American Indian-themed books hit shelves

By Jomay Steen, Journal Staff Writer | Monday, April 24, 2006

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RAPID CITY -- Readers browsing the bookshelves in the American Indian sections can find some local writers coming out with new novels, histories and an anthology.

Craig Howe and Kim Tall Bear contributed to and edited the anthology "This Stretch of the River: Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Responses to the Lewis and Clark Expedition and Bicentennial" published by Pine Hill Press in Sioux Falls.

Howe, 47, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said the new 116-page book had arrived off the presses only days before being presented at the 14th annual South Dakota State University American Indian History and Culture Conference on Feb. 22 and 23 in Brookings.

"This Stretch of the River" was produced by the Oak Lakes Writers' Society - a group of Lakota, Nakota and Dakota writers all from South Dakota.

"There are a wide variety of genres ... with something in there for almost everyone," he said.

Howe, who teaches in the Graduate Studies Department at Oglala Lakota College, has also served as deputy assistant director for cultural resources at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of the American Indian. He said the book talks about the river and the effect of the expedition.

"I think people are curious to hear other viewpoints on Lewis and Clark," he said.

Howe said the reader won't find the same old stories but fresh perspectives on a 200-year-old legacy. For his essay, he used primary sources to dispute the claims that the Lakota were hostile. Records say that Indians were onboard the expedition keelboats throughout the travel routes through Lakota territory.

"The book has some very powerful and strong voices, and some of these chapters are just very, very moving," he said.

Jamie Lee of Rapid City has written a novel, "Washaka," which means to be strong in the Lakota language. The story is based upon the dream of a Lakota man from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

Lee, 52, an Oglala Lakota College teacher and producer of more than 70 documentary programs for public radio, said she was between writing projects when opportunity sat at her table.

While in a restaurant thinking about her next writing project, Leon Hale of Cherry Creek stopped and asked Lee if she was a writer. At her nod, Hale sat down at her table and introduced himself. "He had this dream and wanted someone to write about it," she said.

Hale visited Lee's home for 11 recording sessions, then Lee took the bones of the dream to create a fictional world about a boy named Little Chief. "I added characters, did my own research and it just about wrote itself," Lee said.

Classified as a young adult story, "Washaka" takes readers on the adventures of a young Lakota boy in the 1800s, his home life, his dream of an injured white bear and his resulting relationship based upon his dream.

For authenticity, Lee asked four fluent speakers of Lakota to read it. She then enlisted help from an elder to look at the manuscript and edit out the cultural mistakes. "She told me, 'Get that bread out of there,'" Lee said.

Many Kites Press will release the 221-page "Washaka" on Monday, May 1. It will be sold at Prince and Pauper, Prairie Edge and Borders. Lee will host a launch celebration and book talk with the Brave Heart Drum Group on May 27 at the Dahl, at 713 Seventh St.

"It's a young-adult book, but it is good for all ages," Lee said.

In his latest book, "Crazy Horse and Chief Red Cloud," Ed McGaa of Rapid City combines personal narrative, memoir and research. By introducing the reader to John Bryde, a former University of South Dakota history scholar, the reader glimpses a piece of the author's life and interest in American Indian history. The author piloted Bryde's plane from Vermillion to extension classes across the state while Bryde carried on the oral tradition of storytelling with the author. Bryde, a former missionary, had heard these accounts from tribal elders spoken in their native language on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. It is one of several highlights of American Indian culture the 190-page book from Four Directions Publishing.

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com