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Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa) , 1858-1939

Sioux

Charles Eastman was born in 1858 on the Santee Reservation near Redwood Falls, Minnesota and died in 1939. He earned a M.D. degree at Boston University, 1890, and a month after graduating from medical school treated the injuries of survivors of Wounded Knee. He was a strong advocate for Native American causes and worked to set up YMCA units for Indians across the country. He spent much of his life trying to reconcile the opposing values and beliefs of white society and Sioux culture.

Awards and Honors

Indian Achievement Award, 1933

 

(Photo courtesy of Facts on File, American Historical Images on File: The Native American Experience )

Online resources by or about Charles Eastman:

The Claiming of Christ: Native American Postcolonial Discourses
Author: Irene S. Vernon
Type: authorbio
Description: This critical essay from the Summer, 1999 issue of MELUS looks at the relationship between Native American writers (including Apess, Goodbird and Eastman) and Christianity.
URL: http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m2278/2_24/59211508/print.jhtml
Dr. Charles A. Eastman
Author: Paula Giese
Type: authorbio
Description: Biography of Dr. Charles A. Eastman with bibliography.
URL: http://www.kstrom.net/isk/stories/authors/eastman.html
Indian Boyhood by Charles Eastman, Full Text
Author: Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library
Type: etext
Description: Full text of Charles Eastman's Indian Boyhood, available online in twelve chapter files
URL: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgibin/toccer?id=EasIndi&tag=public&images=images/modeng&data=/lv1/Archive/eng-parsed&part=0
Old Indian Days by Charles Eastman, Full-Text
Author: Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library
Type: etext
Description: Full text version of Old Indian Days by Charles Eastman, available in 15 chapter files.
URL: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgibin/toccer?id=EasDays&tag=public&images=images/modeng&data=/lv1/Archive/eng-parsed&part=0
The Soul of the Indian
Author: Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library
Type: etext
Description: Full text version of Charles Eastman's The Soul of the Indian, available in 6 chapter files.
URL: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgibin/toccer?id=EasSoul&tag=public&images=images/modeng&data=/lv1/Archive/eng-parsed&part=0

Books by Charles Eastman:

Eastman, Charles. From the deep woods to civilization : chapters in the autobiography of an Indian
Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 1977.
Genre: Autobiography
Description: 206 p. : ill. ; 21 cm.
Reprint of the 1936 ed. published by Little, Brown, Boston. Includes index. Introduction by Raymond Wilson. Santee Indians--Biography.
Audience: Adult
ISBN: 0803209363 (hc) 0803258739 (pbk.)
Eastman, Charles. Indian boyhood
Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 1991.
Genre: Biography
Description: 289 p. : ill. ; 21 cm.
Illustrated by E.L. Blumenschein. Originally published in Boston by Little, Brown, 1902. Includes bibliographical references. Santee Indians--Biography. Santee Indians--History.
Audience: All Ages
ISBN: 0803267193
Eastman, Charles. Indian heroes and great chieftains
Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 1991.
Genre: Biography
Description: 241 p. : ill. ; 21 cm.
Originally published in Boston by Little, Brown, 1918. "A Bison Book." Dakota Indians--Biography
Audience: All Ages
ISBN: 0803267207
Eastman, Charles. Indian scout talks : a guide for boy scouts and camp fire girls
Boston : Little, Brown, 1918.
Genre: Nonfiction
Description: 190 p. : ill. ; 19 cm.
Notes : Reprinted in part from various periodicals. Camp Fire Girls. Boy Scouts. Social life and customs.
Audience: All Ages
Eastman, Charles. The Indian to-day; the past and future of the first American
Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday, Page & company, 1915.
Genre: Nonfiction
Description: 185 p. ; 19 cm.
Series : The American books; a library of good citizenship. Includes bibliography.
Audience: Adult
Eastman, Charles. Lorado Taft's Indian statue "Black Hawk " an account of the unveiling ceremonies...
1912.
Genre: Nonfiction
Description: 108 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.
Author : Heckman, Wallace. Full title : Lorado Taft's Indian statue "Black Hawk" : an account of the unveiling ceremonies at Eagles' Nest Bluff, Oregon, Illinois, July the first nineteen hundred and eleven, Frank O. Lowden presiding. Black Hawk, Sauk chief, 1767-1838. Oregon (Ill.) Black Hawk statue. Contributors: Peattie, Elia (Wilkinson) Mrs., 1982- Taft, Lorado, 1860-1936. Bancroft, Edgar Addison, 1857-1925. Lowden, Frank O. (Frank Orren), 1861-1943. Heckman, Wallace. Cornelius, Laura M. Eastman, Charles Alexander, 1858-1939. Garland, Hamlin, 1860-1940. Fuller, Henry Blake, 1857-1929. Includes: Peattie, Elia (Wilkinson) Mrs., 1982- Taft, Lorado, 1860-1936. Bancroft, Edgar Addison, 1857-1925. Lowden, Frank O. (Frank Orren), 1861-1943. Heckman, Wallace. Cornelius, Laura M. Eastman, Charles Alexander, 1858-1939. Garland, Hamlin, 1860-1940. Fuller, Henry Blake, 1857-1929.
Audience: Adult
Eastman, Charles. Old Indian days
New York : The McClure company, 1907.
Genre: Folklore
Description: 279 p. ; 20 cm.
Illustrations by Dan Sayre Groesbeck. Notes : Reprinted from various periodicals. Contents : The warrior ; The love of Antelope ; The madness of Bald Eagle ; The singing spirit ; The famine ; The chief soldier ; The white man's errand ; The grave of the dog ; The woman ; Winona, the woman-child ; Snana's fawn ; She-who-has-a-soul ; The peace-maker ; blue Sky ; The faithfulness of Long Ears ; The war maiden. Dakota Indians.
Audience: Adult
Eastman, Charles. Red hunters and the animal people
New York : Harper & Brothers, 1904.
Genre: Short Stories / Folklore
Description: 248 p. ; 20 cm.
Includes glossary of Indian words and phrases. Contents : The great cat's nursery ; On Wolf mountain ; The dance of the little people ; Wechah the provider ; The mustering of the herds ; The sky warrior ; A founder of ten towns ; The gray chieftain ; Hootay of the Little Rosebud ; The river people ; The challenge ; Wild animals from the Indian standpoint.
Audience: All Ages
Eastman, Charles. The soul of an Indian and other writings from Ohiyesa
San Rafael, CA : New World Library, 1993.
Genre: Nonfiction
Description: 66 p. ; 19 cm.
Series : The Classic wisdom collection. Edited and arranged by Kent Nerburn. Notes : "A reconfiguration of...writings, chosen from a variety of sources, woven together in a way that gives voice to the spiritual vision that animated all his writing and speaking. Santee Indians--Religion and mythology. Santee Indians--Social life and customs.
Audience: All Ages
ISBN: 1880032236
Eastman, Charles. Wigwam Evenings : Sioux Folk Tales Retold
Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 1916.
Genre: Folklore
Description: Co-authored by Elaine Goodale Eastman.
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