; and then in behalf of all things we pray to Wakan-Tanka that He may give to us knowledge of Him who is the source of all things, yet greater than all things." Chapters are devoted to the Sun dance - one of the greatest rites; to "The making of Relatives" reflecting the relationship between man and Wakan-Tanka; preparing a girl for womanhood; and the rite of "The Throwing of the ball." Through these ceremonies we learn how the Sioux have come to terms with God, nature and their fellow man.

   If you question the superiority and validity of the goals of western society; if you are conducting a self-examination; if you are re-evaluating the premises and orientations of our society; if you are concerned about our environmental crisis; if you are concerned about the problems created by highly developed technology; if you are questioning our basic values concerning life, nature and the destiny of man; if you are open to look at the models represented by the American Indians; if you want talk about peace to become action about peace you will find something of value in this book.




2. I recommend reading this book if you are interested in the rituals and culture of the Lakota. It provides clear and interesting discussions of major rituals that form important components of their way of life. The material is drawn largely from interviews with Black Elk, and the writing really explains significance of important details in the various practices. The book also provides a good basis for understanding how the cultural practices fit into Lakota history. This book is also a fine one to read in relation to "Black Elk Speaks," "The 6th Grandfather," and "When the Tree Flowered."



3. A beautiful book. You can learn about Siuox religious practie and beliefs. The reader will come away with a sense of how similar religios faiths can be. The Sioux it turns out are not so different from Christians, Hindus or any other group that uses faith to guide people through what is both difficult and beautiful in life.



4. I haven't actually finished this book yet but I'm looking forward to doing so. This spirituality is deeply sophisticated and elevated. I think the whole world is greatly indebted to the American Indian Nation. Furthermore, thank you for wonderful service.



5. Black Elk is and was sacred Elder. Through his life we are given this knowledge. He has helped many to understand the way of the Lakota; following the natural law. While not all Lakota follow the traditional ways as closely as they did before the arrival of the white man, they are still connected to these rites and inhierently understand these teachings. It's only to outside world that these things become suprising moments of clarity. Joseph Epes Brown took time before it was too late, to record these teachings, which is a blessing and a gift of knowledge to all who would read, understand and heed these words. If you wish to learn what dwells is in the hearts of Native American people, you would do well to open this book and your minds.

5 comments about Halfbreed: The Remarkable True Story Of George Bent - Caught Between The Worlds Of The Indian And The White Man.

1. An imbibing read of George Bent's life as a halfbreed White/Cheyenne Indian from the mid-1800's to the early 1900's. Bent was the son of famed trader William Bent and his Cheyenne Indian wife Owl Woman. In later years he wanted to tell his story from the Indian point of view which makes this a captivating read. For years we have been exposed to thrashings of the Native Americans from the slanted and one-sided views of Hollywood, dime novels, etc. that we oftentimes forget that there was another side to the story.
   George was raised among the Cheyenne Indians at Bent's Fort in Colorado, later schooled in Westport and St. Louis, fought as a Confederate soldier in the Civil War, rode with the renegade Cheyenne Dog Soldiers in retaliation for the horrific Sand Creek Massacre, hired as a government interpreter to the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, knew and met with the many Indian chiefs to promote peace and acted as an intermediary between both worlds.
   Throughout his entire life he was confused and frustrated as to which side of the heritage line to choose. The authors are to be commended on the manner in which they incorporate this struggle for identity along with critical historical events that shaped and incurred during his lifetime.



2. George Bent was truly one-of-a-kind. Born the son of a wealthy and prominent White trader and a beautiful Cheyenne woman in 1843, he was raised half-White and half-Cheyenne. He was educated in the White man's world and served in the Confederate Army, but became a Cheyenne warrior when his tribe went to war with the United States, participating in 27 war parties. He later worked as an interpreter and a broker -- not always a good one -- between the Whites and the Cheyennes. Perhaps his more important role came late in life when he served as an informant to the historians and ethnologists studying the Cheyennes. That they are among the best documented, most admired and studied of all Indian tribes is largely attributable to Bent.
   
   The authors have done an outstanding job in compiling the story of George Bent. This is a scholarly, well-researched, well-documented, book that is complex but reads easily and tells a fascinating tale of a man between two worlds and comfortable in neither. The characters of Western legend appear in the book: Kit Carson, Wild Bill Hickock, George Custer, Phil Sheridan, and Buffalo Bill. Desperate forgotten battles between the Cheyennes and their White enemies are recalled and described. Perhaps the most interesting chapters of all describe the relationship between Bent and the scholars -- Hyde, Mooney, and Grinnell -- who used him as a resource to write their books. Bent had a burning interest in assuring that the story of the Cheyenne was recorded and remembered. He succeeded.
   
