Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains

by Charles Alexander Eastman

INDIAN HEROES AND GREAT CHIEFTAINS provides biographical sketches of 15 great Native American leaders, mostly Sioux, including portraits of Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and Spotted Tail. Eastman traces their historical importance to both white and Native peoples. Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa) was born in 1858 of Dakota (Minnesota Sioux) parents on the Santee Reservation near Redwood Falls, Minnesota. After his mother died and his father was captured during the “Minnesota Sioux Uprising”, his grandparents raised Eastman. His father found him when Charles was 15 years old and he began school. Graduating from Dartmouth in 1887 he continued on and got his MD from Boston University.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Native American, Indigenous, American, Westerns

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1918

About the author

Charles Alexander Eastman is unique among Indian writers, whether storytellers or oral historians. He was raised traditionally, as a Woodland Sioux, by his grandmother, from 1858 - 1874, until he was 15. He thus gained a thorough first-hand knowledge of the lifeways, language, culture, and oral history.

His father (thought to have been hanged at Mankato, Minnesota) reappeared and insisted he receive the white man's education. Educated at Dartmouth and Boston University medical school, Eastman became a highly literate physician, who was the only doctor available to the victims of the Wounded Knee massacre in 1890 -- a major historical event, often described as "ending the Indian wars".

Other Indian writers of this period were either entirely acculturated -- had never lived the traditional life of their people or been educated out of their native knowledge -- or were not literate, and were able to provide only "as told to" materials, through the filters of interpreters and non-Indian writers. Eastman had the lifeways and historical events experiences, and he did not need the literary filters of translators and white anthropologists or collectors.

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Reviews

[Ann Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who better to chronicle the great deeds, sorrows, bravery and honor of some of America’s greatest chiefs than a Santee Sioux? Physician Charles A. Eastman seeks to correct many misunderstandings about Native Americans and portrays leaders in the Sioux, Cheyenne and Nez Perce nations in a realistic light.

Here are the stories of some of the famous chiefs, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Red Cloud, as well as tales of those whose names may not be as familiar to us, such as Two Strike, Dull Knife, Hole-in-the-Day, Tamahay or Gall. Highlighted by beautiful black and white portraits, this book is a real eye opener. Anyone who loves the history of the American West will enjoy reading this interesting perspective, told with honor by a true American.

[Billy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished this today and while I had heard a few of the names mentioned in the book such as Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull my understanding of them was deepened and a few other names were introduced to me as well. Rain in the Face, Roman Nose and Hole in the Day to name a few made the book a worth while read.

[Amy the book-bat · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives biographical picture of 15 great chiefs and what they endured. The natives had a life following their customs and traditions in their land where they hunted buffalo and harvest grain. Then came the military to drive them out of their land. Promises made by the government were broken and the natives were driven off to a reservation. You could say there is where the racial divide started. The whites against brown and black.
The book is very interesting.

[Буянхишиг Отгонсэлэнгэ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike American high schools, we don't learn American History, but World History and we don't detail it. However, I know some rough pictures on European immigrants invasion to New World, how they seize it from Native Americans and robbed them their culture, language and religion. As books also made by humans, they have a tendency to affect it whether it is good or bad. Winners write history (not to forget when reading history books).

I won't condemn the Americans because they have destroyed one nation to build a new. I won't condemn the Americans that they have destroyed one culture to create a new one. I won't condemn the Americans that they imposed their religion just because they believed that worshiping Nature is a fault. Because it is a human nature.

And here I enlist some speeches by Great Native Americans Chieftains:
If you have one honest man in Washington, send him here and I will talk to him. Sitting Bull
It was the White men found the yellow metal in our country and came in great numbers, driving away our game, that we took up against them for the last time. Rain-in-the-face
Hay, hay, hay! Alas, alas!' Thus speaks the old man, when he knows that his former vigor and freedom is gone from him forever. So we exclaim today, alas! There is a time appointed to all things. Think for a moment how many multitudes of the animal tribes we ourselves have destroyed! Look upon the snow that appears today - tomorrow it is water! Listen to the dirge of dry leaves, that were green and vigorous but a few moon before! We are a part of this life and it seems that our time come. Spotted Tail

........ They had signed the treaty under pressure, believing in these promises on the faith of a great nation. Little Crow

The man didn't know who he was. He only knew that he was an Indian, and that was enough for him, so he lifted his rifle to his shoulder and fired..... Death of Little Crow

He was a real hero of a free and natural people, a type that is never to be seen again. Author's note of Gall

