My sister sent this beautiful book to my children for Christmas. It's a stunner with complex, rich sentences, lush illustrations, and a storyline that includes flashbacks, foreshadowing, frame tales, and developed characters. My children, ages 3 and 6, love it, too. My daughter noticed that the cover of the book resembles worn leather--she's right, and the effect is wonderful. We read the note from the author and learned new things about cowboys and settlers (which I won't give away here). Suffice it to say that from now on, we're sleeping with horse hair ropes around our bedding!

This is a touching story of perseverance and hope. I was looking for books to give as Christmas presents this year, and this really impressed me.

This is the first book I ever bought about Native Americans. It was really great. Funny, sad, shows great love. More, more!

Louis is angry and irreverent, but yet not offensive. It'a a very quick, enjoyable read. The short stories in this work touch on every issue you can imagine, mixing humans and anthropomorphic creatures against a graphic backdrop of contemporary reservation life. If you like Sherman ALexie, you'll love Louis!

From the perspective of two generations of Dull Knifes (Guy Sr. and Jr.) the reader is given a 5-generation perspective on just about every important challenge faced by the Lakota/Oglala Sioux and Northern Cheyenne. There is more impact in reading this story than from reading a history book because these are real people telling their real stories which keeps within the Indian tradition of oral history. Most important, is the theme of resistance/persistence which runs throughout this history into the present day, emphasized by the obvious - 5 generations of Dull Knifes and still going. Highly recommended.

I would never have read this book had I not been assigned a project dealing with Chief Dull Knife's death march from Indian Territory. I picked it up and got plenty of information about that historical event. Reading on, I discovered a great deal more.
In addition to tracing four generations of Dull Knifes, this book is one of the most comprehensive and attractive histories of the Lakota people ever. It covers almost everything -from the battle of the Little Big Horn to the upsurge of Indian pride following the siege of Wounded Knee. Though I had read bits and pieces about them before, I was able to form a more integrated picture of the Sioux after reading this book. Often suppressed and today among the poorest groups in America, the Lakotas have held onto and passed down the beauty and resilience of their culture- like the Dull Knife who wore a medicine bundle into Vietnam and Sioux women favoring herbs and blossoms over shampoo. This spirit even shows in the narrative's fresh, confident feel.
The book also offers a glimpse at the personality of Dewey Beard, the last survivor of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, who died in 1959 and was a friend of the Dull Knife family.

An engaging story of one family of the Lakota (Sioux) from the time the treaty was signed creating Indian reservations to the present. In each generation one or more of the family members are presented in reasonable detail. See the hopes, challenges, and triumphs of each generation and get to know and love them as they attempt to hold onto important aspects of their native culture while they step into modern life with mixed successes. You'll gain an appreciation of the dedicated military service many Indians have given the U.S., and perhaps you'll twitch uncomfortably or maybe grin at the soldier who collected ears from his battlefield conquests. In total I gained a new respect of the Lakota.

Admittedly, I couldn't put the book down and read it in a week. Even thought the novel is a work of fiction, it hits closer to the truth about Rez born and raised Indians than any other novel that "mystifies" Indians in the "butterflies and daisies" sense. Fact of the matter is, Rez life is hard, damn hard. There are many casualties in this novel. First and foremost: the dishonor caused by CENTURIES of abuse and the systematic extermination of Indians have produced a culture of people who love hard, live hard, drink hard, die hard, and hate even harder. And, the central common theme...even to those who refuse to see it is the Indian's hate of the white man. Rudy clearly has little use for most of the everyday characters he comes across. He has disdain for most of his fellow Indian police officers, his Indian boss and his Indian friends. He has no respect for Indian drunks, and loathes how the economically oppressed culture has turned Indian kids into violent drug users and thugs with little respect and no hope. Socrates surmised "all questions lead to God". On the Rez, all ills lead to the white man.

This hate is the saddest legacy that American's have cultivated from the abuses that have, and CONTINUE to be bestowed upon the red man. Most whites in America are not deserved of this hate. I think it is puzzling to many white American's why Indians continue to hate them, even though many white people have never even met an Indian, and are totally unaware of the abuses that continue to happen at the hands of the government, or greedy entrepreneurs.

The last insult of the book that disturbed me the most, was the consciences crafting of hatred and callous death and destruction to the most despised Indians that exist to most western tribes, whites of mixed Cherokee ancestry. Eastern Cherokee have long been the butt of jokes, ridicule and downright hatred because of their light skin, and often-light hair. The cruelest person on the reservation was represented by Wally Trudeau, a mostly white / part Cherokee (of suspect origin, and married to a full blood from the Rez) who uncaringly allowed the death of Mogie's best friend, Weasel Bear, by catching him in a steel animal trap during a blizzard in his back yard.

