There is a joke that one often hears when traveling within Native circles. The joke asks what is the average size of a Native Family? The answer is five, a father, a mother, a son and daughter and one anthropologist. It has been written that Native Americans are the most studied but least understood people on the Earth. Native author Michael Dorris states this thought in a more direct way. He writes that Native Americans are the most lied about people on the face of the planet. Much of this discontent with the written record about Native Peoples is due to the fact that much of this record has been recorded by Non-Native people and thus passed through a cultural filter that distorts the reality of Native experience and tradition. "Standing in the Light, a Lakota Way of Seeing," is a collaborative effort by the authors Severt Young Bear Sr. and Dr. Ronnie Theisz to record an account of the world view of the Lakota people that was written from the viewpoint and understanding of a person that has lived his life within the traditional culture of the Lakota People. Severt Young Bear Sr. was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1934 and lived his life in the traditional community of Porcupine, SD. In his life he was a rancher, a ranger, a tribal councilman, a singer with and drum keeper of the acclaimed Porcupine Singers that appeared in the movies "Dances With Wolves, " and "Thunderheart," an instructor at Oglala Lakota College, and founder of International Brotherhood Days, a cross cultural forum that is held the second week of July each year at the Young Bear dance grounds just outside Porcupine, SD.. This book is a rare look from the inside of Lakota culture from one that lived within that context. The work touches on the past of the Lakota People, and focusses on the importance of traditions of the culture to the survival and identity of the Lakota Nation. As a self-styled student of Lakota culture I value this book as one of the most relavant books in my collection. Highly recommended. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

"Standing in the Light: A Lakota Way of Seeing" is a print version of conversations between R.D. Theisz, a college professor, and Severt Young Bear, a Lakota singer, historian, and cultural traditionalist. "Standing in the Light" is a cornucopia of cultural information about the Lakota people. The book begins with a discussion about Severt Young Bear's relatives and ancestors, followed by a very brief history of the Sioux people. Unfortunately, the book went to press about the time Severt Young Bear died, in 1993.

"Standing in the Light" has four parts. The first section deals with names in Indian culture. According to Severt, names are of central importance in Lakota culture. Young Bear explains how the people received their names and what names mean in Lakota (his own Lakota name is Hehaka Luzahan, or Swift Elk). Agency officials anglicized Lakota names in the 1880's for a census on the reservation and then applied these names to descendents in perpetuity. This bothers Severt because it means descendents in his family do not earn their name, an important part of the Lakota life process. "Young Bear" comes from Severt's grandfather, who received the name to reflect his accomplishments in battle; he was a fearless warrior who fought like a bear when cornered. The name "Severt" comes from his father's war experience, when Severt's father befriended a Swede and promised the man to name his son after him.

The second part of the book discusses oral traditions in Lakota culture. There are some great stories in this section, like the story about Sio Paha (translated as the Medicine Hill). This place received the name Medicine Hill because in prereservation days it was the site of a test between powerful medicine men. The medicine men would practice their magic on each other in order to discover who had the most powerful medicine. Whenever a man was felled by magic, he was out of the contest. Severt discusses one contest where a heyoka (a sacred clown, or someone whose role in the tribe was to make fun of everyone else) won by practicing medicine he learned from the bumblebee. There are more stories in this section, all of which are fascinating and informative.

The third section covers Severt's career as a musician and his days as a member of the Porcupine Singers, a Lakota drum group who toured powwows and other important Indian gatherings. There are all types of songs in the Lakota world, from honoring songs to dancing and social songs. Many of the social songs helped Indians get together back in the days when the government frowned on Indian gatherings. The Rabbit dance is a good example of a social song. Rabbit songs are quite simple lyrically, but young people used to gather in someone's house to dance to these songs. Of course, all these musical gatherings required musicians, and this is where Severt brings in the importance of the drum and its role in creating and expressing the music. He also discusses how life on the road for the successful Indian musician is just as stressful as it is for any type of musician: egos get large, cars break down, and arguments over money usually ensue.

The final section of the book is Severt's examination of what is wrong with Lakota society. Young Bear turns out to be quite conservative as he discusses the problems of the reservation world. His arguments for a return to personal responsibility, a healthy diet, respect for the elders, and responsible childrearing not only have lessons for Lakotas, but also are important for all cultures. Severt's involvement in the American Indian Movement (AIM) and its stand at Wounded Knee in the 1970's, covered in some depth in the book, further highlights his concern for cultural issues.

