Indian Books

Very touching and brings back a lot of memories. I wish I could have met Bernie. DayBreak Star facility is wonderful for the people. I hope they can continue to keep this spirit of achievement going. When you consider the 3 Reyes children coming from a poor reservation, and perservering to get their educations, and giving back like they did, it is a joy to think of. I hope our people will be touched by the achievements and consider striving for their own goals.

The author is justly proud of his brother "Bernie Whitebear". The book provides many facts and stories of Whitebear's accomplishments in fighting for Indian rights. Many of these facts can be be authenticated by going on-line and reading newspaper articles from that time.

I knew Bernie Whitebear while I was a teenager in Seattle and he was the first Urban Indian leader I had met. Over the course of time, I found him to be a person who mentored youth and he was a visionary in a very enlightening period for Urban Indians in Seattle. His perseverance and dedication is a testament to his character and reading the book written by Lawney, his brother, about their upbringing makes all the pieces in the puzzle fit and make sense. He came from a humble background (perhaps "poor" as far as wealth) but also one that was rich in morals, values, traditions and culture. This book was a very good read.

Beautiful book. Great gift to anyone but especially to our Native American family and friends.

This is my third copy. . Its a wonderful overview of many Native American cultural traditions. The map in the back is also outstanding. I keep giving it away. I really think it is special

This book is beautiful and has inspired my class to write & draw.

This book is exceptional in so many ways. The writing is good, the photographs outstanding. Good research and intellectual honesty makes it a good source for history, ecology, and natural studies.

The approach to creating the book worked extraordinarily well but at its inception must have seemed very chancy. The author chosen to write this account of the Nature Conservancy's Tallgrass Prairie Preserve was unfamiliar with the Preserve and its surrounding area in Oklahoma. The advantage was objectivity but there are lots of hazards in such a choice. Annick Smith is from Montana's Rocky Mountains, separate from the Oklahoma grasslands in many ways. Her recognized writing skills, coupled with drawing on three years of research, getting a first-hand feel of the Preserve, and interviewing a broad cross-section of local people produced this fine addition to any library.

At first glance, the beauty and physical appearance tempts a person to call this a "coffee-table book." However, this is a book with depth. Although easy to read, it takes far longer to read than a person expects at first glance. There are several photos and illustrations per page. Harvey Payne, director of the Preserve, took the majority of current photos over the Preserve's relatively short existence. His skill with a camera is extraordinary and complements Smith's writing well. The photos are mostly well captioned, although the people responsible for writing the captions and laying out the format made a few errors - one of only two negative comments that you will find in this review.

Smith chose to organize her chapters by major subject and then present them in rough chronological order. It was the correct choice to provide smooth flow, and she avoided the trap of duplicating information from chapter to chapter.

After several tries at preserving something of the vanished tall grass prairies that covered much of the central United States, the dedication of the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve was in 1993. Mostly local issues kept it from being federally administered and The Nature Conservancy stepped in to keep the drive for protection from failing. The Preserve includes over 30,000 acres carved from one of the big Oklahoma cattle ranches. To think of the Preserve as being the same as the original tall grass prairies, is incorrect. It will never be. For one thing, we don't even know for sure what that was; what plants were there, how it changed in response to climate and chance events over centuries. This bit of Oklahoma is an infinitesimal part of the original and each acre of the original differed. Obviously, the historic prairie was unmanaged except for minor burning and other efforts by the Indian tribes. The Preserve is highly managed, albeit with a goal of creating something close to the original. The administration sets fires to represent the random burning which natural forces might have caused. Cattle are gradually being replaced with buffalo to recreate historic grazing patterns as much as possible. However, tourism is a significant source of gaining funds and public support. Oil drilling and pumping continues through agreements between the Preserve and the oil companies. Fencing is required not only at the perimeter, but also in the interior.

Annick Smith first gives the history of the Preserve, and then circles back to that at the end of the book. She begins with the character, plants and animals of the Preserve. At that point, she steps back and covers the Native American history of the area, including the dismal record of broken agreements and various Indian relocations. The Osage are the predominant Native Americans in the area today. Smith's narrative then goes through a progression of white incursions of buffalo hunters, settlers, cattle ranchers, and finally oil exploration. It is necessarily a summary history but still provides a lot of detail. There is a generous amount about people in this book; those who created the Preserve and run it, the past and present inhabitants of the area.