   "Halfbreed" is a sad book as it describes the destruction by disease and war and massacre of a people and of Bent's own efforts to survive in a world that collapses around him. I don't know of any other book that delves so deeply and movingly into the world of the halfbreed. Bent deserves the recognition this book accords him almost a century after his death on the Cheyenne Reservation in Oklahoma.
   
   Smallchief



3. When I moved to Santa Fe in 1983, I became fascinated with the history of this area and all things related to the Santa Fe trail. David Lavender wrote a great book on Bent's Fort that has always been a favorite of mine. Bent's Fort is a "living museum" in south eastern Colorado that is really worth visiting. When my friend loaned me his copy of Halfbreed, I was so impressed with its insight and easy reading that I bought two copies and sent one to another friend to enjoy (he did). I've read it three times now and will enjoy it again. I was moved by the authors' sensitivity of a true unsung hero who tried his best to preserve his knowledge of the Cheyenne oral traditions before they were forever lost. I will one day soon travel to the village of Colony, Oklahoma and visit his grave sight to pay homage to a great man that through this book, I have come to know and honor. I recomend this book for all who are looking for a good book to read.



4. This is a brilliant study of George Bent, the son of William Bent and Owl Woman, a physical union of the American settler and the American Indian in the west during the 19th century. He was not necessarily a central figure but nevertheless is emblematic of an entire era. In a time when we have few sources and fewer books regarding the progeny of Indian-european unions, this serves as an important and fascinating book that looks into the two worlds and momentous events of Bent's life. He lived among those great men of the American west such as Buffulo Bill and Kit Carson as well as witnessed the destruction of the native-American way of life. As a dog soldier, or elite warrior, of the Cheyennes he saw the massacre of Black Kettle's people and the subsequent war between whites and Indians on the plains. He later lived to serve as translator to the slowly defeated tribes and ended his days as a teacher at an Indian school, witness to the passing of an era. This is a well written book that reads like fiction but serves as an important testimony. A fascinating story that anyone will enjoy but should truly be read by anyone who enjoys the American West in all its flavor.
   
   Seth J. Frantzman



5. The true story of the mixed blood George Bent is far more exciting than most fiction novels. The authors do an outstanding job of giving George the credit and recognition he deserves. Clearly George Bent, Chyenne raised and white school educated, had a never ending challange fitting into either world. His trials and tribulations are vividly portrayed in this book.
   Review by Will Davis- Author of "Bell County Bushwhackers"

2 comments about The Book of Elders: The Life Stories of Great American Indians.

1. This is a WONDERFUL collection of the real life stories of thirty elders from nineteen North American tribes. They are inspirations for us all. It has my HIGHEST recommendation--read this book, it will touch your heart and soul!



2. Do not miss this book if you are interested in wisdom that one seldom, gets in any world that is not Indigenous. Indigenous wisdom gives us lessons for life lived from the heart and lived in tune with our Mother Earth, particularly from elders; be they natives of Turtle Island (North America), Australia, New Zealand, South America or the African continent.
   I loved this book and I love the wisdom imparted by the authors of each story. It is good to learn and it is best to learn from those who have lived long lives and learned their wisdom, not only from their own lives but also from the teachings of their ancestors.

1 comments about Growing Up Native in Alaska.

1. Alexandria McClanahan's Growing Up Native In Alaska is an honest, candid, compendium of straightforward discourse by twenty-seven Alaskan Natives about what their cultures and traditions mean to them today. Each interviewed person explains their individual history and perspective in his or her own words. Growing Up Native In Alaska is a truly fascinating, informative, straight to the root account, and very highly recommended for anyone interested in contemporary Native American lifestyles and culture.

5 comments about Lightningbolt.

1. This book speeks to me about the inner turmoil and multitude of voices that haunt the uninitiated and estranged males in our society. To not belong, to be cut off from community is a plague on our youth and spirit. The feeling of isolation leads to antisocial behavior, unhappiness, stupidity and violence. Herein is the story of a disenfranchised man and how, with a mentor and female partner, he finds strength in the Self to command and conquer the demons of a disfunctional conformist society. This is a primer on taming the destructive, finding peace and living with beauty. Great insights for all!



