Dance in a Buffalo Skull


Book Description

A prowling wildcat finds a surprise in an old dried-up buffalo skull. A group of mice are dancing the night away and not paying attention to the dangers around them. Does the wildcat spell doom for the mice, or will they escape to safety? Dance in a Buffalo Skull is an American Indain tale of danger and survival on the Great Plains.




Buffalo Dance


Book Description

When Frank X Walker's compelling collection of personal poems was first released in 2004, it told the story of the infamous Lewis and Clark expedition from the point of view of York, who was enslaved to Clark and became the first African American man to traverse the continent. The fictionalized poems in Buffalo Dance form a narrative of York's inner journey before, during, and after the expedition—a journey from slavery to freedom, from the plantation to the great Northwest, from servant to soul yearning to be free. In this expanded edition, Walker utilizes extensive historical research, interviews, transcribed oral histories from the Nez Perce Reservation, art, and empathy to breathe new life into an important but overlooked historical figure. Featuring a new historical essay, preface, and sixteen additional poems, this powerful work speaks to such themes as racism, the power of literacy, the inhumanity of slavery, and the crimes against Native Americans, while reawakening and reclaiming the lost "voice" of York.




Peyote and the Yankton Sioux


Book Description

In Peyote and the Yankton Sioux, Thomas Constantine Maroukis focuses on Yankton Sioux spiritual leader Sam Necklace, tracing his family’s history for seven generations. Through this history, Maroukis shows how Necklace and his family shaped and were shaped by the Native American Church. Sam Necklace was chief priest of the Yankton Sioux Native American Church from 1929 to 1949, and the four succeeding generations of his family have been members of the Church. As chief priest, Necklace helped establish the Peyote religion firmly among the Yankton, thus maintaining cultural and spiritual autonomy even when the U.S. government denied them, and American Indians generally, political and economic self-determination. Because the message of peyotism resonated with Yankton pre-reservation beliefs and, at the same time, had parallels with Christianity, Sam Necklace and many other Yankton supported its acceptance. The Yanktons were among the first northern-plains groups to adopt the Peyote religion, which they saw as an essential corpus of spiritual truths.




The Buffalo Head


Book Description

The wildest, loveliest and least-travelled region of Alberta was R.M. Patterson’s home territory in the 1930s and ’40s. The Buffalo Head ranch was located in the foothills of the majestic Canadian Rockies. With the mountains as a backdrop, this dude ranch hosted visitors from around the world. Patterson bought it from its founder, a wild Italian named George Pocaterra, and explored the steep valleys and high mountain passes. Patterson’s tales of the ranch in The Buffalo Head culminate with a fantastic story of meeting a growling grizzly while crossing the Continental Divide in an October snowstorm.







The Time of the Buffalo


Book Description

Discusses the natural history of the American buffalo and its crucial role in the life of the Great Plains Indian




Converging Stories


Book Description

This book argues that in US literature, discourse on the themes of race and ecology is too narrowly focused on the twentieth century and does not adequately take into account how these themes are interrelated. This study broadens the field by looking at writings from the nineteenth century.







Sundancing


Book Description

To the Plains Indians, the Sun Dance has traditionally been a profound religious ceremony, the highest form of worship of the Most Holy One. Thomas E. Mails was invited to attend and record in detail the Sioux Sun Dances at Rosebud and Pine Ridge. This was a singular honor no white man has been accorded before or since. The result is this groundbreaking work, illustrated with rare photographs and stunning four-color paintings.




Teton Sioux Music


Book Description