This is one of the most powerful tarots I have ever worked with. Not only is it good for divination, but it also gives you positive affirmations, and even some ritual ideas for getting your own answers. If you are on a spiritual path that favors divination and self exploration this is a must have.

My favorite tarot deck was the OSHO Zen Tarot, but the Sweat Lodge cards are much more powerful. These cards gave me an insight into a meditation and riutal that I should do. It was one to heal and calm. Well I couldn't figure out what it was about, but soon dicovered why I needed it. I highly recommend this deck.

I found this deck in a 80% off bin in a bookstore. How could I go wrong, as an avid tarot and card collector. I had never heard of the deck, but once i got home and opened it, i was in for a real awakening. I had absolutely no idea how intuitive these cards would be. They are a great tool for self reflection and growth, and come with an informative book, and beautifully illustrated. A great tool for anyone interested in spirituality, or self discovery. I am fortunate to have gotten them for such a deal, but with what I have learned from using them, I would consider then a great buy at full price.

I have read several books about the Sioux Wars so i wasnt really sure i wanted to read another one, but Mr Robinson's book is fantastic.He writes taking in consideration that the reader doesnt know anything about the topic so he explains with good accuracy terms and places like no other author. The author is bold and right on the money when it comes to point a finger at somebody, like for example the stupidity of the Army officers.I found that the interviews and research the author made for this book are very good, especially from the indians perspective.The only thing i didnt like is the fact that Mr Robinson doesnt go into details when it comes to Crazy Horse.I would have loved to read more about Crazy Horse part in this Wars.Otherwise this is an excelente book!

This is by far the best book on the Army's conflict with Native Americans since "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". It treats the material as a campaign rather than a series of seperate battles, so that Little Big Horn is treated as part of a whole. The author also describes the personalities and deeds of several Indian characters, not just Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. This is an eye-opening recounting of an important part of US history and a look at one of the greatest guerilla forces ever to wage war against the American Army.

Rather than concentrate on one battle or campaign, Robinson sets the stage for the reader to follow the movement of all the actors playing a role in the drama across the seasons of the war. I used this book as an orientation to the conflicts of 1876 prior to a trip to Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas to visit battle sites while on vacation. My trip was greatly enriched by reading this volume first. You can find more concentrated studies of particular engagements and the biographies of the participants that will offer deeper insights into the war, but for one overall narrative that provides the reader with the flavor of the contemporary army and Indian experience, here's my choice.

Gary C. Anderson is an expert on Dakota/Sioux history. His doctoral dissertation, published under the title "Kinsmen of Another Kind," discussed Dakota/White relations from the 17th to the 19th century. In "Through Dakota Eyes," Anderson collected dozens of Indian narratives concerning the 1862 Dakota uprising in Southeastern Minnesota. This book, "Little Crow: Spokesman for the Sioux," finds Anderson delving deep into the archives in order to present a better picture of that enigmatic Dakota chief Taoyateduta, known to history as Little Crow.

The main thesis of Anderson's "Kinsmen of Another Kind" was the importance of kinship ties within the Dakota tribes as well as with outsiders. Traders formed kinship ties with the Dakota because the ties allowed the traders to use the Dakotas to gather furs for them. Dakotas benefited from kinship ties because the ties involved gift giving. Whites had to give gifts to the Dakotas if they wanted to maintain trade and relations. As more and more whites moved into the region, kinship ties slowly disintegrated because whites no longer needed to deal with the Dakotas on an equal basis. It is important to understand these kinship ties when reading "Little Crow," as Anderson again makes these relationships central to his study.

Anderson begins his biographical analysis of Little Crow with an overview of Dakota culture. According to Anderson, it is impossible to understand anything about Little Crow's life and actions unless we understand his cultural underpinnings. Anderson discusses hunting, gift giving, medicine sacks and medicine societies, Dakota religion, and the role of a chief in Dakota society (chiefs, according to Anderson, held little actual power over the warriors; it was the position of speaker that held greater power, something Little Crow found out when he led the Dakota warriors during the 1862 uprising).

Little Crow's life is truly fascinating. Anderson discusses in great depth the role of Little Crow's grandfather and father in their relations with the Americans at Fort Snelling. Little Crow's grandfather and father took an accommodationist stance towards white encroachment on Dakota lands, trying to toe the fine line between keeping the Dakota people happy while dealing with the whites. Anderson argues that Little Crow, despite the bad reputation he earned due to the uprising, was an accommodationist just like his father and grandfather. Time and time again, Little Crow worked with the white Indian agents and soldiers to try and benefit his people. Little Crow was intimately involved in signing several treaties with the government, worked hard to placate the government after the Inkpaduta affair of 1857, and tried to prevent war in 1862. That Little Crow failed in his dealings with the government and failed to stop the uprising is certainly a tragedy, but should not overshadow his attempts to do the right thing for his people. Ultimately, no Dakota leader could have prevented the coming doom.