2. The Red Road curves through a parallel universe with only tenuous ties to contemporary reality. Storm speaks to the wanna-be warrior in all of us, with humorous vignettes spiked with hidden awareness, as he looks back at the valiant fool he was, beginning his quest before he even knows he was on it, missing all the clues to his personal Grail. (The sign said "Stop", he looked at it, but he couldn't see the message for the word...) Conservative Native Americans shun this guy for letting the cat out of the bag...But for the rest of us waschisus, this is as close to understanding life on the Res as we'll ever get. No matter what your path to personal enlightenment has been, any spritual trekkie will enjoy this guy's experiences. Great read!!!



3. This is a book about more than the guru-guided personal search for self-understanding of a half-breed, more than a remarkably profound exposé of the life-philosophy (not religion) of the native american peoples. More even than a confirmation of the inner validity of other ancient systems of thought and knowledge to be found in other parts of the world, for example in Scandinavia. This book is exactly what it claims to be: the revelation of A WAY, an approach to life and the problems of identity, balance and peace, second to none, and applicable to everyone, where ever in the world they may live, and whatever religious and cultural tradition they may formally adhere to. Something that if widely spread, and attended to in the right way, might just ... just ... (to coin a heavily misused, but in this context really appropriate phrase)"save the world". In other words, not without subversive, but highly life-enhancing social and political connotations. My advice: Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest. And then practice, as best ye may. Good luck, and may the Spirit give you strength in the quest for yourSELF.



4. I found this book over two years ago and I have yet to finish. I can't bring myself to accept that it will end, so i've been doing everything i can to avoid turning that last page. It's that kind of book. There are so many layers of brillance and value to this amazing piece of artwork. Athough it is psychologically complex and methaphysically profound, it is Storm's simple love for the Earth and his masterful, unassuming language that set this book apart. The characters have a fully developed humanity to them that is unparalleled. Truly destined to be an all time classic. This is more than a book.



5. I was on a vision quest in my life looking outside and was taught by elders and others to look within and with the help of this Book and Hyemeyohst Storm and other books he wrote I was able to learn more and feel more in touch with the earth medicine of Nature and its often looked over healing power The Power of One "Nature" may we all find our way to a place of peace and serenity within and share it by being.. JG

5 comments about The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull.

1. Ever since my childhood, I have always been enamored of the Native Indians. It wasn't the Indian of the Cowboy tv shows where they were portrayed as idiots or savages ~~ but as the people who were close to nature and the spiritual world.

   This book does not disappoint. This is a very concise portrayal of Sitting Bull from an author who took great pains to portray Sitting Bull as how the Indians viewed him and as how as the Whites viewed him. He didn't allow his emotions cloud the facts ~~ it was very obvious that he took time to research the facts and present them without boring the reader to tears. He showed Sitting Bull as the greatest Sioux leader of all time and how he worked to unite the Lakotas and the Hunkpapas as well as other Indian nations together to defeat the White invasion. He also presented the facts that allowed the readers to be aware of why the Indian battles were a losing cause ~~ simply because there were more of the Whites coming. There were not enough Indians to keep populating the land.

   This is one of the most in-depth research I've read and enjoyed on any Indian leader. This one goes beyond Sitting Bull and talk about the problems the Indians faced ~~ and yes, it does have some moments in there where you just allow your emotions to override the story ~~ Sitting Bull may not have had it easy but he sure didn't make it easy for the US military or the Indian agents on the reservations. He gave back as good as he could ~~ and he never quit fighting for his people. He is admirable not only as a man, but as a leader. This is definitely a worth-while reading for anyone who is interested in history ~~ especially Native American Indian history.

   6-26-04




2. Utley has written a fascinating account of the life of Sitting Bull, perhaps the best known and certainly one of the most influential chiefs of the Sioux Indians. Relying substantially on interviews of Sitting Bull's contemporaries conducted by Professor Walter Stanley Campbell in the 1920s and 1930s, Utley also draws upon other Indian and Anglo accounts and a wealth of military documentation.
   
   Sitting Bull was born in the 1830s, probably 1831, and probably at Many Caches in what became Dakota Territory. His father Sitting Bull was chief of the Hunkpapa tribe of the Sioux nation. Notwithstanding his lineage, the activities and lessons of his youth were the same as those of other young Hunkpapas. He learned to pray, fight, and live according to Sioux principles. By the time he was a young man, he had surpassed nearly everyone, peers and elders alike, in those capacities. His faith in Lakota spirituality was unshakeable; his fighting capability, including the extent of his bravery, was the greatest of the Hunkpapas, and ultimately would become the greatest of the Sioux nation; and he lived with concern not for himself but for his people, generous to the point of poverty. In the mid-1850s, he became a Wichasha Wakan, or someone with the gift of periodical prophesy through dreams and visions. Among the best known of these would be his stunningly accurate prediction of Custer's defeat at Little Big Horn.
   
