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American Indian Resources
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This site includes American Indian articles , authors , books , film clip , videos , images , slide shows and more.
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American Indian Image Gallery holdings: 43
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Black Cap's Procupine Tipi - Kiowa, drawn by Paul Goble
"Black Cap’s father, Swelling Inside, dreamed that when he shot a porcupine, the animal caught the arrow in its paws, as illustrated on the cover. The porcupine gave the lodge design to Swelling Inside, and promised that he would have the good fortune to have a large family just like his own family, pictured on the lodge cover."
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Black Cap's Procupine Tipi - Kiowa
Black Cap's Procupine Tipi - Kiowa, drawn by Paul Goble
"Black Cap’s father, Swelling Inside, dreamed that when he shot a porcupine, the animal caught the arrow in its paws, as illustrated on the cover. The porcupine gave the lodge design to Swelling Inside, and promised that he would have the good fortune to have a large family just like his own family, pictured on the lodge cover."
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Elk Lodge (1900) - Blackfoot
 Blackfoot Elk Lodge (1900), drawn by Paul Goble
"The Blackfoot prefer to use the word “lodge” because “tipi” is a Lakota word. “Blackfoot” is here used to include the three peoples, Piegan, Blood, and Blackfoot.
In this design it can be seen that the bull elk is painted on the south side, the cow elk on the north. The tradition for painting male animals on the south sides of tipis and females on the north seems to have been universal, but the reason is not understood. Men sit on the north sides of lodges, close to the female animals; women sit and cook on the south side, close to the male animals.
There were several Elk Lodges in the Blackfoot villages, each with a different story of its gift.
Long ago, Lone Chief left home to fast and pray for four days and nights beside a far-away lake. He dreamed that a boy came to him. “My father wants you to come,” the boy told him. Lone Chief said he would come sometime. “No! You must come now,” the boy told him. “My father is waiting.”
The boy led Lone Chief down to the shore of the lake. “Close your eyes!” he told Lone Chief, and when he told him to open his eyes again, he was standing inside an elk painted lodge. The owner invited him to sit beside him. “I have heard you praying, Lone Chief,” the man said, “and I feel sorry for your suffering. I give you my lodge. If you look after it, and faithfully carry out the ceremonies, which I will teach you, and never kill my elk children, then your prayers will be answered.” "
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Heating and Ventilating the Tipi
Heating and Ventilating the Tipi, drawn by Paul Goble
"A small fire gives comfortable radiant heat, and as the hot air rises, much is trapped by the smaller top of the tipi’s cone, giving all-round warmth.
The smoke flaps act like a coat collar, keeping the wind from blowing down into the tipi and filling it with smoke. By directing the flaps, smoke is drawn out of the lodge. The smoke hole, being to some extent sheltered on the leeward side of the tipi and so not in the center, allows the fireplace to be closer to the door. This gives more living room at the back of the lodge, and because of the steeper angle of the poles at the back, there is more headroom. Areas close to the edge under the cover are for storage and sleeping."
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Ground Plan of a Tipi
Ground Plan of a Tipi, drawn by Paul Goble
"The tipi’s shape is not a true cone, being steeper at the back, the west, (remembering that the tipi faces east). Most of the poles are at the east, bracing against the pressure of the prevailing winds from the west and northwest, blowing against the steep west side. Without any corners, a cone easily sheds wind and rain.
Since the tipi is not a true cone, the floor plan is not round but shaped a little like an egg, longer from the door to the back, east
to west."
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It is generally recognized that Frithjof Schuon had a special interest in the spiritual traditions of the American Indians, but only some aspects of his relationship with them are well known. The online journal Vincit Omnia Veritas, which published six issues between 2005 and 2007, interviewed Michael Fitzgerald on the subject of Schuon's many decades of interest in, and study of, American Indian spirituality in its many dimensions. This interview, posted on the Religio Perennis website, remains one of the most in-depth explications of Schuon's frequent focus on many aspects of American Indian traditions. Fitzgerald also gives some important historical context to the life and times of Schuon, to his American Indian contacts and friends, and to the work of Joseph Epes Brown, a scholar of Indian Studies and a friend to both Black Elk and Schuon.
