Book Description

The first Navajo woman surgeon combines western medicine and traditional healing.

A spellbinding journey between two worlds, this remarkable book describes surgeon Lori Arviso Alvord's struggles to bring modern medicine to the Navajo reservation in Gallup, New Mexico--and to bring the values of her people to a medical care system in danger of losing its heart.

Dr. Alvord left a dusty reservation in New Mexico for Stanford University Medical School, becoming the first Navajo woman surgeon. Rising above the odds presented by her own culture and the male-dominated world of surgeons, she returned to the reservation to find a new challenge. In dramatic encounters, Dr. Alvord witnessed the power of belief to influence health, for good or for ill. She came to merge the latest breakthroughs of medical science with the ancient tribal paths to recovery and wellness, following the Navajo philosophy of a balanced and harmonious life, called Walking in Beauty. And now, in bringing these principles to the world of medicine, The Scalpel and the Silver Bear joins those few rare works, such as Healing and the Mind, whose ideas have changed medical practices-and our understanding of the world.

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Reviews (16)

The Scalpel and the Silver Bear
This book explores the remarkable journey of a Navajo women who leaves the reservation to train as a surgeon. It contrasts traditional Navajo practices with those of western medicine and illustrates how one women was able negotiate two worlds at odds with one another. The book provoked me to re-evaluate some of my assumptions of western medicine and heightened my awareness of cultural differences in philosophy of medical care. The book is thought-provoking and inspirational. A quick and easy read.

READ THIS BOOK
I picked up this book and I could NOT put it down. What a wonderful journey described here....how she interlocks traditional medicine with Navajo, how harmony and positive spirit is such a process in the healing world. You will not be disappointed with this read. I have shared this with all those close to me. Make it part of your list

Solid credentials but too abstract
--Dr Alvord writes about her journeys as a Native American student and physician. The book seems clearly designed for non-technical readers rather than the professional medical community, and there's little medical jargon. She uses her own difficult pregnancy and the death of a beloved grandmother as case studies in integrating Western medicine and Navajo ideas.
--On the one hand, it's worth reading this book just to hear such an inspirational story from such a role model. Dr Alvord tells her story with dignity and courage and she has many good ideas about listening to patients and integrating Balance and Harmony in our profession (although these ideas don't seem as radical or as rare within the medical community as she seems to imply, and I don't think she does anyone a great service by implying they are).
--On the other hand, the authors remained disappointingly abstract, even given the limitations of confidentiality and space. The stories of Navajo healing barely scratched the surface and the book was pretty scanty with practical advice that would help non-Native healers understand Native American patients. I'd love to have heard her perspectives on the magnitude of Native American health problems, how she handled the constant pressures of time and funding, or how she successfully used traditional Native American methods to help manage serious medical-social problems (i.e. alcohol use, diabetogenic diets, family pressures, basic compliance and responsibility issues, etc). In short, I'd like to have heard more about her successes.
--The book's perspective gives a good counterpoint to those who criticize Western medicine as too impersonal/sterile/uncaring/whatever, while they fail to demonstrate how to predictably improve things and still efficiently deliver technically competent health care to people with different levels of motivation and understanding. Western medicine works beautifully in its own niche, but it will be made to work less efficiently if we mess around with the wrong things. Perhaps medicine will improve if we balance the responsibilities of patients to live a healthy lifestyle with the responsibilities of healers to carefully listen to patients and then help them heal.
--This book did not practically help me to do this, so I cannot give it five stars despite my respect for her credentials. I do look forward to a sequel.
--Other books which may be of interest include Blessings (by Dr. A. Organick), The Dancing Healers, and Primary Care of Native American Patients.

What We All Want in a Doctor
This book was recommended by a friend, and after I read it, I chose it as my selection for my book club. Living in the Southwest, the insight into Native American culture was especially educational. Alvord seems to confirm what so many of us as patients have been saying for years: give us a doctor who will take the time to get to know us on a personal level and treat the whole person. I would recommend this to men and women, young and old alike! What an amazing woman.

Made me homesick!
I can't tell you how helpful this book was to me in gaining insight to myself and my own heritage. I too grew up on the "rez", or the Navajo Nation, not far from where Ms. Alvord grew up. (In fact, I am related to her by clan!) I also grew up half Navajo and half white. This book helped me to understand many of the characteristics and traits that I have and the cultural significance underlying them, as I was raised non-traditionally. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, but especially Native youth, because it shows that anyone can achieve their dream. I am very proud of Lori Alvord for being willing to share her story and show the Western medical world the importance of Native/Indigenous healing practices. ... Read more

Book Description

Most of the world remembers Crazy Horse as a peerless warrior who brought theU.S.Army to its knees at the Battle of Little Bighorn. But to his fellow LakotaIndians, he wasa dutiful son and humble fighting man who—with valor, spirit, respect, andunparalleledleadership—fought for his people’s land, livelihood, and honor. In thisfascinatingbiography, Joseph Marshall, himself a Lakota Indian, creates a vibrant portraitof theman, his times, and his legacy.

Drawing on firsthand research and his culture’s rich oral tradition (rarelyshared outsidethe Native American community), Marshall reveals many aspects of Crazy Horse’slife,including details of the powerful vision that convinced him of his duty to helppreservethe Lakota homeland—a vision that changed the course of Crazy Horse’s life andspurredhim confidently into battle time and time again.

The Journey of Crazy Horse is the true story of how one man’s fight forhispeople’s survival roused his true genius as a strategist, commander, and trustedleader.And it is an unforgettable portrayal of a revered human being and a profoundcelebrationof a culture, a community, and an enduring way of life. ... Read more

Book Description

From the author of The Ice Master comes the remarkable true story of a young Inuit woman who survived six months alone on a desolate, uninhabited Arctic island.

In September 1921, four young men and Ada Blackjack, a diminutive 25-year-old Eskimo woman, ventured deep into the Arctic in a secret attempt to colonize desolate Wrangel Island for Great Britain. Two years later, Ada Blackjack emerged as the sole survivor of this ambitious polar expedition. This young, unskilled woman -- who had headed to the Arctic in search of money and a husband -- conquered the seemingly unconquerable north and survived all alone after her male companions had perished. Following her triumphant return to civilization, the international press proclaimed her the female Robinson Crusoe. But whatever stories the press turned out came from the imaginations of reporters: Ada Blackjack refused to speak to anyone about her horrific two years in the Arctic. Only on one occasion -- after charges were published falsely accusing her of causing the death of one her companions -- did she speak up for herself.

