Crow Dog: Four Generations of Sioux Medicine Men
by Leonard Crow Dog, Richard Erdoes
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The first Crow Dog, Jerome, was born in the 1830s. A contemporary and comrade of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, he was a leading participant in the messianic Ghost Dance of 1889 that precipitated the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. In 1973, his great-grandson, Leonard Crow Dog, was AIM's spiritual leader at the second Wounded Knee. The memories that link the two are intact, and form the spine of a narrative that sweeps across two centuries in the history of the West. Leonard, the book's show more principal narrator, discovered as a young boy that he had a special spiritual vision, a power, and at thirteen became a wichasha wakan -- what white people call a medicine man. Still staunchly traditional in the face of pressure to Christianize, Leonard describes in detail the sun dance and many ceremonies and rituals that still play a significant role in Lakota life. In the sixties and seventies, Leonard took up the family's political challenge through his involvement with AIM, for which he became spiritual leader. He was a key figure in the momentous events in South Dakota and Washington, D.C., that centered on the 1973 siege of Wounded Knee and the notorious raids, murders, and trials at the Pine Ridge Reservation. This is the story of two centuries of struggle and triumph, of reckless deeds and heroic lives, of degradation and survival. It is a saga in every sense of the word. show lessTags
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Heard as an audiobook. Full of good history I'd like to study further so will look for a print copy.
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Author Information
1+ Work 153 Members
34+ Works 6,517 Members
Richard Erdoes traveled a long way from his birthplace in Vienna, Austria, to become a prominent writer on Native American issues and the Indian Civil Rights Movement. Born on July 7, 1912 into an artistic family, Erdoes moved to the United States where he lived and worked as a magazine illustrator and photographer. While visiting an American show more Indian reservation, Erdoes was shocked and outraged at conditions he found there. Although Erdoes had illustrated many books during his long career, the first illustrated work of his own dealing with Native Americans was The Pueblo Indians (1967). While doing a painting and portfolio for Life magazine on a Sioux Indian Reservation Erdoes met an old medicine man that asked him to write his biography. This resulted in Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions (1971). Erdoes lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he writes, paints, and is active in Native American issues. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- Leonard Crow Dog; Mary Crow Dog
- Important places
- Wounded Knee, South Dakota, USA
- Important events
- Wounded Knee Massacre; Wounded Knee Occupation [1973]
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 151
- Popularity
- 213,347
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.00)
- Languages
- English, French
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 1