   Sitting Bull's first interactions with white people came in trade. The Hunkpapas would exchange buffalo robes with French Canadians for firearms and metal tools. The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 would mark the beginning of new, less friendly relations with whites. Terms of the treaty were much too difficult for either party to uphold, precipitating the conflict that would last until Wounded Knee nearly forty years later. In fairly short order, the Sioux would realize that the arrival of whites necessitated a war if they were to survive as a people. At this point, Sitting Bull became almost literally and certainly figuratively the lance of his people, employing his favorite weapon in leading his warriors in battle. By 1868, however, fractures were apparent in the never particularly cohesive Sioux nation, and many Sioux chiefs thought of accepting the whites' offer of a reservation. Sitting Bull and several others, most notably Crazy Horse, refused to consider abandoning the free life the Sioux had always led, choosing instead to live free or die trying. Gradually, however, those who felt as did Sitting Bull dwindled in number, unable to survive the war of attrition the whites fought and the decline of the buffalo. In the early 1870s Sitting Bull, now about forty by most accounts, completed Utley's metaphor by becoming the shield for his people. His exceptional prowess as a warrior had granted him the loyalty of and leadership over many Sioux peoples beyond even his own Hunkpapas. Growing older, however, he increasingly, although grudgingly, turned over the actual fighting to younger warriors and became a leader of his people in faith and life.
   
   In 1877, following devastating winters and defeats, Sitting Bull led what remained of his followers into Canada. Having gained freedom from American persecution, he then tried to keep his people alive even as the buffalo continued to disappear. Notwithstanding good relations with some of the Canadian troops, and generally favorable arrangements, he created political difficulties for Canada. Besides pushing aside existing Canadian Indians, his presence also impaired Canada's relationship with the United States. Canada then pressured him to leave, and partly as a result of this pressure, but more because the buffalo had vanished and his people were starving, Sitting Bull returned to the United States in 1881 and surrendered.
   
   His life thereafter was a mixture of the remarkable and the mundane. At various times he lived on a reservation, resided in jail, and toured the country as a kind of national sensation, the latter most famously with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Throughout he continued to push for the rights of his people and the return of their native lands, even though his followers grew fewer and fewer. Having once been among the greatest warriors in the history of the Sioux, then having ascended further into the unprecedented position of leadership over the Sioux nation, he struggled with subordination to white peoples he considered well beneath him. For nine years he accumulated enemies--both white and Indian--and lost followers as a result of his vanity and pride. Furthermore, even if he would not realize it, life had changed for the Sioux people, and he was no longer a respected spokesperson. In December of 1890 he was murdered by his own people during a botched arrest, which itself was to have been an artificial means of removing him from the scene. Largely considered a disgrace to the Sioux, he was buried with no honor whatsoever, and his actual gravesite remains unknown even today.
   
   Utley's biography is an exceptional piece of history. His greatest challenge throughout was providing a scholarly biography of a man from a completely different culture, without letting his own culture seep in. In that, he succeeds admirably. His second greatest challenge was the lack of primary source material on the pre-white days of his subject; the Sioux did not keep written records, and later white interviewers were not interested in recording such relatively dull facts as comprised Sitting Bull's early life. Utley adroitly maneuvers around this substantial obstacle by telling the story of the Sioux nation as best it is known, thereby providing a foundation from which would spring the Sitting Bull of middle-aged life about whom much was recorded. A brilliant approach, and one not easily carried off. Utley does it as flawlessly as one possibly can. Furthermore, although his approach was to build his biography by historical methods as opposed to the methods of literature his predecessor Campbell employed, his book remains as readable as popular western fiction. The prose is so fluid and the story so gripping, one ought to be forgiven if one forgets he is reading nonfiction. From an academic perspective, this book is of value to scholars on Sitting Bull for obvious reasons, but also for those needing a factual foundation for Sioux culture and its interplay with white invaders. Therefore, I heartily recommend this book to all readers, regardless of background.



