Reviews (4)

A exciting adventure
The book the Red Cloud is a really good book about the native american period. It talks about the history of one leader, Red Cloud. It talks about his life and his effect on the land and his people. He was a strong and couragous person. He stood up for what he believed in. He was kinda of like the the person in between, that is the person between the government and the tribes. Red Cloud did not favored the separation of people. He believed that we can coexist together. Red Cloud lived a long time for someone back then. This is a good book for educational purposes. It is a great tool for learning about the history of Native Americans. Even though this is an biography, it can still be a great learning experience for all.

For the most part, doesn't avoid the controversy
Along with Crazy Horse, Red Cloud is probably one of the best known
Native American leaders, at least by name. He is also probably the
most controversial. Some see him as a statesman and visionary
who,aware that war against the whites had become pointless, negotiated
in the best interests of his people. Others see him as self-serving
and vain, using white insistance on negotiating with "one true
chief" as a means to his own ends.

For the most part, Larson
weighs in on the side of statesman, but he doesn't fail to show the
other side too. He points out how Red Cloud would often make a point
of a small issue, that would benefit only him, at the expense of a
larger issue that affected his people. One example he uses is when,
on a trip to Washington in 1870, Red Cloud became sullen and withdrawn
until he was assured that his delegation would be given 17 horses to
for the trip from the train to the reservation. However, he largely
ignored the bigger and more important issue, of mining for gold in the
Black Hills.

Unfortunately, though, on the most controversial
issue, how much Red Cloud had to do with Crazy Horse's death, or at
least plans for his arrest, Larson is disappointingly vague. He does
acknowlege that Red Cloud was probably jealous of the younger leader.
Indeed, in the last chapter he notes that "...his role in this
tragic affair is probably the blackest mark against his name."
(p.302) Unfortunately, though, Larson doesn't cover the incident in
nearly enough detail. He implies that Crazy Horse truly was planning
to go back on the warpath, rather than fight the Nez Perce as
requested by Lieutenant Clark. He also makes no mention of any possible
misinterpretation of Crazy Horse's words by the less than reputable
interpreter Frank Grouard. Larson may have had good reason for
choosing to leave out some of this material. Certainly his list of
sources shows that the book is well-researched. Unfortunately, the
choice by the publisher, not to use footnotes in this particular
series makes it difficult to determine on what Larson bases his
assumptions.

On the whole, though, the book is well written, and
easy to follow. It is especially valuable for information about Red
Cloud's life before and after the Indian Wars, a period that is not
covered much in any history books. I can definitely recommend this as
a good introduction for those not familiar with the period, or for
those who simply want to know more about the role Red Cloud played in
those important times. However, I would follow it with a good
biography of Crazy Horse.

Worthy foe for the white man
Traditionally, stories of Indian leaders view them as temporarily dangerous nuisances the whites had to deal with during the reasonable and inevitable process of moving the Indians onto reservations. This book is part of a new approach of looking at what an Indian leader tried to achieve for his people and assessing how he went about it and how successful he was in meeting his own goals. There is much detail. Larson has been extremely thorough in his researches, and, though we do not really hear Red Cloud's voice, we respecfully watch him do what he had to do to further his people's best interests. He didn't wear a suit or tie or have an Ivy League degree, but Red Cloud functioned very well indeed in opposing an alien force. Anyone who thinks the earth may one day be invaded from outer space should study Red Cloud. Thank you, Oklahoma University Press.

Interesting,clever,educational,easy to follow
Red Cloud:Warrioir Statesman of the Lakota Souix is a really excellent biography. Larson does a great job of presenting all the informaton in an understandable and captivating way that really makes me want to learn more about Native American history. There is even a map/picture section in the middle of the biography that helps clarify any questions you may have while reading, as all the different battles and tribes might confuse you. Other than that temporary confusion, good job Mr. Larson ... Read more

Book Description

In 1881, nineteen-year-old Corabelle Fellows, well educated and gently bred, overcame her parents' objections and left her upper-class home in Washington, D.C., to become a church-sponsored teacher among the Sioux and Cheyenne in Dakota Territory.Her story, with its personal perspective on the Indians' struggles to keep their religion, lands, language, and way of life, will both intrigue and enthrall readers. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

An extraordinary look at an Indian orphanage in the 50's.
As wards of the state of Oklahoma, Linda Lakoe (Okee-Chee) and her sister Jackie arrive at the predominately indian Murrow orphanage.As Apaches, they are met with suspicion, fear, and aggression from the other children.Linda struggles to become respected by the others, while Jackie, theyounger of the two focuses on finding the adoptive family she has neverknown.