At this point, I must interject my second negative comment. In portraying the community surrounding the Preserve, Smith adequately covers the people of lower income, as well as the large cattlemen and oilmen. Although mentioning some of the people in the middle, she goes too quickly past those who operate businesses in the towns that support the preserve. There isn't any mention of mini-ranchers running a few head of stock while holding other jobs to make ends meet. The people who attend PTA meetings, lead 4-H clubs, and cooperate in soil conservation districts are part of the core element in such a community.

Now back to the positive. The final chapter is "The Politics of Preservation," and the book ends with a delightful Epilogue, a great resource list for further reading, and a helpful index.

Thanks to those who brought the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve into being, and I wish them the best of luck. Thanks to Annick Smith and Harvey Payne for a great book.

I fully enjoyed this book. In her discussion of the prairie preserve, Annick Smith delved into cowboys, cattle drives, Indians, The Trail of Tears, Oklahoma land runs, buffalo, cattle, oil, the Civil War, controlled fire, prairie grasses, outlaws: all the makings of 10,000 Western movies. The book is beautiful: oversized and full of color photos. I especially enjoyed it since I was born in Oklahoma, still live here, and have spent some time on the prairie. But for anyone who likes Western history, prairie photography and preservation, this is a spiritual journey into a new home of grasses and buffalo in Oklahoma.

....this is a book you must own. Harvey Payne is one of the greatest outdoor photographers you will ever find. If you have lived in Oklahoma or are at all interested in this area or ecosystem, you will find this book fascinating. There is so much beauty in our state that is overlooked, and this book brings it to life, along with engaging stories of the people who tamed this rough wilderness. This is a book that makes me proud to be an Okie while looking at it. If you have ever been entranced by the stoic, proud majesty of the bison who once ruled the prairie, and are now relegated to wildlife preserves, buy this book!

A contemporary child gets help from an old story in this bright picture book set in a small desert village on the Papago reservation in southern Arizona near the Mexican border. Marta Enos' day is ruined when the wind blows her papers out the window and the dogs chew her homework into trash; then she trips and breaks her glasses. Grandmother comforts Marta Enos, repairs the glasses, bakes her some warm tortillas, and tells her a traditional tale about how to deal with a problem. Sometimes it is good to be a tree and look all ways at once; sometimes it is best to be a rock or a fierce mountain lion; but Marta Enos chooses to be an eagle, who can fly high and see how small the problem is. Strongbow's watercolor paintings set the story in wide desert landscapes as the sun sets and the full moon rises, and warm portraits show the loving bond across generations. (summary by Heather Roselle)

I really enjoyed this as a book to read with my 4 1/2 year old daughter. It has a neat story line, wonderful word pictures, lovely illustrations and is suitable for 4 years and up. It encourages kids to think about different ways of solving the problems that arise in life.

The story follows a young girl who, in a hurry to join her Indian grandmother making tortilla's, upsets her homework and eventualy breaks her glasses. The girl is devestated by the turn of events. The grandmonther gently restores her, giving her options on how to solve the problem while gently repairing the glasses. Is this a time to "be like a tree in the desert, standing tall and looking all ways at once" .... "a time to stay still like stone and wait for the problem to pass" .... or a time to fly high like and eagle looking far down to the problem which now seems so small and laugh at it..... As her glassess are mended and the homework reworked the girl can decide that the best option is to look at the big picture. To put the day in perspective and fly high like the eagle. The other options can be considered, thought about and keep hidden away for another day when maybe they will be the most approprite solution for life's problems.

I love this book! So does my 4 1/2 year old stepson, and his Dad has gotten a lot out of it too. The idea of choosing how you are going to respond to a problem rather than just throw a tantrum is something we are teaching the children, and constantly learning for ourselves too. This book is warm and loving, an excellent quiet time read for people of all ages.

