Autobiography about a Native American boy from the Stolen Generation (1870s-1900s) who was stolen back by his grandparents. From his youth; became a cowboy as adult. Read in 1970s.

[Madeleine]

I'm searching for this book on my dad's behalf. He read it in the 70s, he's pretty sure, in England. He has a feeling it might have been a reader's digest book of the month or something.

Plot:
The book tells the true story of a Native American in the Stolen Generation (1869-1960s), starting in his youth when he was stolen from the reserve to be raised by a school. After he was taken, the reserve was ravaged by cholera and many people died, so his grandparents went rogue; they stole him back from the school and took him into the wilderness to raise him properly.
His grandfather taught him things like how to hunt like the wolf, instead of greedily snapping up the strongest deer, and he showed him that the heart doesn't speak, by giving him a bow, then burning it in the fire when he said thank you instead of showing his gratitude by hunting with it. His grandfather also taught him how to walk in moccasins and feel the earth, by making him stand in a cold river until his feet went numb, then walking a long distance. The grandfather said something along the lines of, 'Can you feel Mother Earth bouncing you on her breast?'
When he reached adulthood, he became a cowboy, because it was the only way he could be Native American without being ridiculed.

It was so long ago, and Dad read so many books about Native Americans, that he can't remember fully which stories came from this autobiography, so I've only included the ones he's certain about.

Thank you!

[Kris]

Madeleine, is this biography written for adults or teens?

What's the time period(s) of the book? Which U.S. state(s)?

Reference: Wikipedia, "American Indian boarding schools" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America...

[Madeleine]

Kris wrote: "Madeleine, is this biography written for adults or teens?

What's the time period(s) of the book? Which U.S. state(s)?

Reference: Wikipedia, "American Indian boarding schools" - https://en.wikiped..."

Hi, thank you for your question.
The Stolen Generation was between 1869 and the 1960s, which is when the book was set.
Dad tells me it wasn't a biography, but an autobiography.
I've got no idea which state is was set in; I get the impression that the protagonist travelled arounf a lot once he hit adulthood. Dad says that all he knows is that it probably wasn't Canada.

He read this book when he was a teen, but he was reading adult books from childhood, so we can't be certain of the target audience. From the subject matter alone, I would hazard a guess that it was aimed at adults. I should have said that Dad found and read this book in England.

[Amber (Daisymau)]

I found this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_...

[Madeleine]

Amber (Daisymau) wrote: "I found this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_..."

Thank you for sending this. I don't think it's going to help though; cholera has been widespread among Native American communities for a very long time, so it doesn't really help us to date or locate the events of the autobiography. I really appreciate you joining in with the search, though! My dad is really excited at the prospect of finding this lost gem.

[Rainbowheart]

Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions?

[Amber (Daisymau)]

Rainbowheart wrote: "Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions?"

It's available to borrow on archive.org.