Jennifer Niven has created an absorbing, compelling history of this remarkable woman, taking full advantage of the wealth of first-hand resources about Ada that exist, including her never-before-seen diaries, the unpublished diaries from other primary characters, and interviews with Ada's surviving son. Ada Blackjack is more than a rugged tale of a woman battling the elements to survive in the frozen north -- it is the story of a hero. ... Read more

Reviews (21)

A beautiful book
I was lucky enough to sneak a peek at an advanced copy of Niven's book, Ada Blackjack, and found myself swept away by this riveting story about an Inuit woman who was the lone survivor of a grueling expedition. If you are tired of the Arctic genre, don't despair-- this transcends Arctic adventure. Although part of it is set in the Arctic, it is really the story about an amazing, extraordinary woman and her journey to survive, both in the ice and in civilization. I was a fan of Niven's first book, The Ice Master, and am even more of a fan now. Her prose is immediate, accessible, gripping, and skilled, and I love the way she weaves a story, making this reader forget he is receiving a history lesson as, all the while, he is speeding to the last page, desperate to see how it ends.

Worthy follow up to the ICE MASTER
I had read the ICE MASTER by Jennifer Niven when it was first published and found it a remarkably well written and compelling narrative of a strange arctic expedition lead by strange and misguided Vilhjalmur Stefansson. The story of the Karluk getting trapped in the ice and drifting north of Siberia to remote Wangel Island is gripping, as is the miracle of who dies and survives. And now Jennifer Niven has written a kind of sequel or continuation of the story as the strange Mr. Stefansson sends four explorers back to Wangel island to live and settle so the island can be claimed by the British or Canadians (who want nothing to do with the expedition). Strange as it seems one of the survivors of the Karluk, Fred Maurer is one of these four. Joining the expedition is Ada Blackjack, an Inuit Eskimo woman they hire to sew clothing for them while living on Wangel Island. This second volume is told though Ada Blackjack's life story and introduces us to wide ranging cast of characters, the expeditions relatives, Mr. Harold Noice who leads a rescue mission and his mad wife Florence who's paranoia leads to lies and the undoing of Noice and Ada Blackjacks reputation. If this all sounds a bit like an arctic soap opera, it is of course, and the story is not as exciting a read as the ICE MASTER. But anyone who loved that volume as much as I did is sure to enjoy the complete irony of this return exposition and Ada Blackjack's
Unusual life story.

Heart-wrenching heroics of an Inuit woman
Ada Blackjack reads like a documentary and can be a bit dry at times as it really tells the greater story of the doomed Wrangel Island Expedition of the Arctic. But the deeper story of Ada Blackjack, the lone survivor of the expedition, is riveting. Her simple faith and love for her son gives her the strength to endure unimaginable hardship. This woman should not be forgotten, nor should the folly of the men who pioneered the expedition go unremembered. Kudos to author Niven.

Spend the jack to buy this book!
I havn't even finished the book (about 3/4 through it) but I am so impressed by the writer's style, and the general interest of the subject, that I am compelled to recommend it highly. This is one of those books I just can't wait to pick up again. The writer's style is so concise, logical, and flowing that the story moves along effortlessly. Niven has obviously taken a huge amount of information and distilled it skillfully into a lean narrative. Buy it! I am a lover of the adventure/survival genre, particularly as regards the Arctic, and this book is one of the good ones!

a worthwhile read
If you like inspirational stories, this is a great one. Ada Blackjack is an amazing woman, every inch a hero, even though she is also a flawed, fallible person. That makes her even more likable and easy to identify with. I highly recommend this book to anyone craving a good story, a good adventure, or inspiration. I will think twice about complaining about the mundane daily details of my life now, after reading what Ada and her colleagues endured. ... Read more

Book Description

In this 1996 Minnesota Book Award winner, Kent Nerburn draws the reader deep into the world of an Indian elder known only as Dan. It’s a world of Indian towns, white roadside cafes, and abandoned roads that swirl with the memories of the Ghost Dance and Sitting Bull. Readers meet vivid characters like Jumbo, a 400-pound mechanic, and Annie, an 80-year-old Lakota woman living in a log cabin. Threading through the book is the story of two men struggling to find a common voice. Neither Wolf nor Dog takes readers to the heart of the Native American experience. As the story unfolds, Dan speaks eloquently on the difference between land and property, the power of silence, and the selling of sacred ceremonies. This edition features a new introduction by the author. "This is a sobering, humbling, cleansing, loving book, one that every American should read." — Yoga Journal ... Read more

Reviews (24)

We must talk to one another
"We had people who could tell us about the old days and why they were important to us. The story of our people was like a song. As long as somebody could sing it, it was real. It never mattered if someone wrote it down. When you came you said our song wasn't real because it wasn't written down. Then you wrote it down the way you wanted it. Our history was alive. But your history was dead, even though it was written in words. "
This is an honest and open-hearted book which aims at giving us the Native American perspective on the relationship between the whites and the reds. The anger, the bitternes and the incomprehension which the Indians have for the white man's robot-like obsession with possessing land (how could land, a living organism, be possessed?) and acquiring goods are depicted touchingly via a series of conversations between the author and an old Lakota man. The book is skilfully written and has many humorous passages. It is easily readable but for me it was not an easy read. It is hard to be reminded of the extent to which the Lakota (and other N.A. peoples) were physically, morally and culturally battered and, almost, vanquished by an almost inhuman, greed of the invaders. The desperation, with which they have watched their animal "brothers and sisters" disappear. It made me very sad. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in understanding the N.A. point of view and who wants to take a breather from the deluge of books on N.A. "spirituality", which paradoxically, tend to perpetuate the separation between "us" and "them". If you want to learn about respect, listening and generosity, read this story, listen to its songs.

A Change in Perspective
Every so often, a book comes along that really begs the reader to question his or her belief system, and how those beliefs became a part of their personality. It is often difficult to find a bird's eye view of the subtle idiosyncracies of the average everyday white american lifestyle. Often it takes a foreign perspective, much like DeToqueville's Democracy in America, to comment on what is really going on socially, politically, and economically in a certain place.

Kent Nerburn eloquently relays the teachings and stories of the Old Man in Neither Wolf Nor Dog in this sort of way. From the perspective of an elderly Native American, I was able to partially understand why there is such a gap between Native America and the rest of the country in terms of communal relations, and even everyday interaction. Much of this is due to the mystification of Native America through Hollywood films and frontier novels written by romanticizing white writers.

White America doesn't really understand what it is really like on reservations, and can't possibly comprehend what it is actually like for a population that deals with it's painful history every second of every day; a people lamenting the loss of their ancestoral lands, way of life, and culture.