The book depicts their year together at the orphanage, and thechallenges that they endure as orphans, and as sisters with differentgoals.Linda finds comfort and meaning as an aspiring artist, while heryounger sister can only find such comfort with the prospect of having amother.

This is one of the most tear-jerking, thought provoking books Ihave read in recent years.It depicts a journey of self realization anddiscovery.Linda's self discovery, brought on by her prospective adoptivemother, is thrilling and uplifting - provoking anyone who reads it tobelieve that no matter what, there is always a mother figure in life whocan make right, teach, nurture and provide a basis to understand one's ownculture.

The entire book consists of chapters that begin with dreamlike narrations - An excellent method of recalling what should be, andprobably are shady memories of a past that is understandably blurry.

Still, this is one of the best books I've read so far... I would highlyrecommend it to anyone - especially those who have interest in learningabout native american identity in the 20th century.

Brings back the insighful imagination of a child....
This book helped bring back my inner child and rediscover the relationship I had with the earth as a child.Remarkable insight was present in the author when she described her past. ... Read more

Book Description

John Hoover grew up in Cordova, Alaska, in an era when it was an international city and one of the richest ports in the West. Born in 1919 to a Dutch father and Aleut-Russian mother, Hoover has worked as a fisherman, taxi driver, drummer, and sailor--and, throughout, he has been an artist. The ancient Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts, and the spirits that guided them, still guide Hoover today. It is their stories, as well as his own, that he brings alive in his cedar carvings. Now in his eighties, Hoover continues to create small- and large-scale sculptures in cedar and bronze. He was one of the first to successfully bridge the gap between traditional and contemporary art, and he has spent a lifetime mastering his craft, breaking new ground, and reviving ancient cultures. In each of his roles--as Aleut artist, musician, fisherman, and storyteller--he has striven to exemplify dedication, perseverance, and perfection. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Woman Before Her Time
Mrs. Eastman should be considered a pioneer in more ways than one.She was one of the first educators to teach in the Dakota territory.Mrs. Eastman advocated day schools which allowed the native children to remain with their families (a concept which was strongly discouraged by the church boarding schools of the time), she took the time to learn the D/Lakota language and conversed in it, and she lived within the community (as opposed setting herself against it). Mrs. Eastman worked many years while she was a single person (which was quite unusual).She also reported with accuracy what was really occuring on the reservations (often upsetting those in charge-including government and church officials).

Among many things within this book, one can learn about: what works and does not work when teaching individuals whose first language is not English, the Native Americans of the Dakotas,a Feminist before her time, and the account of The Wounded Knee Massacre from someone who tended the few left alive. ... Read more