3. A proud man. Chief of chiefs.
   Sitting Bull was one of the last to give in to the encroachment of manifest destiny. He fought countless battles, of which the Custer clash being the most famous, to save his people's way of life, culture and heritage. Seems as though every time he attempted a compromise with the government, he was duped.
   With provisions running low and no where to go, he went into exile to Canada, the "grandmother land", where he and his people were treated kindly.
   After a few years of Canadian hospitality, provisions and food ran low again. The U. S. government once more convinced him to surrender ponies and weapons and to live at the reservations. Due to hunger he and his people went back to the Dakotas. Little did Sitting Bull realize he was to be held as prisoner of war for a year and a half.
   Then it was life on the reservation which must have been agonizing for him. He did get to travel and see other parts of the country (Buffalo Bill Show, etc.) but his way of life had changed forever. His death was piercing and still somewhat of a mystery.



4. Robert Utley does a fine job of describing the world and worldview of the nineteenth century Plains Indians in this engaging biography of the greatest of the chiefs of the Sioux Nation, Sitting Bull.
   
   Sitting Bull was a traditionalist. Simply put, he lived the way Wakantanka, the Great Spirit, decreed. His life's task was to maintain the culture and lifestyle of his people. Mr. Utley paints us a surprisingly complex and sympathetic portrait of Sitting Bull. In Tatanka Yatanka, the man and the times had met.
   
   Sitting Bull came into a Sioux world which had only recently seen the tribe's transformation from a woodland people to the quintessential quasi-nomadic buffalo hunters of legend. The Sioux largely defined themselves by war, the hunt, and their relationship with both the natural world and the spirit world, between which they made no distinction.
   
   Sitting Bull's lifespan coincided with the slow destruction of the buffalo culture at the hands of Euro-Americans. Dedicated as they were to settling the wilderness country, the Whites finally denuded the Sioux of virtually everything imaginable. As the grand "refusenik" of the Indian nations, Sitting Bull rose to become a remarkably eclectic war chief, tribal leader, wise man and holy man of the Hunkpapa Sioux. He encapsulated in himself all of the greatest virtues of the Sioux, becoming the only High Chief the Sioux tribes were ever to have.
   
   But Sitting Bull, also encapsulated all the weaknesses of his people. Understanding and valuing only those things that were time-honored, he was (unlike his contemporary Chief Red Cloud) constitutionally incapable of grasping the import of the vast changes that were undermining his world even as the sun rose every day. Temperamentally unable to appreciate any mode of thought that was not Sioux, he was reactionarily set against any accommodation with the Whites, long resisted formalized alliances with peoples other than his own, and maintained intact the historical friendships and enmities that marked Sioux relations with other tribes. As a result, the Whites branded him as the leader of "hostiles" and "renegades." Yet, it is clear that Sitting Bull did not hate Whites so much as he would have much preferred of the White Man and the Indian that the twain should never have met.
   
   Unfortunately, this was not to be the case, and Sitting Bull fought a valiant rearguard action against White encroachment in a desperate and ultimately vain attempt to preserve the Sioux way of life. His greatest triumph against Custer at the Little Bighorn, was a pyrrhic victory marking the end of everything this gallant man had fought to preserve. Little Bighorn led to the virtual extinction of the Indian nations as free peoples, their mass hypnosis by the Ghost Dance movement, the tragic Wounded Knee Massacre, and Sitting Bull's own death at the hands of fellow Sioux.
   
   During his life and after, Sitting Bull became a symbol of resistance and determination, a living legend and a man whose heart and mind did not countenance surrender.
   
   A fine book, well worth your time and attention, THE LANCE AND THE SHIELD is a testament to one man's spirit and fortitude in the face of an ultimate disaster.



5. Well researched and well rounded text. The story of Sitting Bull is
   told with respect for the man and his people without adulation. Sitting Bull's story is one of strength,integrity,and courage with enduring inspiration.

5 comments about Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux, Twenty-First Century Edition.

1. It says on the jacket of this book that Black Elk Speaks belongs in the company of 'religious classics'. Maybe so, but even if you regard his visions as indicative of a religious experience, the parts of the book dedicated to the description of these visions make for rather tedious reading. The real meat of the book is his decriptions of the last of the major indian battles at Rosebud, Little Big Horn (Custer's Last Stand), and Wounded Knee. Black Elk and his friends were there, and lived through those harrowing days. A must-read book for anyone who wants to know how it really was.



2. This is an exceptionally moving book for anyone yearning to know more about Native American spirituality. Black Elk was truly a man filled with the holy spirit. It reminds me of the book, Walking the Trail, One Man's Journey Along the Cherokee Trail of Tears. Both are highly recommended.