At the end of the book, Severt sums up his reasons for agreeing to create this book. Severt believes every powwow or gathering of Indians has four circles. The first circle is the one in which Indians are dancing and taking part in their culture. As the circles move outwards, one finds Indians who are not as aware of the cultural activities going on in the first circle. The last circle, the circle on the farthest reaches of the gathering, holds the lost Indians, those who are afraid of learning about their culture and so lose themselves in drugs, loose sex, or alcohol. Severt wants to bring all of the other circles into the first circle, into the "light," so all the Lakotas may partake in their culture.

"Standing in the Light" is a powerful statement. For those who wish to learn about Indian culture, look no further than this book. I am surprised there are not more reviews of this amazing survey of Lakota cultural ideas.

Beyond feathers and bells, "Standing in the Light" gives non-Native people a glimpse some of the real culture and values of the Lakota people. What values are held in high esteem, and how do they work in the everyday life of the people, are just a few of the answers given. Long overdue for those seeking to learn the culture beyond the feathers and bells of a Powwow.

Colorful, captivating, a novel of freedom, self-reliance and humor. Twelve Quiet Men is a great read based on the little known Vigilante activities of eastern Montana and western North Dakota. The author has obviously done his research, compiling facts that have been delibertly hidden and forgotton. He uncovers the true mood of the Montana territory by showing the character of the men who took the trail to clean up the rustlers and killers of that time period. Leaving the reader searching for more information concerning the events of those historic times.

I've read so many "western" novels and such that I could almost feel the imaginary spurs on my heels when I walked down the carpeted hall on the way to my PC at the office, but I've finally found the real deal. This book removed those pesky spurs and replaced them with a real understanding of what life, and survival, was truly like in the effort to settle the west. Beyond that, and perhaps more importantly, it's an excellent story. I am not too much of a stickler for accurate details, but I must have an entertaining read. Here I found a great read, so I did a little bit of research. The author actually pulled it off; he combined a great story with historical accuracy! Ladies and gentlemen, that's a rarity.
As I've said I'm a western novel nut, and in this one I've found attention to detail that surpasses all others.
This guy obviously did his homework, and then was able to turn history into a page-turner that I simply couldn't put down. Get it, enjoy it, and let's hope that he gives us more!

Aaron

In the 1870's and 1880's, from central Montana into western Dakota Territory, organized outlaw gangs terrorized the region, rustling, robbing and killing. The law was powerless to stop them and the U.S. Army refused to help. Finally, a small secret group of determined cattlemen, led by Granville Stuart, abandoned their ranching responsibilities to hunt down and exterminate these lawless predators.

Wow, what a story! This is a forgotten chapter of the American West. Many are aware of the Vigilante activities in the Virginia City area during the 1860's when twenty two members of the outlaw Plummer gang were killed. Twenty years later, nearly one hundred outlaws were hung or shot in less than two years, but little has been written about it. Why?

Twelve men formed the active Vigilante group and they knew how to keep a secret. While they had the silent, active support of many ranchers in the region, they revealed their plans to no one. I, like others living in Montana and Dakota, have heard rumors of these events for years but never knew the complete story.

The author has done a commendable job in his research, reviewing period newspapers, delving into obscure records and capturing bits and peices of the events from various sources. If you like western historical novels or action/adventure tales, this is the book for you. It contains so much detail about life in those times, it speaks with authority and rings true.

I highly recommend this book. It's a great read!

Tired of the same old stories? Fed up with people always recommending Grisham, Patterson, and Clancy novels to you? Break the mold with West River.

This collection of capitaviting stories from the American West retraces history in an honest and accurate fashion. The beatuy of this book is the wide spectrum of perceptions expressed within its pages. Reading stories about the interactions of settelers and Native Americans from different perspectives enlightens the reader in a way that few other books do.

However, I am even more impressed with the level of documentation in this book than I am with the stories told in it. I feel as though I have been given a special looking glass that provides me with an honest, impartial view of the past--truly a great gift.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone seeking truth and beauty within American History.

West River is a wonderful book filled with interesting stories and anectdotes from the early history of the American West. Its treatment of Native American and White Settler relations is refreshingly honest and extremely well documented.

Simpson's West River brings to light many exciting, thought-provoking, and poignant stories of the American West that have not made it into our traditional history text books. The more I read about them in this book, the more I wished that I had been able to learn this side of history earlier. They are great stories and an important part of our country's heritage.

Simpson's unique style of writing also makes you feel as if you are hearing the stories being told by the people who lived during the time. And his careful documentation is equally impressive.

I would recommend this book to anyone - especially those who are interested in the forgotten stories of our western history in the great plains.

West River is a wonderful book filled with interesting stories and anectdotes from the early history of the American West. Its treatment of Native American and White Settler relations is refreshingly honest and extremely well documented.

Simpson's West River brings to light many exciting, thought-provoking, and poignant stories of the American West that have not made it into our traditional history text books. The more I read about them in this book, the more I wished that I had been able to learn this side of history earlier. They are great stories and an important part of our country's heritage.