Nerburn uses the Old Man's narrative to help explain what goes on in the mind of many Native Americans, and how Native America really views the capitalist white society's dealings with race, the environment, history, family, interaction with one another, and employment, among others. In my view, this is the most valuable portion of the book, and the section from which I gained the most perspective. In sometimes complex, but often quite simple terms, the Old Man offers commentary on the roots of our value system, which, after reading his description of our culture, seems very selfish, ignorant, arrogant, and at some times, preposterous. The dichotomy between the two cultures helps to bridge a gap between our two very different, yet forever interwined cultures.

Much like Saul Bellow's Seize the Day, this book deals with a very painful subject: genocide. In Bellow's novella, the topic was the Holocaust; in Nerburn's, the decimation of the Native population of this country. Both touch on the same theme, the inability to move forward as a human race without acknowledging, understanding, and finally accepting the tragedy and horror inflicted upon our fellow man by our ancestors. Only then can we hope to truly live as one people, sharing one land, accepting eachother as brothers and sisters in a world blessed with differences.

I recommend this book to anyone searching for answers, anyone plagued by a feeling they can't quite explain, and anyone who wishes to better themselves by finally asking the questions about human existence that couldn't be more important.

Could not put it down
This is a well-written book that does the unusual. It can make readers see through someone else's eyes. I felt completely drawn into the story and the perspective of the Native Americans featured in this book. The author made these people seem like friends and I was sorry to leave them behind when the book ended. While they don't speak for all tribes and all peoples, it's an enlightening glimpse into the lives and outlooks of some of the Lakota people.

The most powerful book I have ever read
This is the most powerful book I have ever read about the Native people of this land. Since reading it, I have gotten several copies for my friends and loved ones and they have all reported being powerfully touched by it. I can't recommend any book more strongly!

Neither Wolf Nor Dog
Finally, a book about indians that tells it the way it was and the way it is today. At first I thought Old Dan was full of BS. But the more I read the more I knew he was speaking the truth. I was truely sad when I reached the last page of the book, I wanted it to go on forever. ... Read more

Book Description

A unique autobiography unparalleled in American Indian literature, and a deeply moving account of a woman's triumphant struggle to survive in a hostile world. ... Read more

Reviews (25)

A breathtaking autobiography..............
A breathtaking autobiography by Mary Crow Dog. This autobiography dipicts the life of an Native American in South Dakota in the seventies you see this through the eyes of a young girl from childhood to adulthood. Mary tells it how it was and spares no detail which makes this book very powerful. You see the racism that the Native Americans had to go through and also their struggles against society to gain freedom. This book is a must read for anybody who's interested in Native American Culture and the struggle they had to go through to be considered equal to whites.

Lakota Woman
To experience the full impact of this book read "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" first and then read this book.

Before I even picked this book up from the shelf I thought of the Cheyenne proverb, "A nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground. Then it is done, no matter how brave its warriors nor how strong their weapons." Then I opened the book, and this quote was written at the beginning of the first chapter.

This book is essential for understanding what has been done, and is being done to Native American women and girls. Mary Crow Dog tells her own courageous story, and that of many brave women before her.

deep, honest, and REAL...
I was so deeply touched I cried so many times. Native American issues/people are often overlooked. I could not believe the painful lack she had to endure. I am Saved in Christ and I had to stop and pray for the native american peoples so many times... I know how deep it hurts to be extremely poor and struggle in the city but the kind of poverty that exists on many reservations is brutal and heartbreaking and jus keeps the cycle of alcoholism going. The native community in america has been so ::sheisted:: it's not even funny. It's sick. The whole world is sick. Jus really... so sick...

I loved this book.

Lakota Woman - Mary Crow Dog
This is a book review on the book Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog. I liked this book because the main character, Mary Crow Dog, stands up for what she believes in. She is also a strong-willed Native American woman. She and her husband, Lenard Crow Dog, were great leaders in the American Indian Movement(AIM). I enjoyed reading this book because Mary Crow Dog stands strong through the many difficult situations she had to go through. One part I liked in the book was when AIM protested outside of a police station, and the police got scared, so AIM got what they wanted. People who like to stand up for themselves or admire people like that will enjoy this book. I encuorage anyone who is looking for a great biography or autobiography to read this book. After reading this book, I highly admire Mary Crow Dog for what she accomplished. This book would please many kinds of people; it just depends on you and your personality.

utterly fascinating
This is one of the best books available to people interested in contemporary Native Americans. Mary Brave Bird's life story sheds light on traditions of her Lakota (Sioux) people from the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations in South Dakota. She shows, in a very clear way, their tortured history with the missionaries, state bureaucracy, the courts, the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). We see to what extent the government has succeeded in destroying the old life and how small groups of the Sioux managed to preserve traditional ways and ceremonies.

The book is written in a way which preserves the unique appreciation Indians have for unadulterated truth - a style which is simple, direct and in which personal experiences are recounted in a frank, almost brutally dispassionate manner. It reveals perfectly the heartless school system ran by abusive Catholic priests and nuns trying hard to deprive young people of their traditions (don't these people have better things to do?); we see the corrupt BIA system designed to prevent cultural and economic emancipation of the Native American "traditionals" (and steal federal money) and the pointless fear that the FBI has of organized Indian movements. Above all, we see the violence that the Sioux face daily from the white South Dakotans as well as the inter-Sioux violence caused by the hopelessness of the life on the rez. I was especially amazed to see that South Dakota has preserved, at the least up to early 1980ies, the barbaric attitudes towards the Native Americans (who are, after all, the original inhabitants, and who were cheated out of their own land by the very same whites who persecute them) which have by and large disappeared from the rest of the civilized world. This includes (unpunished) assaults by drunken lumberjacks and ranchers, systematic discrimination in the courtroom, forced sterilizations at the provincial hospitals (Mary's own sister Barbara was sterilized against her own will) and a system designed to eliminate all of the Indians' most courageous and spiritually conscious young people. A system that would make Uncle Mao proud, but which made this reader very sad, ashamed and angry. I suspect many of these things are still going on in our name. I mean, why can't these people leave the Indians in peace, allow them to practice their religion and (is this too much to ask for?) respect their desire to be different?

There are also many wonderful things in this book. The descriptions of relationships between Lakota men and women, between the young and the old, between the full and half-bloods and between the host and the guest are simply priceless. Likewise Brave Bird's descriptions of peyote meetings, Sundances and Ghostdance revivals. Mary has very strong opinions about the Sioux male machismo and the reluctance exhibited by many Sioux men to providing a comfortable and loving home for their families yet she understands that this is the inevitable consequence of the systematic destruction of the old ways of tribal life. After having read the book I can see the challenges facing the indomitable Sioux nation, the challenge of preserving and honoring the old ways while educating a new elite familiar with the white system (without considering them to be sellouts); only when they gain political representation and economic self-sufficiency will Native Americans be able to keep at bay the greedy timber, mining and ranching industries whose interest is to keep the tribes divided and the people dispirited and lost in alcohol. The Lakota of today need to find a way to create loving conditions for their children. And they need to speak their truth, as often as they can, just as Mary Brave Bird has done in this amazing book. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (31)

A spirit free behind bars
This is one of those very rare books that can change your life forever. I was so rapt by this story that I only put it down once (to sleep) and called in sick to work the next morning in order to finish it.