3. _Over the years I have read this book in the wilderness and in the wasteland. Every time that I have reread it I have come away renewed.
   
   _There are just so many levels on which this account can be appreciated. It is one of the best first-hand accounts of plains life- from camp life, to the march, the hunt, courting, healing, etc. It is also one of the best first-hand accounts of historical events- the Fetterman Fight, the Wagon box Fight, Red Cloud's Treaty, the Custer Fight, Wounded Knee... It is also a first-rate autobiography of the deepest thoughts of a man who fears that he may not have lived up to his God-given destiny. But, above all, it is a legitimate Revelation from the world beyond.
   
   _At times Black Elk seems to despair that he didn't live up to his great vision. Personally, I do not see this. He did what he was supposed to do. First, he brought his vision to his people in the form of the magnificent Horse Dance. Then, in his twilight years, he wisely brought the same vision to the outside world in the form of this book. This was too powerful and universal a vision to be confined to one people alone. Every part of it resonates with the Perennial Philosophy, the eternal religion that underlies all true Tradition- from the World Tree at the center of the people's hoop, to the certain knowledge that the things of this world are but a shadow of the true Reality of the next.
   
   _As far as the sacred herb of four blossoms is concerned that he saw at the end of the forth ascent- that was the rebirth of the sacred tree from sacred seed. This book is that seed.



4. Both Thomas E.Mails and John Niehardt have brought to life the true nature of the Native American in their masterly renditions of their interviews with these Medicine (Holy) men, both Fools Crow and Black Elk. The result is an understanding of the simple honesty, good nature and trust that initially left them so open to exploitation. More importantly, they demonstrated a sincere belief in God that the 'White Man' was singularly lacking in the early pioneers. Their beliefs ran parallel with the Primitive Church as established by Jesus during his ministry in the Middle Ages.Fools Crow



5. I personally didn't mind the interpretation of a white man (Neidhart) translating Black Elk's legendary stories into a published work of art. The book was a very easy read and insinuated deep emotion and spiritual awareness. I higly recommend this book to anyone who has the slightest interest in Indian culture and tense relations between Indians and Cowboys (Federal Government)

5 comments about Seven Arrows.

1. HYEMHOYOSTS STORM DESECRATES CHEYENNE BELIEFS
   By Rupert Costo, President of the American Indian Historical Society and Publisher of The Indian Historian

   Seven Arrows brings disgrace to its publisher, Harper and
   Row. It falsifies and desecrates the traditions of the Northern
   Cheyenne, which it purports to describe.

   This reviewer withholds judgment as to whether Mr. Storm is a
   Cheyenne as he claims to be.* He certainly shows little or no
   understanding of the Cheyenne Way. The publisher circulated a letter giving Storm's enrollment number. But an enrollment number does not an Indian make! Quite a few Anglos and some blacks were adopted into Indian tribes. Sometimes the Indians were forced by the US government to accept them. In other cases whites were deceitful enrolled.

   If indeed he is an Indian, the tribal chairman states "I
   don't know how he got on the tribal rolls." Shame on him for making a blasphemous travesty of the Cheyenne Way in Seven Arrows.

   This is a book put together with considerable pretensions.
   The first thing that strikes the eye is the illustrative work:

   1) The color plates are a solid disaster, in extremely poor taste, and the end result desecrates the Cheyenne religion. The Cheyenne do not use such garish colors. Theirs were the colors of the earth.

   2) The designs are actually blasphemous to Cheyenne religion,
   portraying their religious motifs in the worst possible manner,
   making a mockery of the religious beliefs and the theological system of the people.

   There are so many irreligious and irreverent inaccuracies in
   this book that a committee of the Northern Cheyenne is now examining it in detail.** The reaction of Cheyenne people at Lame Deer was disbelief and anger: "Bunk!"

   1) His description of the Sun dance is WRONG.

   2) His drawing of the Sun Dance Lodge is NOT Cheyenne.

   3) The Four Sacred Directions are INACCURATELY described as north-south-east-west. They are in fact the northeast-northwest-southeast-southwest.

   4) The sacred number given is WRONG.

   5) The Cheyenne shield colors are WRONG. They are red, black, white, and yellow, not the monstrosity of color shown in the plates.

   6) The shield designs are WRONG and actually BLASPHEME the Cheyenne religion.

   The publisher has boasted this will be a best seller. Not
   surprising. This is a White Man's interpretation of the Cheyenne. A reader searching for a true interpretation of the Cheyenne people will not find it in this book.