Little Crow is best known for the destructive war against whites in 1862. Anderson covers the war and its aftermath in succinct detail. Actually, this may be the best account of the war I have read. Anderson discusses Little Crow's failure to successfully organize his warriors, his failure to gain support with mixed-blood and Upper Agency Indians, and his failure to form an Indian alliance during his exile in North Dakota and Canada. When Little Crow returned to Minnesota in 1863, he knew his time was short. Little Crow died from a gunshot wound while picking berries with his son. Little Crow's remains, horribly mutilated by angry whites, ended up on display at the Minnesota Historical Society until the 1970's, when they were finally given a proper burial.

Anderson claims that Little Crow was an opportunist, a scheming sort of politician who always helped out because he wanted to elevate his own position within Dakota society. Anderson cites as evidence newspaper interviews with Little Crow which revealed Little Crow's propensity for pithy statements and his need for constant attention. That Little Crow had a knack for oratory should come as no surprise; he was a chief, and chiefs constantly debated issues with other leaders in the tribe. But is Little Crow a politician? I don't think so, at least not in the way we perceive the term. Is it possible that newspaper and other white accounts of the time framed Little Crow in terms whites understood? After all, documents show that many whites had no real conception about the true nature of Indians in the 19th century. White relations with Indians were based on a fundamental set of assumptions, most of them racist and false. To paint Little Crow as a sort of Huey Long type teeters dangerously close to error. After all, Dakota culture emphasized communitarian values, not the sort of individualistic elevation Anderson says Little Crow sought.

Anderson ends the book with an appendix discussing Little Crow's genealogy. This section is the most difficult part of the book due to the intricate relationships within Indian families and tribes. Terms like "father" and "cousin" do not carry the same connotation in Indian culture as they do in ours. A father's brothers can all be "fathers" to an Indian, and "cousins" are even more convoluted. A genealogical chart of Little Crow's family at the back of the book makes a medieval royal house look like a nuclear family. These genealogies are necessary to back up Anderson's claim that kinship is central to tribal life.

This is a scholarly book that manages to entertain while it teaches. It is definitely a must have for those seeking a deeper understanding of the Dakota tribes, or for those interested in the Minnesota uprising of 1862. If you don't come away with some sense of admiration for Little Crow, despite his failures, you did not read the same book I did.

Little Crow, Spokesman For the Sioux is a reissuing of a well-researched biography of the famous Mdewakanton chief from Kaposia (Minnesota), presented complete with period drawings, illustrations, and maps as well as an exhaustive genealogy of Little Crow (Appendix 2) which helps to explain his complicated series of alliances and growth to power. Little Crow, or Ta-o-ya-te-du-ta is presented as a reluctant war leader and a persistent accommodater, politician and tribal spokesman, a position earned partly by blood and good alliances and partly by sacrifice and risk. The Mdewakanton's experience of betrayal, disillusionment, cultural displacement and dissolution in the war of 1862 is central to the life experience of Little Crow. His death is presented as a metaphor for his life and that of his people. In "The Last Campaign" it is asked why Little crow returned to the Minnesota Frontier in September of 1862, where it was almost certain that he would be killed. Though he spoke of obtaining a horse for each of his children, it seems more plausible that he willingly headed towards his death as a deliberate sacrifice, being blamed for the war by both whites and Mdewakanton Sioux.

This is the tragedy of Little Crow's life.

Faithful to the conclusions suggested by his richly varied sources, Anderson presents a realistic yet compassionate portrayal of a great Mdewakanton chief. This is a scholarly work that reads smoothly and gives good tapestry detail. Colored plates of paintings enrich the text.

Nancy Lorraine, Reviewer

I live in the city of Hutchinson, MN in McLeod County. Six miles north of this city is a marker identifying the site where Little Crow was shot by a local farmer. The farmer had no idea who he was shooting at, just that it was an Indian and he would collect a bounty for his scalp.