Simpson's unique style of writing also makes you feel as if you are hearing the stories being told by the people who lived during the time. And his careful documentation is equally impressive.

I would recommend this book to anyone - especially those who are interested in the forgotten stories of our western history in the great plains.

What a courageous woman Bess Corey was to go into the unkown territory of mostly crude men and make a home for herself. She didn't let anyone take advantage of her, yet she was sweet. She was an honest, humorous, hardworking woman. This book kept my interest from beginning to end. The only disappointment was that she didn't write more letters! This would be a great book for anyone who wants to really understand how America was built.

I came across this book purely by accident in the library, and since the title sounded interesting, I decided to check it out just to see what the letters were like. I was expecting dry letters written by a hardened woman. Boy, was I wrong -- I love Bess! She's so funny, and her letters back home are wonderfully descriptive. At 21, she left Iowa to stake a claim in South Dakota. I'm only about a third of the way through the book right now, and she's living alone in a tiny 2-room house on her claim, getting up at 5 to walk two miles through the snow to the schoolhouse where she teaches. At night, she writes these letters home, describing her day in great detail. This book is a treasure. I'm ordering a copy for my home library right now. :-)

This book is about a girl named Christine who finds a mysterious cave of wonderous objects. Her brother is extremly ill in this magical story.This story takes place in the dust-bowl times.What Christine finds in this significant cave is unbelieveible and amazing. This Book is the best I've ever read in my entire life. I reccomend this book to every body in the world!!! I absolutely LOVE this book!!! It's the bomb!!! -Jillian

This is one of my daughter's and my favorite books. It tells the story of an adolescent girl coming of age during the dust bowl. While her family prepares to leave their homestead if rain doesn't come within the week, the girl and her brother discover and explore a cave which contains valuable geodes. They must decide whether to reveal the existence of the cave to their father, or to keep it secret in order to preserve it from the same destruction that the surrounding woods have met at the hands of desperate settlers. This book is an excellent read aloud book for advanced 6 year olds and up, or an excellent read for 9+ year olds. Be forewarned, though, that there are several pages that deal with the onset of menstration.

Bill Markley sheds light on many behind the scenes action that takes place in the filming of a major movie. His highly descriptive account of his days as a reenactor makes one feel as if one were actually on set. He also explains some of the tricks that were used to film the scenes, making them look highly authentic. The author tells of the boredom from long hours on the set and what cast and crew do to entertain themselves while waiting for their call. There are fantastic sketches by another reenactor, Jim Hatzell, which illustrate the book. The sketches were also done while on set.
Markley shares what it was like to meet and work with a famous actor, something most everyone dreams of but never gets the opportunity. The odds of a "Dakota" boy being cast in a Hollywood epic were one in a million, so dream your dream with "Dakota Epic!"

Enhanced with black and white illustrations by Jim Hatzell, Dakota Epic: Experiences Of A Reenactor During The Filming Of Dances With Wolves is Bill Markley's fascinating, first-hand, personal account of what went on behind the scenes of the award-winning 1990 movie Dances With Wolves. This is the revealing viewpoint of a hard-working extra who kept a journal during the filming of what was to become an acclaimed and successful major Hollywood movie. Sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant, always fascinating, Dakota Epic is a superb, up-close scrutiny of the trials, tribulations, and successes of a great move and highly recommended reading for film buffs, aspiring actors, and anyone who sat in a darkened theatre and got completely caught up in the Kevin Costner's award-winning epic film.

These four very different and very wonderful short stories are about lives that, by today's standards, are simpler yet certainly more difficult. The rich detail will be nostalgic to some and fascinating to others. In whatever way you relate to these stories, you will be drawn in by the author's captivating narratives. These are not "the good old days" kinds of stories. I don't want to reveal too much, but none of them are at all what I expected. Bill's imagination and his insight will leave you breathless and thoughtful.

The promise of Dakota Incarnate lies in its beautiful cover. The four fast-moving, fascinating stories present a kaleidoscope of life in the early days of Dakota. Rosebud Requiem tells of a lonely homesteader seeking a mail-order bride; David's Drummer acquaints us with a young Hutterite wife living in the Gadsden Colony who awaits word of her critically ill soldier husband; The Essay Contest introduces us to eleven year old Jackie and tells of his observa- tions of life in small town Nunda as he strives to write a winning essay; Dakota Reincarnation startles us when a thirty-eight year old grandfather meets his sixty-nine year old grandson in an airport in Washington, D.C. My expectations of this book were more than fulfilled. Sometimes, you CAN tell a book by its cover!