Damian Costello has taken post-colonial studies to new and exciting heights with his book, Black Elk: Colonialism and Lakota Catholicism. Costello's work examines the life and thought of Black Elk situating this great American Indian figure within his complex cultural, religious, and historical context. Many previous studies on Black Elk see him simply as a paradigmatic American Indian religious leader. Unlike these one-sided studies, Costello takes a more nuanced look at Black Elk's life, employing a much broader view based on cutting edge historical and sociological research. Costello demonstrates that Catholicism was essential to Black Elk, permeating every aspect of his life. When scholars ignore or dismiss Black Elk's Catholicism, they are ignoring or dismissing what Black Elk considered to be most important in his life. Costello further shows how the Lakota people embraced Catholicism both as in continuity with their past traditions, as well as using their Catholic Christian faith as a means of resisting the colonial project of the United States. Costello provides a very detailed look into the life of Black Elk and the Lakota, as well as at the point where Christianity meets American Indian cultures. This book has far-reaching implications for understanding the role of Christianity in colonized regions of the world. Costello lucidly demonstrates how colonized peoples have appropriated Christianity, living their new-found Christian faith as a way of life, and thereby utilizing the tools with which Christianity has provided them to resist economically and politically driven colonial projects. In the case of the Lakota, Catholic missionaries played a complex role, at once a part of the colonial project, and at the same time peaceful combatants against colonial subjugation. By learning Lakota language and traditions as well as translating the Bible into Lakota, these missionaries imparted a powerful means of resisting colonial power to the Lakota. As the equivalent of a Catholic deacon, Black Elk the Catholic missionary exemplifies Costello's post-colonial thesis. Costello has shown how, contrary to previous wisdom, some of the colonized become complicit with colonial projects, and at the same time how some of the colonizers empower the colonized to resist colonial pressures. Costello has written a very important work. Black Elk: Colonialism and Lakota Catholicism is extremely well-written; it is entertaining, informative, and provocative. In a field where so much that is written is either banal or so prohibitively academic that non-specialists can find no benefit in reading the books, Costello's book is an oasis in a desert of dry texts. I highly recommend his work to anyone interested in U.S. history, colonialism, American Indian culture and spirituality, Catholicism (especially in the U.S.), post-colonial studies, and of course Black Elk. You will not be disappointed by Costello's work.

Most of us, whether Native American or African American or Catholic or Jewish are trying to understand who we are in a world where the rug is constantly being pulled out from under our sense of identity, be it religious, ethnic, or both.

This story of Black Elk not only re-explores how this great man faced these questions, but also details the story of this historical figure's jourey through academic interpretation. It shows how he has been used by others as they, too, sort out their own identities.

I read this book while reading John Steinbeck's "The Winter of our Discontent." I love how Steinbeck describes our relationships with religion as something we both cling to and avoid. "I guess we're all, or most of us, the wards of that nineteenth-century science which denied existence to anything it could not measure or explain. The things we couldn't explain went right on but surely not with our blessing. We did not see what we couldn't explain, and meanwhile a great part of the world was abandoned to children, insane people, fools, and mystics who were more interested in what is than why it is. So many old and lovely things are stored in the world's attic, because we don't want them around us and we don't dare throw them out." (pg 89)

The questions of identity, at once religious and ethnic, are restlessly collecting dust in everyone's attics. Black Elk's journey through life and academic discourse, as documented by Cotello, won't answer these questions. To the discerning eye, however, it certainly helps to shed some much needed light on them.

On many a university campus, at many an after hours party, you can usually find a small circle of students - lets call them young intellectuals - discussing Bob Marley, Native Americans, and Western oppression amidst a haze of smoke as they pass a joint - the smoking of which is supposed to signify their solidarity with the oppressed. Within this conversation the subject of Christianity will often appear, and it is usually associated with the West's - or the "white man's"- oppression over minorities. While there are perhaps reasons for unlearned students to assume that the power of Christianity and the power of the West always coincide, Costello argues otherwise.
Costello's book primarily addresses the Lakota holy man Black Elk's Catholicism, but the author's subsection on Rastafarianism is in itself worth the purchase. For it is in this section that he explains the distinction between the power of Christianity versus the power of Western colonialism, as experienced by the Jamaicans. Rastafarians, Costello argues, used the gospel message of Jesus to combat oppression and Black Elk did the same. This is all very intriguing and at first strange, but as Costello puts it, quite simply, in his final chapter: "Christianity provides a moral story that is greater than the West." (168) Contrary to our contemporary assumptions, then, it seems that there are multiple forms of Christianity. That being the case, according to Costello, it is entirely possible for Christianity to remain a liberating force, depending on who is reading the gospel. Western Colonial powers may have brought the gospel message with them when they conquered the natives, but Black Elk, just like Ras Tafari, took the gospel of Jesus away from his oppressors, internalized it, and then used the power of the gospel to fight off oppression.
If Costello is only a doctoral student, as the back of his book states, then I anxiously await the publication of his dissertation.