Yet hear me, friends! We have to deal with another people, small and feeble when our forefathers first met with them, but now great and overbearing. Strangely enough, they have a mind to till the soil, and the love of possessions is a disease in them. These people have made many rules that rich may break, but the poor may not! They have a religion in which the poor worship, but the rich will not. They even take tithes of the poor and weak to support the rich and those who rule. Sitting Bull

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite passage from this book was a retelling of what a chief addressed to his people one last time:

Yet hear me, friends! we have now to deal with another people, small and feeble when our forefathers first met with them, but now great and overbearing. Strangely enough, they have a mind to till the soil, and the love of possessions is a disease in them. These people have made many rules that the rich may break, but the poor may not! They have a religion in which the poor worship, but the rich will not! They even take tithes of the poor and weak to support the rich and those who rule. They claim this mother of ours, the Earth, for their own use, and fence their neighbors away from her, and deface her with their buildings and their refuse. They compel her to produce out of season, and when sterile she is made to take medicine in order to produce again. All this is sacrilege.

[Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each chapter is about a different hero. Really enjoyed learning the backstories of but sometimes left me wanting more. Love how this is written by an Indian. Most white authors writing about the subject get all of their information from other white historians but Eastman has actually met and spoke with a lot people he is writing about.

[T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I downloaded this as a free ebook from Amazon. Interesting. This book reads like a collection of short "fun facts" or trivia strung together to give a reader a sense of each featured chief/hero and their impact. An interesting read.

[Rem · Rating 3 out of 5]

This should be read before or as a companion to Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

[Phil Bouncer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent read

A short but concise synopsis on many great indian leaders, a super and enthralling read if you love western history.

[Andrrew Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story.

A touching account, very sad how these tribes were treated. It makes one wonder who were the so called savages!

[Leane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting and enlightening read that details the lives of some of the Great Chieftains.

It is not a happy read, but an important one that tells of how man's drive for riches, power, and 'progress' drove them to wipe out the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from each Chieftain's perspective.

This is probably one of the most accurate relaying of these Chieftain's lives, as the author was friends with many of them.

Read this so that previous mistakes aren't repeated. Read this to honour and keep their names alive. Read this with an open heart and mind.

[Shelly Dabbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It had well known Indians but also some that were not well known & what they contributed to the cultures of the Native Americans. It's really sad to read how these people were treated. No one should have had to do the things they did nor take the treatments they received.

[Iami Menotu · Rating 1 out of 5]

The tale of the vanquished. As a historical work, it may be important .

[Luzia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Open Minds

A very simple and rich language, this book opened my mind about the personakl behave of the great leaders. And more important, provokes the curiosity to learn more.
Luzia

[Nixy · Rating 2 out of 5]

So good to read an inside view of the First Nations. I read it through in one go. Might have been a more enriching experience to take it in bite-sized chunks.

[Kaye Salter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly diverse group of heroes (all male though). Good for older students (Grades 11-12)

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, I am angry at the US government.

Great book. Fascinating and worth your time.

[Dayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the story about the author may be an interesting story itself, this biography is anything but interesting.

[Mark Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little book giving a brief history of great chieftans that we all know about through the movies.

[Amy H. Sturgis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charles Alexander Eastman (1858-1939), also known as Ohiyesa, was an author, physician, and reformer of Santee Sioux and Anglo-American ancestry. In this beautifully written book, he profiles fifteen Native leaders, many of whom he knew and interviewed personally: Red Cloud, Spotted Tail, Little Crow, Tamahay, Gall, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Rain-in-the-Face, Two Strike, American Horse, Dull Knife, Roman Nose, Chief Joseph, Little Wolf, and Hole-in-the-Day. Among these men were assimilationists and traditionalists, men who died as heroes and men who were considered traitors to their people. Eastman obviously seeks to balance his assessment of these men and give three-dimensional portraits of both their lives and legends. Hidden within his biographical sketches are poignant and penetrating insights about human nature, American Indian culture and values, and the often difficult relationship between Native America and the United States. As a historical document, a work of Native literature, and a fascinating series of portraits from a vanished era, this is a moving and meaningful read.

[Khadijah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book at this time makes me compare the Native Americans' position to Egyptians'. SCAF just seems quite similar to "Great Father at Washington". Dealing with them can't be in the old way. They proved to be untrustworthy with the Natives, and I dare say, are not trustworthy in Egypt.

Though the circumstances and history are quite different, I think there's much to learn from Native American history. And what better source to learn from than Native American writers.

[Jeffrey Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good insight to many lesser known chiefs

I found the brief histories of the lesser known chiefs very interesting and would recommend this as a good starting point for studies of the Indian leaders in the nineteenth century