Wonderful narrative of a difficult time in America. Such perspective of events from close to home. I recommend this to anyone who appreciates history unrevised and truthful.
T. Addison

This book is based on a diary which the author began in 1927, when she was 15 and a farm girl in North Dakota, and covers the years from 1927 ro 1937. She worked very hard and lived in grinding poverty. She went to college and then taught school and fended off marriage proposals, and never in the book says a good word for the man she married--who was courting her thru the last years she was keeping her diary. This I found to be quite a book, unpretentious as it holds itself out to be. A most moving account of a time and place one seldom hears about. I recommend it unreservedly.

Book two covers a lot of territory - some of the top Indians are offered jobs as escorted scouts for the Army. Daniel Two Stars has finally gotten out of a living hell prison and is wearing an Army uniform and hunting renegade Indians. Genevieve LaCroix is serving as caregiver for Simon's children and orphaned baby Hope who was rescued by Gen and Daniel after the death of her parents.

The conditions of the Indians is deplorable - most of the children have died. Thousands are still sick, starving prisoners. Simon Dane buries himself in Indian missionary work but is frustrated at his limited resources. Simon is falling in love with the beautiful half-breed Dakota Indian, Blue Eyes (Gen) and even though she respects him in return, her heart still belongs to her true love, Daniel Two Stars who she believes is dead.

Elliott Leighton, Ellen's brother, enters the storyline and has one goal in mind - to prevent his sister's children from being raised in the wild West, OR by an Indian mother. He has been discharged from the Army after losing one arm and having his long hair turn white overnight. He travels to Simon's home to retrieve the children, having no idea the changes that await for him.

Jeb Grant is a pivotal figure in this book. He is a farmer who just cannot bring himself to hate all Indians and he opens his heart and his farm to questionable Indian activities.

Simon and Elliott accidentally run into Daniel while traveling in a storm during an illness, and after learning that Gen is engaged to Simon, Daniel asks both men to promise not to tell her and to forget they ever saw him. This is NOT going to be easy to do but Daniel determines to leave her alone so she can have a better life. Simon has a strange illness that persists, and among his many nurses are Mother Friend, Daniel, Elliott and Genevieve.

The devastation of the good Indian's homes and villages by soldiers and renegade Indians leaves families separated and thousands homeless, injured, starving and defeated. Several major questions are answered in this book:

1. Will Gen marry Simon even though they both know her heart belongs to the memories of Daniel Two Stars?

2. What will happen to an angry Elliott when he visits the Crow reservation?

3. What happens to Daniel who was reported as hanged? Will he ever see Blue Eyes again?

4. What is the fate of 5 orphaned children, including baby Hope?

5. Which is stronger, love, committment or duty? Is it possible for Simon, Blue Eyes(Gen) and Daniel to make the right choices in spite of their hearts?

I felt that Stephanie Grace Whitson reflected some of the pain of her own life in this book. Love, death, grief, faith, loyalty, overcoming and doing the right thing were foremost in the intrigue and interest this second book held. I give this book at least 15 stars for the mystery and suspense it generates particularly in the last 25 pages. Excellent writing skills Steph!

Book three in this series is due out in late 2001 and I am planning to order it well in advance.

At the end of Valley of the Shadow, Ellen and Two Stars are both dead. Simon has undergone a spiritual renewal with influence of Gen, and he now needs a wife and mother to his children. Gen slowly begins to accept the death of Daniel Two Stars, and promises to Simon that she will try to love him, while he promises to take it slowly. Far away, Daniel Two Stars lingers in a prison for rebel Indians, being put there by mistake with others who have also accepted the Christian faith. Miraculously, he is released, only to eventually find out that Gen is promised to Simon. He makes Simon promise never to tell Gen the truth, and resolves to lead his life without his beloved Gen. Whitson's master storytelling skill is evident as she weaves the differing stories of Gen and Two Stars, as well as those of Miss Jane and the Major and the orphaned twins into one riveting novel. This is a great read, a must for those who are fans of Whitson and historical fiction, as well as for those who like to read about the power of God in people's lives.

Reading this book was a wonderful experience. What a touching story of a family that develops as all families do; realizing we love our family members even more when we accept them loving us the only way they know how. All this against the backdrop of a still unspoiled area of America. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this region, history or living.
Allen

People from the prairies of South Dakota and North Dakota aren't pretentious. Well, some might be, but they tend to stand out in miserable ways. Linda Hasselstrom's writing is like the people of her home: careful, persistent, simple, surprisingly complex, fascinating. Your own family and home may be very different from Hasselstrom's, but through her writing you'll gain a better understanding of your own people and place of origin. Hasselstrom is a master; she shows us how to cherish the tribes we were born into, despite the inevitable losses and disappointments of life. She ranks right up there with Kathleen Norris and Patricia Hampl.