Kenneth Wiggins Porter apparently died before he finished the manuscript for this one and so it fell to others (Alcione M. Amos and Thomas P. Senter) to edit and update this book. It's hard to sort out the contributions of each but the result is a well documented narrative of the Black Seminole from the early days in Florida to the early part of the twentieth century. Built mainly around the rise and life of the still little known Western hero, John Horse, a man of mixed blood (his father seems to have been a Seminole tribesman, perhaps of mixed blood himself) and an African mother who was an escaped slave in pre-Civil War America, it details the formation and development of a unique tribal people in America's history.

Indeed, the evidence suggests that thousands of Africans fled the chattel bondage of South Carolina, Georgia and, later, the states of Alabama and Florida in the 18th and early nineteenth centuries, forming communities that existed under the protection of the Florida Indians (themselves exiles from internecine conflict in Georgia and Alabama within the Creek nation or from white Americans who set out to suppress them under Andrew Jackson). The exiled Muscogulge peoples (the proper name for the Creek as suggested by J. Leitch Wright Jr. in his own well documented work "Creeks and Seminoles", University of Nebraska Press) initially kept slaves, a practice learned from the whites, but did not have the economy to use them as the whites did. And so Seminole slavery evolved in a very different fashion. While purchasing or receiving some slaves as gifts from whites, the Seminole treated them as status symbols and pretty much let these people operate independently. Gradually, escaped slaves joined the Indian communities and built up their own communities under the influence and protection of the Seminole chiefs. They were seen more as vassals than slaves by the Indians who left them to their own devices and basically expected them to hunt and raise their own crops to feed themselves, only remitting an annual portion in tribute to the tribal chief.

Free to come and go as they pleased, the blacks developed their own eclectic tribal culture, partly in emulation of the Seminole and partly reflecting the lives they had lived in bondage to the whites. Into this world John Horse was born around 1812. He was still a boy when Andrew Jackson violated international boundaries and Spanish sovereignty in Florida to carry his war against the defeated Creek Red Sticks in Alabama into Florida. Driven by a fear of the free and growing black communities under Seminole auspices, Jackson and other whites sought to wipe these people out. They had other goals, too, including forcing Spain to accept American expansion into East and West Florida and pushing the Creek Indian renegades (the Seminole) out.

John Horse seems to have been a child on the Suwannee River in northern Florida when Jackson appeared and burned the black and Indian villages. Later John appears on Florida's western coast around Tampa Bay at around 14 years of age where he is documented as trying to cheat the local army commander over some turtles. From these creatures, called gophers by the locals, he took his lifelong nickname, Gopher John. The story of the Black Seminole follows John's career as he came to the fore in the second year of the Second Seminole War (which lasted for seven years), becoming an important sub-chief and leader of the Seminole-affiliated blacks.

Taking part in many of the major battles, he is first documented in a fight at Okeechobee though he may have been present earlier at Dade's Massacre, the Battle of the Withlacoochee, of Camp Izard and of the Great Wahoo Swamp. In the fighting, the American military soon realized that the black fighters, though fewer, were fiercer antagonists in many ways than the Seminole warriors, no doubt because they had more to lose. While the whites were mainly interested in driving out the Indians, relocating them to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi, they were keen to use the war with the Seminole as a pretext to capture blacks for re-enslavement since the new republic had banned importation of new slaves from abroad.