| Frithjof Schuon and the American Indian Spirit: Interview with Michael Fitzgerald | “Vincit Omnia Veritas” journal web site at www.religioperennis.org | Fitzgerald, Michael | | Schuon, Frithjof |
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The American Indian Culture and Research Journal summarizes this article by Fitzgerald in this way: “This article provides new information that will oblige scholars to reassess the legacy of Black Elk (1863–1950), including excerpts from recently discovered unpublished letters written by Joseph Epes Brown while he was living with the Lakota holy man (1947–49). The author provides insights into Brown's personal philosophy and a clearer context for the editorial role he played in recording The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux. Brown's letters also help to illuminate Black Elk's role in attempting to restore the sacred “religion of the Pipe” among the Sioux and to clarify controversies that include Black Elk's dual participation in Catholicism.” For readers of Perennialist writings, it is noteworthy that Fitzgerald's article also includes important new insight into Frithjof Schuon's role in the chain of events leading to the recording of Black Elk's teachings on the Seven Rites.
| New Light on Black Elk and The Sacred Pipe | American Indian Culture and Research Journal | Fitzgerald, Michael | | American Indian, Schuon, Frithjof |
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The essay sets out "to state the principle and explain its essential meaning" of the appearance in various traditions of "a sort of demiurge…who is both beneficent and terrible and who functions as both an initiatic hero and a buffoon." Focusing mostly on American Indian mythologies, but also employing examples from many other traditions, the author views the question from many angles but concludes that the forms of various traditional accounts of the demiurge may differ, but beyond all these, the "sole Revealer—the Logos—plays with mutually irreconcilable forms while offering a single content of dazzling self-evidence."
| The Demiurge in North American Mythology | The Feathered Sun (1990); also in Logic and Transcendence (2009) | Schuon, Frithjof | | American Indian, Cosmology, Metaphysics, Mythology or Legend |
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| The Selawik | The North American Indian - Volume 20 | Curtis, Edward | | American Indian |
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| The Kobuk | The North American Indian - Volume 20 | Curtis, Edward | | American Indian |
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| The Noatak | The North American Indian - Volume 20 | Curtis, Edward | | American Indian |
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| The Kotzebue Eskimo | The North American Indian - Volume 20 | Curtis, Edward | | American Indian |
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| Eskimo of Cape Prince of Wales | The North American Indian - Volume 20 | Curtis, Edward | | American Indian |
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| Eskimo of Little Diomede Island | The North American Indian - Volume 20 | Curtis, Edward | | American Indian |
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| Eskimo of King Island | The North American Indian - Volume 20 | Curtis, Edward | | American Indian |
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The full online video The American Indian Experience, 1500-2013 (45 minutes),
from World Wisdom:
This is a lesson given by author, editor, documentary film producer, and educator Michael Fitzgerald in September, 2013 to a class at Culver Academies in Culver, Indiana. Fitzgerald is a well-known author and editor of many books on American Indian subjects, and has many years of close relations with several tribes. He was the adopted son of the late Crow Medicine Man and Sun Dance Chief, Thomas Yellowtail.
In this lesson, Fitzgerald gives a broad overview of the history of Native Americans as they came into contact with European and American settlers. Because his area of expertise and personal experience is mostly focused on the Plains tribes, Fitzgerald often uses the history of these tribes, but this survey is broad enough to cover the many diverse tribes as a whole.
Fitzgerald delves into the history of encroachments, treaties, removal to reservations, and concludes with the voices of current-day Indian leaders discussing the challenge for their people to “live in two worlds” — the world of general American society, and the world of their traditional tribal values and culture.
This 45-minute lesson can be used to supplement classes on history, sociology, current affairs, or other social studies disciplines. The PowerPoint slide show used by Fitzgerald will be available through the book publisher, Wisdom Tales. To go to the Wisdom Tales “Teachers’ Resources” web page, click here.
The full online video What Can American Indian Traditions Teach Us About Sustainability? (52 minutes),
from World Wisdom:
This is a lesson given by author, editor, documentary film producer, and educator Michael Fitzgerald on September 10, 2013 to students at Culver Academies in Culver, Indiana. Fitzgerald is a well-known author and editor of many books on American Indian subjects, and has many years of close relations with several tribes. He was the adopted son of the late Crow Medicine Man and Sun Dance Chief, Thomas Yellowtail.