There are many stories of the white man's greed and injustice towards Native Americans, but this is more than just that. It is the story of a man unbowed by years of brutal imprisonment. This man's story transcends race and speaks to the freedom-loving soul in us all.

Through his art, writing, political activism, and spirituality Peltier has accomplished more in Federal Prison than most free men do in a lifetime. His courage and determination as a spirit-warrior are undeniable.

Reading this book makes it clear that this man's imprisonment does not bring justice to the families of Ron Williams and Jack Coler. Two agents who sadly lost their lives in what can only be described as a tragic and brutal blunder by the FBI.

This book proves that there are places in the human psyche that no prison can hold. If this book were required reading for every high-school aged child it would go a long way to repairing America's soul. His life is a lesson to us all.

Write to Leonard at:
Leonard Peltier #89637-132
PO Box 1000
Leavenworth, KS 66048

Stirring...a must read if you have any compassion
This well written book not only makes you have more compassion for Leonard Peltier, it also boils the blood to know he is still incarcerated for a wrong he has not committed.

I could not put this book down once I started reading it. In one day it was finished. It also reminded me of a saying of my generation, "Question Authority."

Leonard has in these writings opened his soul and presented the reader with a look into his life as U.S.P. #89637-132. The reading saddened me, but at the same time it stirred emotions of anger.

The documented lies that led to his arrest and conviction have done nothing to speed his release. Mr. President, you have the power with the touch of your pen to right this terrible wrong.

In the Spirit of Leonard, ho!

AIM
I have read every (just about) American Indian book that has meaning and truth to it. Leonard Peltier is a man who means a lot to just about every Indian and every non Indian who knows his story. I would do some online research about him and what was going in South Dakota during the 70s prior to this book in order to understand the magnatude of BS this man has endured (not only him but American Indians as well). He tells his story, his feelings and his thoughts. He had my upmost respect prior to reading this book and this book has helped me "get to know" him.
It's a great book. You won't be disappointed.

Moving
A moving account of being in prison. Leonard Peltier, despite being in prison, is still a force to be reckoned with. His words are painful and truthful. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the truth.

Conformity, assimilation, and opression
What the land of the free whoever told you that was your enemy!Since the first spaniar set foot on turtle island this country has never been the same.Manisfest destiny was there excuse, but that just what it was, an excuse.Leornard Peltier is a prime example of the opression that has kept the native americans under the steeled toe boots of the US government.Me bieng part native american myself this book is a huge inspiration to me.It gives me pride for my culture and the strength to fight the racism in our society that i face every day.Peltier has been incarcirated for nearly 25 years and is still as pacient as he was from day one.The governmaent's attitude towards Peltier is one of complacence.They dont care.This book is basically one of the saddest but at the same time most inspirational story's ever written.No matter what race you are this is a must readand hopefully it will open peoples eyes to the corrupt US government. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Quietly Riveting, Sad But Wonderful Magic
This is a second-hand tale, which is as it should be, as Joe Two Trees did not want his life-story lost, and he did not want the Algonquin tradition of story-telling lost, either. For those of you who liked "Tatham Mound" by Piers Anthony, you'll like this one. If you like this one, "Tatham Mound" becomes suggested reading.

Theodore Kazimiroff tells us the story that his father told him, which was the story that Joe Two Trees told him. The first few chapters tell of how Theodore's father, as a boy, explored the rural areas around New York in 1924, and stumbled across a true treasure. He was looking for Native American artifacts, and found instead a friend and a living repository of Native American history: Joe Two Trees. These early, preliminary chapters are fine, but I would have been disappointed if the entire book followed this course. It didn't.

After the story of the boy meeting the Indian, the book moves on to give us Theodore's recounting of his father's recounting of the recounting of Joe Two Tree's life. From that point on, the reader will find his/her eyes glued to the book. Two Trees was born in 1840 to a small clan of Algonquins in the area of the Hudson River near New York City. By the time he was fifteen, every Indian he knew was dead or vanished. He believed that he was the last Native American left, period. He set off into the White Man's world to avoid the terrible loneliness of his solitude, and gradually becomes Joe Two Trees.

His trek through the ugliness and beauty of the new world being created by the White Man is a quiet adventure that takes the reader along and leaves one feeling that the adventure was actually shared. There is kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, success and triumph, and a gradual process of Joe Two Trees realizing that he was destined to be "The Last Algonquin" and did not belong in the White Man's world. He goes from being "Two Trees" to "Joe Two Trees" and back to "Two Trees", known as Joe by the boy who was the author's father.

What might be most surprising is the quality of writing in this book, which is nearly flawless from a writer who did not write anything else, at least that I could find. Perhaps the purity of his writing was driven by the quality of this remarkable tale. Please keep the tradition alive by reading it, and by passing it on.

An Insightful & Fascinating "Hand-Me Down" Story
This is a must read, especially for those of us raised in the Pelham Bay section of Bronx. The tale of The Last Algonquin is inspiring and heartwarming. And, I hope that Mr. Kazimiroff realizes that he has given The Bronx, the Algonquin Indians and his father the immortality they truly deserve.
Remember as long as someone tells( hears or reads) this tale, the story of Joe Two Trees will continue to live on among the rocks and trees of Pelham Bay Park.

A beautiful story...
Joe Two Trees is the last of his tribe. New York in the early twentieth century is not for him. Or is it? As a native New Yorker with a passion for the past, I loved this beautiful story. Whenever I return home, I can no longer visit the Bronx (especially Pelham Bay) without thinking of Joe and his relationship with Theodore Kazimoroff's father. The writing is lovely, and the story evokes all sorts of feelings at so many levels. It was my Aunt, a former teacher, who told me that I should read this book. It has become one of those novels that I recommend to others regularly.

Sublime
Some people talk about spirit like it is taught in "Indian 101", but you can experience something very soulful and ancient in the words and earth here.

