The Book of Elders: The Life Stories & Wisdom of Great American Indians

 

 

The Life Stories of Great American Indians.

Sandy was at a low point in her life when an unforgettable incident set her on a spiritual quest that resulted in this volume. Her brother and father had both recently died; writer's block prevented work on a novel; she was financially strapped; and she was having second thoughts about her then-current project--the biography of a nun who worked with Indians in the last century.

Then, in a waking dream, she saw a wizened Indian face beckoning her. To what? She had to find out. Thus began a three-year journey through Indian country, interviewing tribal elders. As it turned out, she claims, the face she had seen was that of Pete Catches, a noted Oglala Lakota medicine man, whose interview leads off the volume.

Those represented give a fair cross-section of Native experience in the 20th century. Some persons are familiar. Martin Gashweseoma and Thomas Banyacya discuss Hopi prophecies about humanity's impending destruction of the world. Janet McCloud, a Tulalip, discusses those who fraudulently peddle Native spirituality and also the fights over fishing rights that brought her to prominence. Others profiled are less well known. Mike Haney, half Seminole and half Lakota, is described by Johnson as one of ``tomorrow's elders.'' He discusses his involvement with the American Indian Movement and his battle with alcohol. An epilogue tells of Pete Catches's funeral.