In this lesson, Fitzgerald defines "sustainability" and then goes on to demonstrate how the Native Americans (focusing most often on the Plains tribes) incorporated profound values of sustainability into their various cultures. The lessons within the Native American traditions for other civilizations struggling to understand and adopt ways of sustainability are very clear.
The film includes video clips on the rites of the Sweat Lodge, the Vision Quest, the Sun Dance, and more.
The lecture was presented for Culver's Global Studies Institute, which is "a center for the study of international affairs that seeks to help students and all in our educational community become more knowledgeable, global citizens."
This 52-minute lesson can be used to supplement classes on history, sociology, current affairs, or other social studies disciplines. The PowerPoint slide show used by Fitzgerald will be available through the book publisher, Wisdom Tales. To go to the Wisdom Tales “Teachers’ Resources” web page, click here.
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World Wisdom has a collected a large number of rare and beautiful images of American Indian themes. Some of these photographs have featured in our award winning titles. We are please to be able to make them available once again to the general public. To visit the differenct sections of our Amercian Indian Image Gallery, click on the links below
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Native Spirit & The Sun Dance Way are two unique, feature-length documentaries contained in a 2-Disc DVD with an additional 90 minutes of rich special features. The total running time of both is 3 hours and 15 minutes.
In Native Spirit, Cree Indian actress Tantoo Cardinal (Dances with Wolves), transports the viewer to the days of Red Cloud when, "Our old men talked with spirits and made good medicine. Our young men herded the horses and made love to the girls. In this way we lived and were happy". The voices of Plenty Coup, Fools Crow, Black Elk and other great leaders of their day, convey the heartbreaking story of their people’s oppression and their ultimate triumph of the spirit…
In The Sun Dance Way, the words of Thomas Yellowtail, a revered Sun Dance chief of the Crow Indian tribe, are brought to life by the internationally known Cree Indian actor, Gordon Tootoosis (Legends of the Fall). Unique photographs and video footage of sun dances, from as far back as 1903, reveal the symbolism and mystical beauty of the ancient ceremony which remains at the center of the Plains Indians’ lives today. “Once you know about these things, you will also love them, because you will see that without a sense of the sacred, you are less than a man,” said Thomas Yellowtail..
A beautiful full-color companion book, Native Spirit: The Sun Dance Way (seen on this page above), is also available. The words of Thomas Yellowtail, and quotes from elders from several tribes across the United States and Canada, are illustrated with breathtaking images of this unique cultural and sacred ceremony.
The website for the DVD is at www.nativespiritinfo.com, where you will find clips from the DVD, information on the contributors, links, and much more.
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Living in Two Worlds: The American Indian Experience
- Winner of the ForeWord Book of the Year Gold Medal in the “Social Science” category; finalist in the “History” category
- Winner of the Benjamin Franklin Gold Award for “Multicultural”
- 3 Gold Midwest Book Awards for: “Culture”, “Interior Layout”, and “Color Cover”
- Best Book 2010 Award Finalist for “Multicultural Non-Fiction” by USA Book News
- 2 Silver Midwest Book Awards for: “History” and “Total Book Design”
- Used in college classes
primary author: Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa); editor: Michael Fitzgerald
Living in Two Worlds is the compelling story of the life of noted early Native American writer Charles Eastman’s (Ohiyesa), who embraced a life of the traditional cultural ideals of his nomadic ancestors while living in the modern industrialized world. The book is edited by award-winning author Michael Fitzgerald, and includes a foreword by Shoshone Medicine Man and Sun Dance chief James Trosper. It presents selections from five of Eastman’s most important books, but there are also nine recent interviews with contemporary Native leaders from diverse tribes, thus bringing Eastman’s narrative up to our current day. Filled with first-hand accounts, personal stories, interviews, timelines, maps, and over 275 stunning vintage photographs and paintings, this beautifully illustrated book presents a vivid account of the American Indian experience during the last four centuries. (More)
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The Woman who Lived with Wolves & Other Stories from the Tipi
by Paul Goble
In color illustrations and lively stories, Caldecott Medal winner Paul Goble brings to life 26 traditional stories from various tribal nations, including the Lakota, Pawnee, Blackfoot, and Cheyenne.