A sad and touching tale
The Last Algonquin is a sad but heartwarming story about a man and his attempts to come to grips with his place in the world. The fact that this man, Joe Two Trees, is the last of his tribe of the Algonquin's makes his journey that much harder and more interesting. If you are looking for an official history of the American Indians, this isn't the book for you. However, if you are looking for a deep and touching story of one American Indian, and what we as a nation have lost by ignoring the heritage of American Indians, then you will enjoy this book. Mr. Kazimiroff has done an excellent job of preserving the story given to him by his father and keeping the memory of Joe Two Trees and the Algonquin Indians alive. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (26)

Russel Means really opened my eyes and my heart.
Russel Means has writen a powerful and provoking book about his life and the current plight of a people (Native American Indians and other indigenous peoples) that need thier indentiy preserved for thier own sake as much as for ours. He showed me that to lose thier song of life with all it's celebrations, joys, hardships and pain will damage the diversity of all people in our world. I hope many more people will buy and read this book and then pass it on to someone else so they may do the same. After reading his book I feel that I have meet him and have seen into his heart. I feel that it is true and good and what he wants for his people and for all people is for them to be free. Thanks Russel for your story and sharing your spirit that goes with it.

Good Autobiography
Most people have probably heard of Russell Means at some point. Means is the best known member of the American Indian Movement (AIM). AIM was the group that took over Wounded Knee in the early 1970's and engaged in numerous protests to try and bring attention to the plight of the Native American. This autobiography not only gives the reader a detailed description of the life of Russell Means, but insights into the philosophy of this revolutionary. While AIM has receded into the background quite a bit since its glory days, Means is still going strong. This book shows us why.

The book doesn't flinch from unpleasantness. We find out that Means' parents were abusive and that his father was an alcoholic. Russell himself became mixed up in drugs during his youth and quickly became sucked into the same alcoholic world that his father inhabited. Throughout his career as a member of AIM, Means drank constantly until he finally came to terms with this problem and discovered that his rage could be controlled. During the course of the book we see Russell being beaten up, shot, arrested numerous times, and imprisoned for his activities. This guy has seen it all, and the picture on the front of the book tells me that I would hate to be on this man's bad side. He's tough, but cares deeply for his people and what he believes in, a trait that is certainly noble and admirable.

What comes across most strongly in this book is how AIM helped Means find his spirituality. Before becoming conscious of his heritage, Means spent most of his time in bars drinking. Once he gained awareness of his heritage, Means took part in numerous rituals, such as the Sun Dance and crying for visions. The book goes into intricate detail in describing the importance of these rituals and how they are practiced. This spirituality helped Means to quit drinking and allowed him to begin taking care of his family (which is sprawling; he was married a lot and has many children). The element of spirituality in the book is important because for years many Indians were denied the right to practice their religious ceremonies by the federal government. Even now, according to Means, there is still opposition to some of the ceremonies.

The last several chapters of the book show why AIM became increasingly insignificant. Fractures within the group over spiritual matters escalated, and Means himself became wrapped up in trivial issues. Means associated himself with Larry Flynt, the Unification Church, and the Libertarian Party. All of these associations reflected poorly on what AIM tried to accomplish. The final straw seemed to be when Means defended the Indians in Nicaragua against the Communist Sandinista regime. The Indians there were being bombed and killed by the Communists, and Means spends a chapter or two showing how serious this was. American Leftists and other pro-Marxists vilified Means when he proved his case. These people just couldn't accept that Commies were killing indigenous people.

This is an excellent book that will make people think about their culture. I recommend this to anyone interested in Native American studies or political movements. Russell Means, whether you agree with his life or not, should be commended for standing up for what he believes in and never backing down. We should all be more like that.

Powerful and Great Book
Russell Means is an amazing guy and has been through so many situations which are mentioned in the book.

His book explains his life and how he discovered his true identity - Lakota and how he dealt with the issues that impact his tribal identity.

In addition, the book also mentions how his involvement with the movement and other demonstrations which represent his views and why many things that are done by the US are wrong or a flagrant insult to the tribes.

I strongly suggest you to read his book to learn how he found his true identity, how he evolved from being indifferent into a big time activist, and what messages we lack to understand about the tribes.

Lastly, the book is easy to read and entertaining!

Good Book
Russell Means is controversial, but I admire him for
telling it like it is, after all,
this is HIS book, HIS viewpoint. If we don't like what he
says, we don't have to finish the book.

I may not agree with everything he says, either, but
he does have the right to express his opinions.

Sonii Wytewa, a Native woman
Sure, he's a great man, but please look into the image of the "leader" they call Russell Means before falling in love with him, the man who called people "apples" then went on to selling himself out in "Last of the Mohicans" and "Pocahontas," two pieces of texts he previously condemned while he was with the AIM, WHICH he quit on multiple occassions WHILE they put up with his oftentimes sociopathic behavior -- currently Means is running for governor of New Mexico but has had run-ins with the law out there for assaulting his Dine' father-in-law (an elderly man, mind you!) and then, recently, for domestic violence involving beating his wife, also Dine'. Come on, who is afraid to tread around Means unless he has a crowbar in his hand and is going to beat you for not agreeing with his ideals.

I'm sure his text has some historical, political, and cultural resonance but when put into context with the wackyness he is about these days, it doesn't quite add up to much. ... Read more

Reviews (38)

Black Elk's Narrative shows us what we have lost
This is one of the singularly most powerful narratives I have ever read, and, being an academic focused on Native Languages, I have had the opportunity to read many. Black Elk tells the story of his life and his spiritual experiences unabashedly, and with the force and clarity that come with wide experience and careful contemplation. He was a singular individual, and his story is unique, even among his own people. His account is dense and complex, especially regarding his spirituality - and it is naturally very confusing to a Westerner. The historical accounts are fascinating, and more accessible, and drive home with vivid imagery the human beings our country devoured in the name of "progress". (Something particularly useful to remember at this juncture in our history)
For his story to have the right impact, you must believe what Black Elk says to be true. If you're coming to his story for "feel good" new-age spirituality, go read something mushy from the Oprah Book club. Any sort of Western paternalism, most often cloaked in new-age terminology and half-witted sophomoric Literary criticism, about how Black Elk uses "wonderful metaphors" and "fabulous, alive imagery" is really missing the point and dishonors one of the key figures of a very important Native American religious movement - the Sun Dance. This movement is not only important to the Sioux, but to many other tribes in the great plains.
Black Elk is telling you the truth. He wasn't "smoking peyote" as some suggest, or anything of the sort. He really did see a red buffalo that led him through the spirit world. Suggesting that he was confused or delusioned, or feeding half-truths to Mr. Neihardt is like patting him on the head and telling him to trot off to bed so that the 'big boys' can think important things. If you don't accept that premise, you will never understand him or any of his people.
One aspect of his life that has fascinated me the most is his fearless application of faith. He was given a vision in which he was told that a bow would protect him in battle. So he promptly got the bow, and then went out in front of the Union machine guns with it held over his head, riding back and forth. After several trips across the line, he was hit once with a bullet. This he attributes to his own momentarily failing faith, and not to the falsity of the vision. Another man believed he could stop bullets with a sacred pelt-cloak draped across him. He put it on and stood calmly at the crest of the hill in full view of the Union guns. After a while, he came back down and shook the bullets from his clothing onto the ground. I find myself wondering how many of the sweating, blubbering "religious" people in the modern age would be so brave as to put their professed faith into such direct action. Black Elk and many of his fellow warriors LIVED the "matrix"'s dualistic philosophy instead of watching it on TV.
This underscores an excellent message in his narrative - where have we come to? Why do we live this false life now? The trappings of modern civilization that we have been taught to see as blessings and indispensible to life were seen by Black Elk as a curse on his people. They robbed his people of their power and made them helpless. It is left to wonder if this technology has done the same for its creators.

