RESOURCES: PODCAST & DISCUSSION GUIDE

Gabrielle Tateyuskanskan (Dakota) interviews Kate Beane about “Soul of the Indian,” by Dr. Charles Eastman. This discussion guide was created by Patty Bordeaux Nelson (Sicangu Lakota).

#NativeReads: The Soul of the Indian

Author

Ohiyesa, ie. Dr. Charles Eastman (Santee Dakota)

Book Summary

The Soul of the Indian tells the story of Ohiyesa’s reconciliation with his Dakota heritage. It is a narrative that validates the mores of the Oceti Sakowin. Ohiyesa was born in a time when the Oceti Sakowin traditional ways of life were still strong. His first language was Dakota. His boyhood education was in the traditional circle of learning from his grandmother, uncles and the elders of his tiospaye (community). It was also a time of conflict and uncertainty, as the land base of the Dakota was quickly being swallowed up by white settlers. The United States government was confining the Dakota to smaller and smaller tracts of land. They were not allowed to hunt for food. This confinement led to the Dakota War, which ended with 38 Dakota men hanged in Mankato, Minnesota, on Dec. 26, 1862. Many more Dakota were imprisoned. Ohiyesa was four at the time when some of his family, along with others of his band, managed to escape to Canada. These were turbulent times of change for the young Ohiyesa. As an adolescent, Ohiyesa was introduced to white culture. He learned to navigate the ways of white society. The Soul of the Indian brings him full circle. In the 1911 book, he compares the traditional ways of his Dakota ancestry to the ways he learned in the white world. He comes to the conclusion that the Western society is full of contradiction and the traditional ways of the Oceti Sakowin are tried and true.