Our city has a bronze statue of Little Crow looking out over the Crow River near the dam on the Main Street. Up until the time that I read this book, that summed up most of what I knew of Little Crow, the Sioux legend. We choose to drop the name Sioux that was given this people by our own ancestors, the Ojibwe. In our language it means "Snake". Their word for themselves is Dakota. It means "Friend".

Now I feel as though I know him as a man. I know of his character, his integrity, his family, his people. I know a great wrong was done.

At the present time there is a group of people involved in planning and hosting a reconciliation and restitution concerning the events that touched this city in regards to Taoyateduta (Little Crow) and his people. A direct descendant of Taoyateduta (meaning His Red Nation) and a direct descendant of the man who shot him will be part of the event, asking forgiveness of one another. It is never too late to say, "I'm sorry. Will you forgive?"

This book has been instrumental in opening the door to the healing of this ancient wound that is still alive in many hearts.

Leonard Crow Dog tells his family history and the history of his nation with a love and power which can almost overpowers the reader.

In the beginning paragraph it says, "We are still making history." as Crow Dog explains his family roots. That sentence sums up the book for me. It is history. The history that is learned and not lost by Crow Dog. The ceremonies and native ways that he is trying to maintain and to pass on are intricately described. I don't think I have read a book that is so visually written. I could picture the things he described. I savored this book for a few months, letting each chapter sink in. Although the book is written in a simple manner there is nothing simple about the information shared. A great read!

With the abundant help of Richard Erdoes, Leonard Crowdog gives us the history of his people and their never-ending battle for freedom in a white world that was once theirs. I highly recomend this book for people interrested in reading about the injustices loaded onto the Native American people since the arrival of white men on their land.

We Are A People In This World: The Lakota Sioux And The Massacre At Wounded Knee by journalist Conger Beasley Jr. recounts the 1890 massacre of the Lakota Sioux at Wounded Knee, blending a grimly defining episode of Native American history with the author's personal story of participating in the commemorative Big Foot Memorial Ride some one hundred years after the slaughter. A compelling account that includes oral testimony from some who survived the killing, poignant and highly recommended historical event, We Are A People In This World is an invaluable and recommended contribution to Native American Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

Having read all 0f Beasley's books, I am surprised that he justkeeps getting better. This book is an example of how an authorwithout an agenda can inform a book with honesty and make you want to read everything on the subject.

"Ashes of Heaven" again brings to life the tragedy of the loss of life and home of the American Indian families and the sacrifice of our American soldiers in typical and terrific Terry Johnston fashion. Through the protagonist (main character), Seamus Donegon, Johnston once more gives the reader a spectacular feel for the way things were in the American West as the Indian Wars slowly grind to a close. An excellent read, "Ashes of Heaven" is difficult to put down and I can hardly await his next release!

This courageous book challenges the assumptions of a white patriarchal eurocentric dominant society. While corporations continue to destroy the enviornment while at the same time enforcing the poverty of People of Color, this book offers instead a brilliant discourse, an investigation of the noble spiritual traditions of the Sioux. This is an important book.

This book number 8 in the Plainsmen series tells of the BATTLE OF THE POWDER RIVER AND THE BEGINNING OF THE GREAT SIOUX WAR OF 1876. In this book as in all of the other Plainsmen stories Frontier Scout Seamus Donegan leads as a guide General George Crook and his 2nd. and 3rd. Cavalry and a band of scouts and interpreters into the bloody battle. All of Johnstones books are very wordy and can sometimes lose me as I can not always understand what he is trying to tell me. But that does not mean he is not a good writer, it just means I should maybe use the dictionary more often.

I enjoyed Santiago Rag. As a European I had little knowledge of the American-Cuban-Spanish war and found this story an interesting blend of fiction and fact. Based around the experiences of a young male, we are taken on a series of adventures into the formation and action fighting of Roosevelt's Rough Riders (I had heard about them previously!). As seen mostly through the eyes of our naïve hero we experience the shock and horror of war. But we also have the insights into the broader political issues as might have been contemplated by Teddy Roosevelt. I know purists who don't accept fiction mixed with the facts, but they miss the point of this kind of thoroughly researched story-documentary. Authors like Al Gowan are able to enrich the facts and put the flesh on the bones of historical events. It may not be exactly what happened but an author's insights and imaginative narratives can increase our understanding of history. Set against his personally observed localities, the author creates a fast moving story and an atmosphere that is convincing.