Black Elk Still Speaks
To potential readers, worried about the authenticity of this work and its right to speak for Native Americans:

The question of how closely the words of this book follow the words of Black Elk has long been debated. It will not be decided here. Turn to the scholarly literature if you truly wish to pursue an answer. I have done that and in my mind (and I do have some education in these realms) am at peace with the book as a genuine expression of turn of the century Lakota spirituality. Neihardt may have written the words, and Ben Black Elk (Black Elk's son) may have done the translating, but Black Elk lived the life, as is corroborated by other sources.

I use the work in my introduction to religion classes, to bring another world to life for my students. Is Black Elk's vision theirs? Of course not. Is the book even Black Elk's vision? Perhaps not exactly. But it is a vision of power and every now and then it awakens a vision in students living 100 years after Black Elk. I belive Black Elks speaks and there is some power in his words still.

Excellent Primary Source
Black Elk's account of the life of the plains indians at the close of the 19th Century is an excellent first hand account of how the United States forced change on the Native Americans and how they struggled to find a way to save their culture in the face of such a radically different and sometimes violent opposing philosophy. Through out the story, Black Elk indicates a level of sadness at being forced into violent confrontation and forced moves around the upper midwest and into Canada. As he puts it in, all they wanted to do was to live in the land that was theirs and it was no longer theirs. His accounts of how the United States routinely violated treaties that were forced on the Native Americans is also a source of the sadness that pervades his account.

In addition to providing a great accounting of the injustices that were committed by the United States, Black Elk also gives an excellent insiders view to the culture of the Lakota. The use of visions, sweatlodges, and dances as a way of promoting their nations is recounted in great detail and provides real insight into how this tribe lived prior to being forced onto a reservation.

The writing of Black Elk speaks is also well done. It is not dumbed down, but at the same time, it was not written over the head of the average reader. There are some instances where going to the appendix to find a good meaning for some of the native words included in the text is helpful, but this is not in the least bit distracting to the readers. If you are looking for an excellent first hand account of the close of the 19th century and the US treatment of Native Americans, look no further than this.

Heartfelt Tale
This work relates some of the main events of the life of a man (Black Elk) who was both an Indian warrior and holy man. He had several visions when he was younger including one great one which formed much of his later thought and also how he viewed his people. It's a heartwrenching story because one can't help but feel saddened while listening to this man relate how his people lost their land and also many of their own in battles. Also one is moved to sadness by hearing of the instances when the Government lied to his people and either gave them half of what they said they would (in the way of land or cattle) or flat out didn't uphold the terms of a treaty. As Black Elk said, "You can't eat lies." One is reminded how devastating our modern notion of progress has been while we have wallowed in the ignorance of other people and also of the Great Mother (Earth). We've lost out on much of a great culture with the Indians and their way of life and also ruined a lot of the environment out of notions of stupidity such as looking for yellow metal. I recommend this book to get you thinking about how to have compassion for all peoples regardless of how different or savage they may appear and also so we hopefully never make some of the dastardly mistakes other people have made in the past.

Outstanding
This is a book that every person will obtain something of important value in their life from reading. It is my thought that every person who is a religious leader of any faith should consider it required reading. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (10)

Wonderful story about loved ones being reunited!
Like many of the readers I couldn't put the book down until I read it from cover to cover. While reading the story I found out these people were my extended family! I know everyone mentioned in the book. As a youngster I remember the crusade of Aunt Desbah, Uncle John and others in finding the twins who were stolen as babies. I wept at the end when Yvette participated in the holy Hozhoji ceremony to be reunited with her birth place, family, culture, and environment. Very moving!

Aunt Betty, Yvette's biological mother lived a very brave life as she longed and searched everyday of her life wanting to be reunited with her twins. May God bless her soul.

A poignant uplifting story about finding one's roots + place
A few years ago, NBC-TV did a story about a 43 year old Jewish woman who, when she sought out her birth parents, discovered that she was actually born to a Navajo family. Yvette was a lost bird, the name Native Americans give to their children who were stolen by "well-meaning" white social workers and others. This is Yvette's fascinating story. Yvette Melanson was born "out West" in the 1950's, adopted by a Jewish couple in Miami, and raised in New York City in a wealthy, doting, Jewish family. Although she knew she was adopted, her parents always deflected questions about her roots, but did let it slip that she had a twin brother. When her mother died a painful death when Yvette was just a young teenager, Yvette's father blamed Yvette, rejected her, and soon remarried a woman who treated Yvette worse than Cinderella. So I don't give away any more juicy details, suffice it to say that Yvette moved to a Kibbutz in Israel at 17, was injured as a soldier during the '73 Yom Kippur War, returned to the U.S., joined the US Navy, and settled in Maine to raise a family. Can you believe that at her father's funeral, a stranger had to ask her stepmother to move over so Yvette could sit in the family pew? Can you believe such a family? Upon discovering her true birth heritage a while after the funeral, we follow Yvette as she meets her Navajo family, learns the truth, tries to fit into Navajo culture, which is sometimes at odds with a more loud, New York City/Israeli/Jewish one, and finds similarities between her Jewish faith and Navajo culture. Will she fit in? Will she find her twin brother? Can a Jewish woman find peace on the res? A fascinating cross-cultural story

Looking for Lost Bird: A Review
Looking For Lost Bird:
A Jewish Woman Discovers Her Navajo Roots.
Yvette Melanson with Claire Safron
Bard Books. 233 pages. $22.00
By Elliot Fein

Looking For Lost Bird is a true story that is disturbing yet compelling. A Native American Navajo Indian woman gives birth on her reservation home in Arizona to twins, a girl and a boy. During their infancy, both children get sick. The mother takes the children to the nearest local hospital for a diagnosis.