Wally was unremorseful and un-pitying. And, seemed not to respect tribal authority, nor the life of Indians. Eventually, he was killed in cold blood for some other deserved slight to another Indian. You could almost imagine the collective cheering by full blooded Indians everywhere. Though it is essential to any story to have a foil, I think Mr. Adrian Louis was making another of his now famous, calculated statements. Most Indians on the Rez are drunks. Most men/women on the Rez will cheat on you and leave you one day...All true Indians are deep red skinned with braids and live on a Reservation (even his wife Vivianne, who was Chippawa, had skin too light for Rudy's tastes). All others indians need not apply. This is further bolstered in the fact that when Mogie dies, he goes to heaven, "and there was not a single white face there".

Adrian Louis is a genius! I could NOT put this book down! I even snuck it into work with me.
It is sad, funny, gut-wretching, sweet---it has it all! If you don't thoroughly enjoy this book--CHECK YOUR PULSE!!!!!

Alexie, Harjo and Welch have already explained why this is such an excellent story. I'd like to add a few personal thoughts. The characters are truly memorable. Rudy is part Rhett Butler, Rocky, Thomas Magnum, and Vinnie Vega. Mogie, offers us a face, a history, and an explanation for his thousands of real life counterparts. Several of the female characters acknowledge the often downplayed or even ignored fact, that Indian women are sexual beings.

I found it hard to let Rudy go at the end of the book. As with Rhett, Rocky, and Thomas, I wanted to know what happened to him next. How he made out during the years that followed.

I am a woman and I did not see Rudy as misogynistic at all. I'm sure there are some who would call Rhett, Rocky, etc. the same thing. To some, the glass is ALWAYS half empty.

As of 1-01, the book is expected to be made into a film. I read it a second time when I heard who has been cast. Picturing Eric Schweig as Rudy, Graham Greene as Mogie, and Adam Beach as a younger Rudy in flashbacks, just intensified everything I felt about the characters during the first read. There ARE some "don't miss" parts of the book that will not make the film. I'd highly recommend reading the book while you wait to see the perfectly cast film.

"On the Rez," by Ian Frazier, is a captivating book should you be interested in learning more about one interpretation of what life might be like on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Many do not understand what goes through the minds of many Native Americans on the "rez" as they are stereotyped as being poor, lazy and less than "civilized." In general, many can't see why these people can't seem to "get with the program." Frazier strives to give a different point of view through the insight he gains from his close friend of more than 20 years, Le War Lance, an Oglala Sioux native.

The book is almost like a journal of their adventures and time together but it is much more than that. It's about a friendship that lasts through triumphs and disappointments and seems to have thrived deeper throughout the years. It's also about a white man's view and interpretation on what he experiences when learning about this culture. If you go into the book understanding that this is not fact, but a good and genuine view of one man's view, you'll enjoy it. If not, you'll be biased.

Culture is difficult to understand if you don't live it. The Oglala Sioux have a much different culture than mainstream America and it's all relative to what is important to you. Just because Le War Lance sees things in one light does not mean that he is the spokesperson for all Native Americans, Sioux, Oglala Sioux or his own family. It is just his view, one human, which happens to coincide with others. I think that Frazier is mindful of this but it doesn't always seem implied.

I fail giving this book a full five stars because it is my opinion that Frazier mixes facts with a feel-good story toward the last third of the book when discussing the heartbreaking story of SuAnne Big Crow. It is an important part of the book but it is a little longer than necessary to achieve what he wanted to say. However, it does denote how important her story is to him in his vision of the Oglala Sioux. While the scenarios of SuAnne are great recollections put together from his interviews, I get the impression that she is put too high up on a pedastal as a great warrior when she doesn't necessarily have to be. However, I also think that I am observant enough to know that it is a very human trait and quite a normal phenomenon among all cultures. We all need our heroes to put up on a pedastal. So, I'll not sit here and say it is right or wrong. It is a touching story, but I wonder how much is manufactured versus realistic. Regardless, I did enjoy it and it does have much merit.

Again, I recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and had a hard time putting it down. I gained some insight from it and what's most important to me is that it had me wanting to learn even more about various Native American tribal cultures and experiences. I have since purchased more books and am swamped with reading material. Perhaps I'll write a book of my own some day based upon my research and discuss the proud Mandan tribe (Sioux) that a mother-in-law of mine is 100% native. Do yourself a favor, check it out!