   It is most unfortunate that this author, who has no religious
   or secular status in the tribe, is so presumptuous as to
   bestow "Indian" names upon his White benefactor, Douglas Latimer, a vice president of Harper and Row. Only the tribe and religious leaders can do this. In performing such an irreligious act, Storm has outraged and insulted the Cheyenne, their tribal traditions, and religion. On the other hand, it is inconceivable any self respecting individual would accept a pseudo-Indian name given by one who is not authorized to do so. No self respecting Indian would do it either. It is ump quah, as we say.

   This reviewer wonders whether Storm is attempting to create a
   new theology for the Cheyenne.*** If so he has failed, and succeeded only in vulgarizing one of the most beautiful but least known religions of man.
   -------------

   This review originally appeared in The Indian Historian, Vol. 5, No. 2, Summer 1972. The emphases and numbering were added.

   *Subsequent research has turned up two possibilities not known at the time Costo wrote his review. Storm's real first name is Charles or Chuck. At other times he has also taken the pseudonyms "Wolf Storm" or "General Storm." He is, in fact, German-American, and is blue-eyed, blond-haired, and fair-skinned. A few Native people have come forward claiming to be relatives of his, and it's possible he may have a small amount of Crow ancestry. These distant Crow relatives in turn have Cheyenne relatives, which may account for how he was
   deceitfullyenrolled.

   ** Storm's publisher Harper and Row escaped a lawsuit by publishing the book as fiction. (They also paid what the Cheyenne openly called "reparations" for the damage done by Storm's book.) At the same time, Storm and the inner circle of his cult followers maintain his books are absolutely and literally true.

   ***Storm remains a pariah to the Cheyenne. There is no sign of any Cheyenne accepting his blasphemous take on Cheyenne belief. Storm himself has never lived among the Cheyenne, and today lives near the Crow reservation on the profits from his books. His appearances to promote his blasphemy of Cheyenne beliefs are always heavily protested.




2. The book, "Seven Arrows" has been in print since approximately 1972. It is a remarkable book, one that speaks to many generations of wise people searching for a deeper meaning, an experiential understanding of life and mystery.

   It is important to read Mr. Storm's book with an open mind - an approach lost on a sad gentlemen reviewer who claims to be a professor of history at Arizona State University. The reviewer is mean-spirited, inflamatory and excitable. Althouh the reviewer seeks a position of authority as a learned man, his claims re. Mr. Storm's book are tenuous and irresponsible.

   Learn to judge for yourself the many merits of "Seven Arrows".




3. Al Carroll's review is not the first encounter I've had with criticism of "the white man" continuing to abuse indians, now by "stealing" their religion. I am sympathetic with this point of view, but I also think that "the white man" desperately needs all the help he can get toward becoming more respectful of other life forms and more "spiritual" in the sense of being less materialistic. Surely, the religion and spirituality can be shared by all who need it.

   The beautiful artwork in Seven Arrows is criticized for "getting the colors wrong." This strikes me as a foolish criticism, as though the only valid interpretation of a traditional theme must have the traditional colors as well. This is reactionary thinking; for a tradition to be of the greatest value to the living, I think that change is sometimes necessary. If the artwork in Seven Arrows is valid as art, I think that's enough to justify its existence, regardless of its lack of "reverence to tradition." Not every crucifix needs to have a bleeding Christ on it. I don't recall what Storm says about the art in the book, but I don't think it's presented as "views of traditional Cheyenne art." It seems pretty clear that these are modern interpretations of traditional themes.

   In any case, if he "got the religion wrong" and "got the artwork wrong," it's still a dazzling book and I recommend it highly. You can read the "story of Jumping Mouse" from the book on Storm's web site, www.hyemeyohstsstorm.com.

   The following is the review I had on my web site before reading this current controversy:

   Hyemeyohsts Storm's Seven Arrows is a most unusual book, and reading it has been a profoundly interesting and moving experience for me. Seven Arrows is in the form of a novel with a lengthy nonfiction introduction and loads of artwork and photographs. However, as novels go, it simply fails to follow the convention, in two basic ways: most of the main characters are violently killed in the story, and the book contains half-a-dozen lengthy allegorical tales that dramatically slow the action.