Hospital staff members instruct her that they will need to keep the two children over night for observations. When the mother returns the next day, the children are gone. The hospital has no record that they were ever admitted.

The kidnapped infant children are each adopted in Florida by two different families. One of the families is a young Jewish couple that lives in a New York City suburb. Looking for Lost Bird is the story of the Navajo girl, Yvette Melanson, who is raised in that Jewish household.

As an adult, Melanson discovers her Navajo origins and searches for her family roots. She finds her family (minus her mother, who died of a broken heart grieving for two lost children) still living on the Navajo reservation in which she was born. At the age of forty-three, Melanson decides first to visit her birth family in Arizona, then to move there permanently with her husband and two children.

While adjusting to the reservation, Melanson learns and begins practicing the religion, culture, and way of life of her birth family. In this process, she abandons many of the Jewish cultural practices (but not necessarily Jewish values) in which she was raised.

Melanson's Jewish parents (particularly her mother) provide a loving and caring environment for their daughter. In Yvette's recollection of how she was raised, their warts do surface, particularly the shortcomings of her father. After her mother becomes ill and eventually dies during her teen years, the father changes into a different, less appealing character.

Melanson never reveals whether her Jewish parents knew about her Navajo origins. The reader is left to speculate whether the knowledge, if known by her Jewish parents that she was stolen from a Native American Indian family would have impacted their decision to adopt.

What is surprising in the telling of this life story is the absence of any form of anti-Semitism by the author. When Melanson writes critically about her mother and father, she writes about them as individuals. She does not associate her criticism of them with Judaism as a faith tradition.

On the reservation, when she begins taking on Native American Indian ways, Melanson naturally compares Navajo culture to Judaism. In this comparison, Melanson writes with respect, affection, and even admiration about the religious tradition in which she was raised.

Melanson tells her life story (with the help of Claire Safron) with compassion, humor, and eloquence.

I recently led a book club at my synagogue. A member of the club recommended that I read Looking for Lost Bird. After reading it, we immediately decided to include Looking for Lost Bird one of our featured selections. The book provides a great opportunity to learn about Navajo culture and to see how it compares to Judaism as a religious tradition. The book is also a true gift for adopted individuals, particularly native American Indians, seeking to uncover their past.

Elliot Fein teaches Jewish Studies in the Tarbut V'Torah School in Irvine.

A beautiful journey of soul and spirit
I read this book from cover to cover in a few hours and wished it had gone on and on. It is a poignant yet heartwarming story of an American family. For many years our Native American people suffered immesurable pain as their children were stolen from them and often lost forever. This is a "happy ending" story of a joyful reunion! The emotions in all of the family members are deeply felt. Lost children are returned to their roots and the depth of love of these family members for one another is beautiful. This book is wonderfully written!

Navajo Twin finds her harmony on the reservation
This story is a touching recollection of painful experiences. Through Yvette's story the reader is taken through a series of emotions. Native Women coming from a matrilineal clan systems will surely relate to the expressed feeling of attachment to family, land, sprirituality and harmony.

Although the reader is taken through a complex array of ceremonies, the content is described with specific simplicity , as to not disrespect the traditional ceremonial purposes.

The book encourages women everywhere to take adversity in ones life and face it with courage, vision, and spiritual growth. ... Read more

Book Description

Critical acclaim for The Last Comanche Chief

"Truly distinguished. Neeley re-creates the character and achievements of this most significant of all Comanche leaders." — Robert M. Utley author of The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull

"A vivid, eyewitness account of life for settlers and Native Americans in those violent and difficult times." — Christian Science Monitor

"The special merits of Neeley's work include its reliance on primary sources and illuminating descriptions of interactions among Southern Plains people, Native and white." — Library Journal

"He has given us a fuller and clearer portrait of this extraordinary Lord of the South Plains than we've ever had before." — The Dallas Morning News ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Balanced and Accurate
Neeley's saga depicts the life of the man who led the last free Comanche tribe from the Texas plains into the modern world. In one lifetime Quanah successfully bridged centuries and cultures. A chasm so vast that Quanah is the only native American Chief that truly made the transition. Son of a captive girl, Cynthia Ann Parker, and son of a Chief, Peta Nocona, Quanah is a man who is truly unique in every way. Neeley's account of this man is fantastic.

Quanah Parker, American Hero
Bill Neeley is to be commended for a fine and well documented historical work which reads as good as a Larry McMurtry novel. No finer cast of characters could be invented than those very real people who populated Quanah Parker's world of the Texas Panhandle at the end of the 19th century. Definitely a book for those who prefer there history as it really happened. Not glossed over or compared only to the way it fits into someone's idea of what constitutes the historical "big picture". Must reading for those interested in the history of the plains Indians and real life cowboys, frontiers-folk and Texas lore. Sired by the great Commanche war chief Nocona on Cynthia Ann Parker, a young Texan captive taken in a raid on her father's ranch, Quanah Parker was the last and probably the finest example of a Commanche warrior. Although they never numbered more than 3,000 to 5,000 warriors, the Commanche stood astride the southern gateway to the west and single handedly stopped the southwestern expansion of America for 100 years. The reason Lewis and Clark were sent north to find a route to the west coast around them. So hated by the Texans that the Texas Rangers were created with the sole purpose of annihilating them. The Commanches preyed on Texan settlers along the frontier for both livelihood and sport. Quanah Parker was the last man standing. The last of the plains Indians to surrender to the US Cavalry. Never defeated in battle. Quanah led a tired band of warriors to Ft. Sill Oklahoma, gave up the fight and became a legend in his own time. Neely tells the story well, no unnecessary sentiment, no moral judgement. Just a man and his times as recounted by him in old age, his friends, his enemies and the newspapers of the day. Great fodder for a movie, the life of Quanah Parker. A genuine American hero, although I am not sure he would consider that a complement.

A must read for everyone
Bill Neeley's Book- The Last Comanche Chief, The Life and Times of Quanah Parker is the most comprehensive account of the greatest Comanche chief ever to roam the plains. His book chronicles Quanah's entire life, beggining with the capture of his white mother at Parker's fort. This book details Quanah's storied war accomplishments, and also of his acclaimed rise to favor in the white man's world. Quanah befriended the nation's most powerful men, and his people benefitted from his amazing influence with the white man. It includes a section of rare photos that are just as marvelous as the rest of the book. If you have a passion for books about Native Americans, or just like to read about great leaders, Bill Neeley's book is for you. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In writing his superb life of Crazy Horse, Larry McMurtry faced the same obstacle as every previous biographer of the Oglala Sioux icon: a notable paucity of facts. This didn't inhibit such chroniclers as Mari Sandoz or Stephen Ambrose (whose dual portrait of Crazy Horse and George Custer featured a certain amount of authorial ventriloquism). In this case, however, the shortage of documentation actually works to the reader's advantage. Unencumbered by reams of scholarly detail, McMurtry's book has the shapeliness and inevitability of a fine novella. The author may describe it as an "exercise in assumption, conjecture, and surmise"--but his phrase does scant justice to this elegant, admirably scrupulous portrait.