Just to say I'm enjoying SANTIAGO RAG. The pacing is dynamic, the vignettes vivid the descriptions meaty. I like this p. 39, "The Indian's eyes flashed, anger Gabriel had not yet seen. He tood the daguerreotype and replaced it in the pouch. An ember from the dying fire exploded

History buffs and everyday readers alike will find Santiago Rag an engrossing novel profiling the men who fought in Cuba and at the battle of San Juan Hill. Al Gowan uses information passed down from his grandfather and written accounts of participants to weave a compelling story of the hardships in those days and the battle against the enemy and disease. Included are photographs he took recently in Cuba of locations described in the book. As we celebrate the anniversary of the Spanish-American War, Santiago Rag is a great way to experience what those times were like. Jim Armstrong, Publisher and Editor, MILITARY RETIREE NEWS, Tampa, Florida

Gray provides an outstanding insight into all troop movements before and after the showdown at the Little Big Horn. He is particularly harsh in his assessments of Col. John Gibbon, Gen. George Crook, and Capt. Frederick Benteen. On the other hand he is fairly charitable to Maj. Marcus Reno while others have been more critical of Reno. He fairly glows in his treatment of Custer.

As with many historians in their treatment of the Battle of Little Big Horn, he jumps to dogmatic conclusions fairly easily when he seeks to cast blame (as on Benteen for "dawdling") and when he attributes to Custer the wise deployment of his troop resources. See for example at page 177: "---he (Custer) was relieved to see that Reno had halted to form a skirmish line and was only lightly engaged. He should now be able to hold out until Custer's larger force could get into action". Gray does not tell us how he managed to communicate with Custer in the after life in order to ascertain these feelings of Custer. He further ignores the testimony of John Martin (the trumpeter who took the message to Benteen) to the court of inquiry that Custer exulted over catching the Indians "napping".

In reaching some of these dogmatic conclusions, Gray simply buys into the overstatement of many historians who find some thin support for their fictionalized conclusions.

However, this book is an excellent narrative of the troop and scouting maneuvers leading up to and following the battle. He also writes at the beginning of the book an excellent summary of the cultural conflicts that led to this tragedy for all involved----the soldiers and the Indians.

This is a great book to learn everything about the 1876 Sioux War from the political and economic situations that fueled the conflict (gold and the Black Hills, dissolving the 1868 Peace Treaty), the behavior of the independent Sioux, Grant's ultimatum, the Sheridan three prong attack on the Sioux, the political (Custer and Grant) and weather problems hindering he start of the campaign and General's Crook and Terry's frustrating attempts to catch the Sioux and Cheyenne who fragmented into smaller groups after the Little Big Horn. Also covers Crook's March campaign that resulted in a controversial but failed battle on the Powder River and the critical battle of the Rosebud in June 30 miles southeast of the Little Big Horn which occurred just 8 days prior to Custer's annihilation. Crook, the great Indian fighter with twice Custer's number, becomes displaced out of the Sheridan attack plan due to the furious attack by the Sioux and Cheyenne. Gray also documents how the winter roamers left the agencies to join the summer roamers (Sitting Bull, Gall, Crazy Horse, Two Moon) which peaked with one of the largest villages ever on the North American continent at the time of Custer's attack. The book completes the story by detailing the aftermath of Custer's battle with Crooks and Terry's joint and separate campaigns and the addition of General Nelson Miles. Not a total story on Custer, for that you should read Gray's "Custer's Last Campaign" but start with "Centennial Campaign" to get the complete picture.

In 1981 I made a phone call to a retired medical doctor named John Gray. I told him I had just finished reading his book, CENTENNIAL CAMPAIGN, and would love to talk with him. I figured we would talk on the phone, so I was surprised when he invited me to visit him in his home in Ft. Collins, Colorado. I accepted his invitation without hesitation.

We spent the entire afternoon talking about his book. There was one question that I was anxious to get answered. Why did he write less than a page about the Custer fight itself? Gray didn't really know what happened during that battle, so there really wasn't much to say. I laughed but it made sense.

This book is not about the Custer fight, but about the entire campaign of the Sioux War of 1876 and it is filled with new revelations about the causes and events of this war. Most interesting is Gray's narrative about the White House meeting between Grant and his aides concerning how they should deal with the Sioux problem and why they started a war.

The book is filled with detailed maps of the Indian movements during the campaign, where and when they camped and for how long. The same is done for soldier column movements.

There is an excellent analysis of the size of the warrior force at the Little Bighorn that historians accept to this day. The numbers will surprise you.

If you have not read much on the Sioux war, then I highly recommend this book. You'll learn that the Custer fight was just one of many events of a long brutal, bloody war.