John Horse honed his tracking and fighting skills in that war but was finally convinced of the futility of the effort and was among those blacks who decided to take a chance on the promises of then U.S. Army general in charge, Thomas S. Jesup, that blacks who freely surrendered would not be re-enslaved but sent with the Seminole to the West. Unfortunately Jesup, whatever his original intentions, soon came under pressure by the white population of Florida to allow re-enslavement of many of the blacks. When this became known, John Horse and various Seminole leaders raided and freed some 700 Indians and blacks who had voluntarily surrendered and were awaiting transfer to the West near Fort Brooke in Tampa.

Jesup seems never to have gotten over this loss and repeatedly thereafter used trickery and deceit to capture and imprison the Indian leaders though he continued to hold out the promise of freedom to their black allies in order to wean this group away. John was one of the few remaining black leaders by 1837 (the war had begun in 1835) still free and actively resisting and was finally persuaded to accept Jesup's terms. Thereafter he was sent, with others, to Indian Territory in what is today Oklahoma. There the Seminole blacks found they had new problems for the Creek were already there and the Creek wanted to reassert control over the Seminole who had originally been part of their polity. But the Creek had adopted the institution of chattel slavery from the whites and insisted that the blacks with the Seminole had to be re-enslaved.

John Horse spent some time back in Florida working as a scout for the Army there against his old allies and eventually was instrumental in convincing many of them to come in and accept deportation, too. But when John was ultimately obliged to return to Indian Territory in the West, he found a situation that was untenable for the blacks. John, who was half Seminole himself and had papers freeing him issued by the U.S. Army leader he served, General Worth, as well as freedom from the Seminole tribal council, could have stayed on without fear while the other blacks were forced back into slavery. But he refused to do so and advocated strongly to see that Jesup's decree was fulfilled by the American government. Jesup, to his credit, did the same. But the slave interests in the region, including planters and slavers in nearby Arkansas, would not abide a community of free blacks so close by. More, many of them coveted title to the Seminole blacks.

When the U.S. government refused to sustain Jesup's decree and, instead, decided to force the black Seminole back into servitude, John found an ingenious way to save many of his people. Allying with the Seminole chief Wildcat, an old ally from the Florida war, he took a contingent of blacks and Indians in a dash across Texas to freedom in Mexico. Pursued by Creek warriors determined to re-enslave them, Arkansas slavers, and hounded by Texas Rangers who supported the slavers, attacked by Commanche intent on preventing their crossing the Rio Grande to take up arms in defense of Mexico's borders, John's and Wildcat's combined people managed a successful exodus, crossing the Rio Grande in the dead of night on make shift rafts -- just ahead of the Texas Rangers.

In Mexico John Horse and Wildcat proved a daunting team though Wildcat died early on in a smallpox epidemic and John became the revered leader of the "Mascogos" (as the Mexicans called the black Seminole). Through a tumultuous career, he led and defended his people. This book tells that story as it closely follows the battles and struggles of this forgotten American hero, John Horse, a man who risked his own life and freedom many times to defend the lives and freedom of others.

SWM
author of The King of Vinland's Saga
and A Raft on the River

As a descendant of Florida's Apalachicola Indians removed to Texas in 1834, I know the Black Seminole as my kin. Porter's narrative parallels our oral tradition and enhances it with photos and maps. Facts presented are well researched and documented with scholarly precision. Historic accuracy is near flawless. Language of the text is readable and the style captivating. No dry history here! Porter brings this forgotten segment of Florida's mixed blood Seminoles to life in seventeen easy chapters. Like a piece of tender, seasoned vinson, it leaves the reader filled but wanting more. No worse injustice could be done to Professor Porter that compare The Black Seminoles to another text. The power of the Porter pen has no peer. Without reservation, Porter's text is a unique gift to all of us. sixwomen@nettally.com

This is a classic. Every serious historian of African Americans needs to have this book. I am a descendant of these people and much of what is in the book confirmed what I have been told since I was a boy. Thanks to those tireless warriors who coompleted this work for without them, it would have remained hidden away.

This account of a people dedicated to freedom is a must read.

This Comanche legend demonstrates how people are sometimes blessed due to others' faith and/or sacrifice. It relates the story of the origins of the bluebonnet, a beautiful flower that blankets the prairies, and is honored as Texas' state flower.