As McMurtry recounts, Crazy Horse was born around 1840 in what is now South Dakota. Already the arrival of white settlers--who brought with them such mixed blessings as metal tools, firearms, and smallpox--had begun to transform the culture of the Plains Indians. But soon a more ominous note crept into the relationship: "The Plains Indians were beginning to be seen as mobile impediments; what they stood in the way of was progress, a concept dear to the American politician." As whites sought to remove these impediments with increasing brutality, Crazy Horse led his people in a sporadic and ultimately doomed resistance, which peaked at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. Within a year the young warrior (and occasional visionary) had surrendered to the United States Army. Four months later he was dead, stabbed in a highly suspicious scuffle with white and Indian policemen, and the Sioux resistance died with its legendary leader.

McMurtry's powers of compression are formidable. In no more than a few rapid paragraphs, he gives a sense of how this "prairie Platonist" divided the world into transient things and eternal, invisible spirits. He also conveys his opinion of Caucasian double-dealing with fine, acerbic efficiency: "In August, Custer emerged and described the beauties of the Black Hills in mouthwatering terms. In another life he would have made a wonderful real-estate developer. In this case he sold one of the most beautiful pieces of real estate in the West to a broke, depressed public who couldn't wait to get into those hills and start scratching up gold." McMurtry's Crazy Horse is the leanest and least rhetorical version yet of this American tragedy--which makes it, oddly enough, among the most moving. --James Marcus ... Read more

Reviews (44)

A little balance perhaps
I am a fan of the Pengin Lives books. I'll say that up front. But Mr. McMurtry's book on Crazy Horse falls short of the standard the series sets with other works like the book on Rosa Parks. The author has clearly done a great deal of reading and researching to prepare for his task, however, through that he seems to have become bitter about the amount of speculation there has been to fill in the unknown holes of Crazy Horse's story. So he sets out to write a book with just the facts. Nothin' but the facts. And he clings to his effort by breezing past events of the day that were influencing Crazy Horse's life both directly and indirectly. He drops names and dates and places as if we had all done the research with him. In the end the writing and tone of McMurtry's work culminates in a dud of a biography that is lacking in richness. I won't go so far as to say that there is nothing to be learned from reading this book (as some other reviewers have said); I learned a thing or two. I am just left with the feeling that Mr. McMurtry has squandered a great opportunity by pinning himself to flimsy rules out of seeming contempt for other authors on the subject. For shame.

A Good Beginning Book About Crazy Horse, the Man
Crazy Horse has been puzzled over by genertions of historians. Larry McMurtry gives a sensitive portrait of the great Sioux warrior who became a reluctant leader at the battle of the Little Big Horn. It is a short biography with a wonderful story teller's touch! It's worth the read.
Evelyn Horan - teacher/counselor/author
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl Books One - Three

Very nice quick overview of the whole thing
This is my first run at Crazy Horse, so I have nothing to compare it to. While McMurchy does an excellent job of giving only the facts, this book was more about the Sioux then of Crazy Horse.

This book is a great overview, but that's it. I would recommend this book as a primer, then maybe some other historical account of his life

brief encounter
I have not previously read a Penguin Lives book so I don't have a point of reference on how much to expect from one of these biographies. I have noted that none of the volumes seem to be any thicker than McMurtry's "Crazy Horse". I will assume that the purpose of this series is that the reader gets a brief overview of the highlights in the lives of an important historical person. That sounds like a nice idea but the question I have regarding "Crazy Horse" is this; Does it half to be THIS brief?

I was inclined to accept McMurtry's observation that little factual information exists on Crazy Horse. In fact, I think he's soured me somewhat on reading Mari Sandoz's much lengthier biography. However, this book goes in some strange directions dealing with this paucity of information. For example, in trying to describe the great gathering of Indians at the Ft. Laramie Council of 1851, McMurtry inexplicably quotes Wilfred Thesiger's account of an Ethiopian gathering of African tribesmen. Shortly thereafter, he describes the tribal warfare of the Sioux by quoting Peter Matthiessen's description of tribal warfare in New Guinea in the early 1960's. Well, the primary resources on Native Americans may be limited but not so much that we must wander to other continents for our facts. (On second thought, maybe I WILL read Sandoz's book). McMurtry suggests at one point that it would be "hubris" to think that we can read Crazy Horse's mind. He momentarily passes on speculation of Crazy Horse's thoughts and motives and then spends much of the remainder of the book doing just that. So much of these 141 pages are devoted to events that happened during the time of Crazy Horse that little space is left to the man himself. As a biography of facts this work seems more along the lines of Charlie Browns Christmas vacation book report.

However, Larry McMurtry's talent is spinning a tale rather than reporting the facts. This is the saving grace of "Crazy Horse". It reads like a well-written short novel and will leave the reader exasperated but sensing nonetheless that he has just read a good story.

If you like McMurtry...
Larry McMurtry is, in my mind, one of the greatest living authors. His novels make Texas come alive for anyone who reads them. His most famous works, like Lonesome Dove and The Last Picture Show, deserve all of the praise they get, and even his less famous works, like Zeke and Ned, and Boone's Lick, are worth a read. However, he does not often turn his pen to nonfiction, as with his biography of Crazy Horse. It was a tough subject to tackle, due almost entirely to the shortage of facts regarding the legendary Indian leader. This may seem a daunting setback, but McMurtry perseveres, writing a thoroughly engaging biography. Particularly enjoyable are McMurtry's quips at Ambrose. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Gift of Power is a classic story of one man's journey through alienationand struggle to epiphany and redemption. Archie Fire Lame Deer embodies the NativeAmerican struggle for survival in a homeland that has become foreign. In vivid first- person narrative, Lame Deer recalls his tumultuous life in a stereotypical Indian world ofbottles, feathers, and horses.After enough booze and fighting to kill an average man, hetranscends his self-destructive tendencies by reclaiming the spiritual elements of histraditional culture. We learn along with Lame Deer the power and secrets of nativemedicine and the gifts that they bring to the beholder. This Lakota medicine man is ateacher and a model. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

One Of the Greatest books I ahve ever read.
Lame deer pulls no punches and tellyou how it was and how it is. I wish I could have met him in person. He teachings are carried on through others that he has taught. ... Read more