I have read quite a bit of Native American history, but very little on contemporary Native Americans. This book filled that gap splendidly, particularly insofar as the Oglala Sioux are concerned. Ian Frazier is a wonderful author. His easy to read, conversational style reminds me a lot of John McPhee. Like McPhee, he has researched his topic thoroughly. His time spent on the Pine Ridge reservation and his intimate friendship with several tribal members allows the reader to experience a perspective that few writers could achieve. He lays out his topic in unvarnished terms. Native Americans face an extraordinarily unique set of problems to which no other ethnic group can lay claim. The picture can be dark and somber, but Frazier also manages to instill a sense of history, nobility and pride that can cut through the gloom. He conveys his fascination with the Sioux people and their struggle in an infectious and involving manner. Very highly recommended.

I admit I came to Ian Frazier's "On the Rez" hoping it would be more like "On the Road," that is, a 300-page story of drunken chaos and ripe descriptions of decadence. But Frazier's respectful historical review of how Indians have shaped our lives and their continued desecration at the hands of a well-meaning but ineffectual government gave me a renewed sense of wonder about these people. Like Frazier did as a child, we all share the belief of Indians as these mystical, spiritual folks saying things like "You are very wise, Little Flower." What Frazier does instead is take us inside the Oglala Sioux reservation--really an internment camp--and shares his journey amongh the families and stories and daily life he encounters there.

Now, one wonders what Frazier was looking for when he set out on this years-long journey. Friendship? Kinship? Closeness with other men? I was confounded by his repeated attempts to ally himself with his Indian friends, particularly Le War Lance (a/k/a Leonard Thomas Walks Out--some Indians really do have cool last names just like we imagined as children). Le provides a narrative focus for the book, and we see him at his drifting, alcoholic worst throughout. He and his brother, Floyd John, spend their days doing things like travelling a hundred miles to find a spare part for their car, then spending the rest of the day tinkering with it and drinking Budweiser. One of the funniest scenes in the book is when Frazier, driving Le and Floyd John to a propane storage facility on some godforsaken errand, almost gets blown to bits when something goes wrong near one of the immense tanks. Le and Floyd John get so joyfully wrapped up in this--chattering endlessly on the long drive home--that Frazier is moved to note that he's never seen them so happy.

Although Frazier is careful to avoid the stereotypes propagated by the media that modern Indian life is bleak, one can't help but feel the bleakness, boredom and sense of hopelessness reservations can inflict on their young. The rez is just a ghetto in the great outdoors, with all the problems facing urban ghettos today--high crime, drug use, alocoholism, unemployment, and the horrific sense of lazy entitlement that comes when generations of people depend on government intervention and provision.

After spending days and countless dollars on the likes of Le and Floyd John--Frazier readily hands the fellas money like a cuddly, human ATM--the book finds its hero. Her name is Sue Ann Big Crow, a high school freshman who's the shining star for the Oglala tribe. She's bright, articulate, funny, a friend to all and a brilliant, daring athlete. In other words, you know she's doomed from the moment you meet her. Frazier takes us through her short, strong life and wonderfully wrenches every emotion from the story of this hopeful girl and her supportive family. Thanks to Frazier, Sue Ann is a hero for the ages. And when we finally re-hookup with Le, the man seems bitter and irrelevant, going so far as to telling Frazier that Sue Ann is a phony. We don't believe a word of this. (In fact, Le's own niece disclaims the story as bull.)

I liked Frazier's style of writing--it's clear, thoughtful, funny when the situation calls for it--and I can say that, beyond learning about Le, Sue Ann, Floyd John and the rest, Frazier excellently shed light on the permeating influence of Indian culture on our society. Frazier even goes so far as to expose himself as a fussbudget, when Le drops by his home for the first and only time, unnanounced, and sets Frazier and his cute kids into a dazed tizzy. Le's drunken, sloppy intrusion into Frazier's neat world is palpable and memorable. Like the book itself.

The Dull Knives of Pine Ridge tells the story of a Native American family and how they have been percicuted by the white man for centuries and their strugle to keep their culture alive. It shows how they were thrown off their most sacred land, the Black Hills, and their fight to keep get it back. Unlike many books The Dull Knives of Pine Ridge does not have the problem showing just how brutal the settlers and the United States Government was to the Indian. For people that want to learn about the struggles of a Native American family and what a bad deal they have recieved in U.S. history this is the book for you.

This book brings a theorectical analysis of the subject of american Indian education that is still fresh today. The problems associated with Indian education raised in this text are sadly still with us and much of the reason for that continuing problem can be found in the failure of the educators, whose job it is to teach American Indian youth, to follow some of the suggestions contained in this text. On the down side, the statistics in this text are dated and in need of revision. I would still even with that proviso recommend it heartily to any anthropologist or educational theorist looking into problems associated with Indian educational failure. Buy this book!