   Overall the picture presented is that of the ending of a way of life and the introduction of a new way. The narrative mostly consists of characters riding or walking from place to place, meeting other indians (I believe there are no non-indian characters), talking about the latest doings of the crazy white man, telling stories, and killing or being killed. The death of the main characters is quite disconcerting at first. The novel begins by presenting the doings of a character, who is then killed. Another character becomes central to the story, and sooner or later he also is killed. Eventually one learns not to expect the current main character to survive; this expectation leads to abandonment of the usual "naive identification" that engages the reader to most novels and to take instead a more Olympian view. One begins to think of the human characters being as symbolic and allegorical as the mice, wolves, and buffalo that are prominent in the "teaching tales."

   Embedded in the narrative are about half-a-dozen lengthy allegorical tales that often seem to bear little relation to the actions of the human characters who tell the stories. In addition to these "teaching tales" themselves, interpretations of the events of the tales are presented. These interpretations, in conjunction with the introduction, lead one to think of the symbolism, "looking beneath" and reinterpreting everything that happens in the story. As is the case with any allegory worth reading, these tales and the book as a whole defy simple and unambiguous interpretation. There are multiple layers here, and each tale, and the entire book, should be thought of as flowers which can be opened a petal at a time. This approach to the tales is explicitly encouraged in the narrative.

   The artwork and photographs alone are worth the price of the book. The photographs are mostly of indians and their artifacts and various native animals and birds, and almost all of them are striking or thought-provoking. There are also about a dozen exquisite color plates of indian figures and shield designs incorporating symbols that occur in the narrative. Many line drawings decorate and illustrate the text. All these elements work well with the text, though regrettably some of the photographs are marred by the two-page spread treatment they receive.

   Seven Arrows presents a point of view and way of life which I found alien, yet attractive. The gentleness of these indians and their good will towards each other, the slow pace of indian life, and the symbolic and puzzling stories the characters tell each other, all contribute to the inducing of a state of peaceful contemplation and a longing for a quieter way of life. This is a book I intend to reread often. It strikes me as a very profound book, but this is the profundity of obscure poetry, of a flawed quartz crystal, or of a human eye or mind: the deeper you look, the more you will see, but the dull or hurried eye may discern little of interest. If you're looking for something different and potentially life-changing, give Seven Arrows a try.




4. I have to say this book will work for those who are searching for some type of spirituality. However, there are correct ways of doing things in tribal structures and many practioners don't have the "right" to do so and often distort the practices. In answer to Prof. Carroll, Mr. Storm is indeed both N.Cheyenne and German-American.



5. This beautiful book is beyond the beyond in it's flowing rhythm of deep perception and wise assessment of a multitude of reality levels and views. We all perceive reality at what ever level or experience we have been absorbed in, the trick is to get beyond any constraints that might blind us to the bigger view that encompasses all existence. Yes, a tall order indeed, but doable as Storm demonstrates through his song of the medicine shields.
   
   Walking with Storm on this beautiful trail called "Seven Arrows", will open up grand vistas of a larger reality. All points of the reality compass are here to be seen, felt and absorbed.
   
   Storm so eloquently shows us how quietly listening and observing reality from as many points of view and directions as possible will deliver a vast array of those tiny puzzle pieces that when combined, make up the whole picture. Freeing oneself from dogmatic, less-than-clear strictures whether they be caused by one's religious, socio-economic, political, or family upbringing, will allow a clear view even from a new, never experienced vantage point. Walk in your brother or sister's shoes for a mile before judging their reality; see the world through the wide view of the eagle- the macro; see the world from the view of a little mouse who only sees fine details- the micro world- it is all right here to see the many points of reality for a more inclusive view of the world around us.
   
   Hyemeyohsts Storm has put together in this one beautiful book what a thousand other worldly wise people have attempted and that is a way or path to seeing, feeling and embracing other realities that are all part of the one, singular reality that demonstrates the interconnectedness of all life.
   
   Tales of the chaos caused by the intrusion of the Euros and their land/resource grabbing ways makes for some sad commentary on culture clash, especially when one comes to see here what beautiful lifestyles The People had and their willingness to share their wisdom.
   
   This is somewhat in contrast to the other interspersed through the book, lyrical journeys through the eyes of various animals that demonstrate the many levels of perception, but it all blends into a complete whole.
   
   The prose of this book travel between poetic, lyrical, song-like. The descriptive line drawings and colorful medicine wheels conceived by Storm and Karen Harris and painted by her along with the many photographs of The People, animals and landscapes, make this book a treat to the senses all on their own.
   
   I thank you Hyemeyohsts Storm, your family, and all those who helped put this beautiful book together!
   
   More on Hyemeyohsts Storm's works can be seen at his website: hyemeyohstsstorm.com