Book Description

Even prior to the ubiquitous 2000 Sacajawea Dollar Coin, the Shoshoni girl was already, by far, the most memorialized female in American history.As the U. S. Government says on its U. S. Mint Website, "More statues, streams, lakes, landmarks, parks, songs, ballads and poems honor this young woman than any other woman in American history.Without Sacajawea's navigational, diplomatic and translating skills, the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition would have perished."Yet, controversy still rages as to whether she died in 1812 in South Dakota or in 1884 in Wyoming.And where is she buried, South Dakota or Wyoming.This book answers those questions by validating the Oral or Traditional History of her own people, the Shoshones, and explains why many white historians, including Ken Burns and Steven Ambrose, are wrong concerning the death and the burial spot of America's greatest and most beloved female icon. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Anonymous in Norwalk Needs an Editor, not Rich Haney!
I've been enchanted with Sacajawea for forty years, all my adult life. I am now enchanted with Rich Haney's book SACAJAWEA: Her True Story, which I think is the definitive book regarding the very important questions of when she died and where she is buried. Most people, it seems, agree with me and with Mr. Haney's conclusions that she died in 1884 and is buried on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming and that is was another Shoshoni, Otter Woman, that died in 1812 in South Dakota...[T]he very first two sentences of Mr. Haney's book, the Prologue, states very plainly: "This in not an attempt to tell Sacajawea's story in chronological order, because the basic facts have been enumerated many times across two centuries. Rather, I endeavor to elaborate on the reasons many white historians erroneously maintain that she died in 1812 at Fort Manuel in South Dakota, although her Shoshoni people rightfully claim she died in 1884 on Wyoming's Wind River Reservation, her final resting place." With that defining parameter, Mr. Haney successfully separates his book from all other Sacajawea books, most of which have merely added to the mystery as to when Sacajawea died and where she is buried. Mr. Haney, better than any other Sacajawea biographer, clears up that mystery by starkly corroborating the Oral/Traditional History of the Shoshones with a plethora of documentation from the white world, including the testimony of people such as the U. S. Government's investigator, Dr. Charles Eastman; John Roberts, the preacher who knew her and buried her; Mormons who interacted closely with the Shoshones; and a bevy of white people who lived and/or worked on the Wind River Reservation during the years Sacajawea lived and died there. At the same time, Mr. Haney minutely points out how and why many white historians, including Stephen Ambrose, mistook Otter Woman's death at Fort Manuel in 1812 as being the death of Sacajawea. To pull this off, Mr. Haney, as he outlined in the Prologue, reviewed various accounts of Sacajawea's life, explaining where those accounts were similar and where they differed and then discussing the nuances before proving that, essentially, the Shoshones themselves have been totally correct in unwaveringly mandating Sacajawea's life and death. The "repetitive" style, complete with an astute explanation of how the nuances agreed or disagreed with the Shoshones, is exactly what convinced me that Sacajawea's own people indeed know exactly when she died -- April 9th, 1884 -- and exactly where she is buried, on the Wind River Reservation. ...Mr. Haney vividly explains the cultures of the Plains Indians -- which included repeated raids by rival tribes to raid Shoshoni villages for the express purpose of capturing Shoshoni girls... Mr. Haney's version of Sacajawea's reaction to being captured precisely parallels the views of the Plains Indians, as he documents. ...I've read the book three times and ...discovered... only beautifully written, markedly lucid sentences. By contrast, any "editor" would find Anonymous's sentences replete with "rough grammar" and misspelled words. Anonymous, for example, spells "when" as "whan." Also, Anonymous obviously doesn't know much about Sacajawea. He/she, for example, confuses "Fort Mandan" with Fort Manuel concerning where Otter Woman died. Well, Mr. Haney obviously does know more than a little bit about Sacajawea, including when she died and where she is buried. I believe...Mr. Haney's refreshing and insightful biography of America's most memorialized female. ...I am not Anonymous in Jacksonville, Florida.

Sacajawea needs a good editor
While the premise of Rich Haney's book "Sacajawea" is interesting - he is concerned with proving that she died in 1884 on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming and not in 1812 at Fort Mandan in South Dakota - this entire book of 128 pages could and should be condensed into an essay of much shorter length. The material is unbelievably badly organized and repetitive; one never knows where one is in the chronology of events, either the author's or Sacajawea's. A good editor would hopefully have made sense out of this chaos, done away with some of the jargon that seems so out of place (such as saying that Sacajawea "was not too bent out of shape whan a rival tribe mauled her village and took her captive" or "Ken Burns and Steven Ambrose consented to be interviewed only so the 'news' networks or the 'news'papers would pimp both their new projects") and straightened out the rough grammar. Mr. Haney is obviously an amateur historian with a cause, and I congratulate him for his loyalty to and admiration of his Indian subject. However, I wish I hadn't had to spend four hours reading what should have taken me one.

"A Compelling Case, A Credible Argument."
The Sunday, August 13th, 2000, Denver Post had a review of SACAJAWEA: Her True Story by its Nonfiction Editor Sandra Dallas. Ms. Dallas wrote: "Every now and then, a book comes along that challenges historical 'fact' and does it well enough to make you wonder. Did Butch Cassidy die in Bolivia, or did he wind up as a dentist in Seattle? Was Billy the Kid really shot by Sheriff Pat Garrett, or did he die an old man in a little town in New Mexico? Now comes Rich Haney who claims in SACAJAWEA: Her True Story that the Lewis and Clark guide did not die at Fort Manuel in 1812, as most historians claim, but married an Indian named Jirk Meat, lived until 1884 and is buried on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Haney makes a compelling case, citing a number of Indian sources. The 'Snake squaw' (as she was described) who died in 1812 was indeed the wife of Charbonneau, Sacajawea's husband. But he had several wives. The dead woman was Otter Woman, another wife, Haney says. That makes sense. A one-time Virginia television sportscaster, Haney is passionate about his subject. He has a credible argument...