It is a time of drought and the People of the prairie are hungry. An old warrior named Spirit Talker goes out alone to pray, seeking the reason for his kin's suffering. He returns with the message that the People have been taking more than they need during seasons of plenty, and that they must now sacrifice their most treasured personal possessions. Alas, no one is willing to part with valued items.

No one, that is, except a little girl. Her offering brings rain and an amazing meadow of bluebonnets. Soft, expressive watercolor paintings complement this version of the popular tale.

Bluebonnet Girl by Michael Lind retells a legend of the Comanche Native Americans about how a young girl's sacrifice of her greatest treasure saves her land and her people from terrible drought and suffering. Featuring the artwork of Kate Kiesler, Bluebonnet Girl is a beautifully illustrated and highly recommended tale of courage and sacrifice which is narrated for young readers ages 4 to 9 in rhyming verse.

It was a heart warming story that brought tears to my eyes. It was great. I got it from the library because it was not available for purchase. I read about it in a monthly electric co-op magazine. I am about to purchase 2 for gifts now that they are available in hardback.

Hagan is great. once you read her you will be like me and turn into a serious addict. her words are mesmerizing and captivating. give this a try and you wont regret the choice or the cost. also read savings

Hogan has tapped into her ancestrial history and brought to light the importance of connection back to nature and how much we need it in our lives.

Hogan takes her readers through history and rewrites/transforms the mythology of our beginnings. In short it seems that Hogan says Nature was here before man and can live without man, man however, cannot live without nature and now, with the destruction that man has caused and continues to cause to nature, we are dependant upon each other to survive. It is our job, mans, to correct our errors, that we may all continue to live in the centuries to come, that our children's children may enjoy the beauty and wonder of towering trees, mysterious animals, and colorful flowers, along with the flowing waters of rivers, lakes and the ocean at large.

Hogan is amazing in her works, a must read for any reader. With her works, the possibilities are endless.

Loss, redemption, ruptures and healings. From the roots of a native perspective, Hogan chants vivid stories in poems that illuminate and heal. With true magic, she opens us to greater depth and vision through the power of words that haunt and whisper and eventually compel us to change. Raise yourself up and read this collection.

Man, I love anything with crazy visions in the sky - particularly the first chapter of the Biblical book Ezekiel - but the vision in this book is a neat thing to read about too. I just don't get why the buffalo was referenced at the end. Must be a Native American custom to end all stories with some mentioning of a buffalo.

I'm sorry to say I still like non-sacred dogs more than sacred dogs, but I have a very good reason for doing so. Sacred dogs are much more expensive.

I loved this book when I was little, and I still love it now. It's great to see that it's still around. It's a wonderful story with even better illustrations for children and adults.

Children and adults will enjoy the colorful illustrations and tale of how the Native Americans acquired the horse. Lovely!

A. Slater does a wonderful job at drawing the reader into Vince Schearer's life. Reading the ups and downs, twists and turns of his life were almost as if I was being taken on a journey of someone I knew. I was taken on an emotional roller coaster that ran a gamut of feelings: joy, pain, pride, disappointment, concern, anger, shame, sadness, and most of all love. A. Slater fully exposes his main character to the reader and shows how love (love of a mother, love of God, love of family, etc.) can ultimately redeem even the most wayward and help them strive towards their full potential.

I had a hard time putting this book down once I began reading. A wonderful and truly inspiring book.

By the end of the book I felt like I knew the author as I had experienced many of the highs and lows of his life.

Provides an unbiased insight into the relationship between men and women and exposes many of the nuances and vulnerabilities of both sexes.

Will highly recommend.

Every time I read this book I am pleasantly reminded of the power of God, Faith, Love (A Mother's Love), Strength and Courage. You are invited to grow up with Vince, along the way you suffer with him through his trials and you celebrate his triumphs. This book is an inspirational breath of fresh air. The bond between Vince and his mother is one to be envied. She fought to make her love of God his and after you read this book it becomes yours. A friend of mine bought a copy and after reading it she started saying things like `I can do all things through Christ' when faced with a problem. In the three years that I've known this friend I've never heard her mention anything even remotely related to Christ. Expect results like this, in yourself and the ones you share Mr. Slater's book and/or message with. Andy Slater has a wonderful voice and reading his book will provide an instant shot of fortitude and inspiration.