Crazy Horse And Chief Red Cloud: Warrior Chiefs- Teton Oglalas

by Ed McGaa, Diane Elliott (Editor), Pamela Cosgrove (Editor)

Story of Two Sioux Fighting Chiefs-1800s,Sioux Culture and Spirituality included. Extremely accurate from Indians viewpoint.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Native American

190 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 2005

About the author

AKA Eagle Man

Reviews

[Max]

In this Book " Crazy Horse and Chief Red Cloud" by Ed McGaa tells stories about the Sioux and other tribes who had lived in the Lakota's. The book contains many facts and stories that have been passed through many generations before us. It describes how at first Crazy Horse and Chief red Cloud were warriors and how they earned the respect into becoming chiefs in their tribe. You learn many old traditions that have been passed on from many generations. My personal favorite parts were when the Indians were migrating through the regions because of the cowboys invading their lands. There are also many important wars described in the book, it doesn't only talk about one generation but it talks about many. The book was made to attract people from the ages 12 to 100 year-old. I met the author at the Crazy Horse memorial (South Dakota) and he told me that anyone could write reports from his book because there are an outstanding number of facts. This was one of my favorite book to read.

[Fredrick Danysh]

The author, an Oglala Sioux, writes of two Sioux war chiefs while discussing the history and spirituality of the Sioux. The work is based in a large part on the translations of oral interviews by a Jesuit priest who spoke the language and was able to talk to the Sioux elders who had been alive in the 1870s and present at the battles. He points out errors of biographies by white historians who did not speak the Sioux language. This is a great historical read that adds a new perspective on Crazy Horse and Red Cloud.

[Theodore Kermes]

Oh man was this a read. I went into this book expecting a compare/contrast history book by a Lakota author. This book was not that. This book is oral history, general history, spiritualism, bone picking, calling out and a more of the author's personal beliefs. It's awesome.

I felt called out in a few parts in regards to my own views. And you know what? McGaa is right to call out people like me. A lot of what we call Lakota (pop-culture) history is.... tenuous. Especially in regards to Crazy Horse. Turns out that a lot of pop-history doesn't even scratch the surface in thousands of pages that this author goes over in two paragraphs. McGaa has some biases but he's earned them. His personal beliefs that he inserts into this book left me floored. I don't disagree or think his beliefs are wrong. I've just never read something so blunt, I think would be a good word.

I don't know where I'm going with this. I want to learn more things.

[John Matthew IV]

This is a good, but not great book. The section the Sioux and the Indian Wars was great but some of the history of whites is way off base.It really needs a better editor. It rambles on in places and should have been shorter. There are even some basic grammar errors.

The biggest thing missing is maps! An index would have been nice too.

p. 56: Sand Creek Massacre
p. 63: Red Cloud's War: December 20, 1866 when Captain Fetterman lost 80 men
p. 70: Wagon Box Field, August 2, 1867
p. 71: Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868
p. 102: "Runaway's [sic] sometimes caused problems"
p. 110: "The yellow iron, it made them crazy!"
p. 117: No closing quotation mark for quote at the bottom of the page.
p. 122: Hand-to-hand combat was therefore a glorious moment, a time for honor and courage, a time for victory or sometimes a time for incredible bravery against certain defeat. This style of warfare allowed the warrior to triumph; a means to triumph over the enemy, over the mundane, over his past mistakes, over hopelessness, a broken heart, or a future of doubt."
This goes on and is a great section.
p. 140: There were between 12,000 - 15,000 Indians with about 5,000 warriors
p. 141: Custer divided his force of 600 men into three groups:
1) One under Major Reno
2) One under Captain Benteen
3) One under himself
p. 150: The death of Crazy Horse, September 6, 1877 at Fort Robinson, Nebraska.
p. 161: Sitting Bull was killed on December 15, 1890.

[Douglas]

I have been reading Native American history and thought since my college days- Sandoz, Deloria, Brown, etc.- but I am grateful to have found an Indian author, Edd McGaa, Eagle Man, that is willing and eager to open his heart to share a deeper, spiritual, cultural perspective of his people's experience. There are so many books that tell you what happened but it is the rare book that helps you understand more deeply why- even how. For example, I don't think there is a more thorough, thoughtful treatment of Wounded Knee in the many histories I have read. He set the stage so well in his story telling that the reader can understand the sweep and tide of events, personalities, social and spirit cultures that blew up on that awful, tragic morning. Most of all, he helped me appreciate those great warriors and those who served with them. I thank him for his service.

[Lorraine Treger]

I picked up this book at the Crazy Horse Memorial. I feel it is a MUST READ book. It tells much of Sioux/Lakota/Oglala experience from their perspective, spirituality. How American Indian people lived on the land and their journey, survival and non-survival, from the greedy White Man. READ THIS BOOK and Then Pass it on to Others to share the Oglala story from the native perspective not White Man's history book perspective.

[Ishmael Soledad]

I picked this up at the Crazy Horse memorial on a whim, and I'm so glad I did. Written in an easy, conversational and at times meandering way this book is more than an introduction to Crazy Horse and Chief Red Cloud. In the text Mr McGaa managed to pull me into the Oglala mind, just a touch, introducing me to their lives, beliefs and viewpoint.

It is just a taste, a quick skim across Oglala life, but for me as a white european perhaps this is all I can expect.

An excellent read.

[Timothy Daley]

Great presentation of Sioux culture and history during the lives of two great leaders and what it means to be a Native American in the United States today.

[Kevin Considine]

Picked this book up at the Crazy Horse Memorial. Very interesting as it was written by a Sioux author who was a Marine helicopter pilot with combat experience. I enjoyed the explanations of the Sioux culture and religion and their impact on the Sioux warriors and their dealings with the white man. The book spanned the 1850's until Wounded Knee. A great read if you are into the History of the American West.

[Rebecca]

This is a book I bought during my recent vacation to South Dakota and Yellowstone National Park.

This book told the stories of Crazy Horse and Chief Red Cloud from the Sioux's point of view. Very good book.

[Luke]

This is a fascinating history of the two men written by a Lakota man whose experience as a combat veteran of Vietnam gives him valuable insights into these two warriors and the fights they led. It could use another round of editing, but I still recommend it.

[Michael Winter]

I greatly enjoyed the perspective of the author. Informative, historically accurate, and refreshingly straightforward.

[Candi Foster]

Interesting and educational, though the author often goes off on tangents.

[Brian Bigelow]

Quite good.
Without a bit of the cultures involved you don't a thorough understanding of history I think. So, I'm glad the author added it in to help tell the narrative.