The definitive Sacajawea book.
The Year 2000 Golden Dollar Coin rekindled my interest in Sacajawea and in discussing it with a friend I was informed of Rich Haney's new book entitled SACAJAWEA: Her True Story. I exerted some effort to secure a copy and I now prize it like no other. Beautifully written and superbly documented, I believe it is a vastly important book that, to my satisfaction, delineates 1884 and the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming as the time and place of Sacajawea's death, and the time and place of her burial. I had been skeptical of claims by noted historians such as Steven Ambrose and Ken Burns that Sacajawea died in 1812 in South Dakota, and Rich Haney does the best job of challening that fallacy. And whether Sacajawea died in 1812 or in 1884, and where she is buried, is, I think vastly important. After all, she was already by far the most memorialized female in American history, even prior to the Year 2000 Golden Dollar Coin that will forever bear her image. This little book is a treasure for both Sacajawea and history buffs, like me.

Most Awesome of the Sacajawea Biographies.
SACAJAWEA: Her True Story is a brilliant, thought-provoking biography of Sacajawea, America's most memorialized female. The sheer tenderness of the author's affection for his subject contrasts sharply with his rebukes of her perceived antagonists -- including her adopted state of Wyoming for not embracing her properly and noted historians such as Steven Ambrose for claiming she died in 1812 in South Dakota. The author's documentation that Sacajawea died in 1884 and is buried in Wyoming seems quite convincing, pending better documentation than Ambrose and others have provided regarding the 1812 South Dakota theory. The fact that the U. S. Government, which funded an investigation, and her own Shoshoni people agree with Mr. Haney is also quite persuasive, as is the fact that the only Sacajawea tombstone, listing her death as April 9th, 1884, is on Wyoming's Wind River Reservation. I'd like to see that grave, unless Ambrose can convince me that it's not there or that it's inaccurate. Simply awesome! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Touching and Moving Account
I was engrossed with Pretty Shields story from the moment it began. It was wonderful to read of a native woman's life, before "the buffalo went away". Life then was simpler and so full of joy, as well as so many hardships, but the spirit that is brought across is inspiring and uplifting. A wonderful and engrossing read from beginning to end. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone interested in Native studies, feminism, or simply life, before we came along. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Offers a view like no other
Dakota Cross-Bearer: The Life And World Of A Native American Bishop is the biography of Harold S. Jones, a Dakota Indian born in 1909, who joined the Episcopal Church and rose in its ranks to become the first Native American bishop of a Christian church. Offering key insights into twentieth-century missionary activity among Native American communities, revealing instances of dispute and discrimination amid the Episcopal Church, as well as the demands of clerical training and the relocation in service of the institution, Dakota Cross-Bearer offers a view like no other into the life of an unusual but no less dedicated man of the cloth and faith.

Let this book impact your life !!
What a find this book is!!!Having spent time this summer working on the Pine Ridge Reservation among the Lakota, I was thrilled to read a book containing not only historical facts, but "real life" detail.The joy, humor, sorrow, endurance, and faithfulness of this man of God (and those whose lives entwined with his) truly touched me.This book may be sucessfully used for historical, theological, sociological, or devotional purposes.Make sure to read and reread Fr. Deloria's (Tipi Sapa) testimony concerning Jesus, several times.It is the most compelling witness I have ever heard.It is no wonder that the little one, who listened to this wise man speak, grew up to be a Bishop.

Welcome documentation of missionary activities
Mary E. Cochran presents the story of Harold S. Jones, who in 1921 became the first American Indian bishop of the Episcopal Church.While much of Jones's narrative is in the third person, whenever possible editor Cochran allowed Jones to present his story "in his own words."Raymond A. Bucko and Martin Brokenleg's introduction does a good job of contextualizing Jones's story.The volume sheds considerable light on missionary activities among American Indians in the 20th century and offers welcome documentation of the complex interactions between Christian missionaries and Native peoples of the Plains. Choice, vol 28, no. 7 (March 2001). ... Read more

Book Description

1858. In the preparation of this volume, the author's attention was drawn, to some extent, to the history of the Shawanoe tribe of Indians: and he has accordingly prefixed to the main work, a brief historical narrative of this wandering and warlike nation, with biographical sketches of several of its most distinguished chiefs. In addition to several outside sources of information, the author had personally, at different times, visited the frontiers of Ohio and the Indians, for the purpose of conversing with the Indians and the pioneers of that region, who happened to be acquainted with Tecumseh and his brother; and by these visits, was enabled to enrich his narrative with some amusing and valuable anecdotes. ... Read more