“The Woman Who Lived With Wolves presents a dazzling array of traditional wisdom tales from many Native cultures, each with its particular message, hero or heroine. Each story teaches something important and valuable about the interrelatedness of animals, nature, and human beings. Each must seek to understand and respect the sacred threads that bind them in life together. There are many teaching tales from many Buffalo days tribes and nations. Here in The Woman Who Lived with Wolves we are fortunate to be given a treasured look into a living past fraught with danger, hunger, hope and courage.” —Midwest Book Review
(More)
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The Feathered Sun: Plains Indians in Art and Philosophy
- DESI Award for Excellence from Graphic Design USA
- Chicago Book Clinic Honor Book
by Frithjof Schuon
This collection of the most important articles by Frithjof Schuon on American Indians spirituality in accompanied by a selection of his paintings on American Indian subjects.
“It is a very good thing to see a book with Mr. Schuon’s writings about American Indians... Anyone who doesn’t know the Indians will learn something about how it was in olden days and how it should be. Anyone who already knows something about the Indians will never forget this book.”
—Thomas Yellowtail, Crow Medicine Man and Sun Dance Chief (More)
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The Boy and His Mud Horses & Other Stories from the Tipi
by Paul Goble
Paul Goble again presents, in paintings and vibrant stories, meaningful traditional American Indian tales. The Boy and His Mud Horses features a collection of 27 traditional stories from different Native American tribes, including the Pawnee, Cheyenne, Blackfoot, and Lakota. A foreword by Albert White Hat, Sr., a nationally respected Lakota leader and linguist, is also included.
“Goble is both the author and illustrator of this heavily researched book of short stories from the Plains Indian People…. None of the 27 stories are longer than two pages and the Central Plains tribes are well represented. A cautionary note—in our busy world, it is easy to take these amazing illustrations for granted. Slow down! Feast on the rock formations, the insects, the flowers, the birds, and my favorite—the cool, crisp, star filled skies.” — Peter Durkin, from a review in Whispering Winds
(More)
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The Essential Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa): Light on the Indian World
- Silver Midwest Book Award for "Religion/Philosophy/Inspiration"
- Used in college classes
by Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa)
edited by Michael Fitzgerald
This completely revised and updated edition combines the most important writings of Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa), the first Native American author to live simultaneously in both the traditional world of the Santee Sioux and the modern civilization of the white man.
Ohiyesa's works represent a complete explanation of the philosophy and moral code of the Plains Indian. Providing much of the basis of our knowledge of their sacred world view in which 'we are all related,' they sound a profoundly spiritual note which speaks directly to the ecological crisis and the de-humanization of man so often discussed in our time. On a deeper level, Ohiyesa's message speaks to every person who seeks a spiritual way in the midst of a society increasingly dominated by materialism and industrial technology. This new edition contains 10 sepia photographs from Eastman’s life and a thought-provoking foreword by Raymond Wilson. (more)
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All Our Relatives: Traditional Native American Thoughts on Nature
- Nominated for James Madison Book Award
- Silver Midwest Book Award for “Nature”
by Paul Goble
For more than four decades, world-renowned artist and author Paul Goble has participated closely in the life of the Plains Indians of the American West and has met old-timers who knew the pre-reservation days and shared the friendship of many tribal elders. In the tales and songs, dreams and quotations of this book, the ancient Indian ways are brought to life again. The title of this book, “all our relatives” (mitakuye oyasin), is a frequently repeated phrase in Lakota ceremonies that expresses the interdependence of creation and the presence of the Creator in all things. Through carefully chosen stories from the olden days and art that meticulously reflects traditional designs and colors, Goble provides wonderful insights into the spiritual life of these nomadic peoples. His intimate knowledge of their world transports the reader into a vision of the sacred beauty and wisdom that defined traditional Native America. (More)
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The Gospel of the Redman: Commemorative Edition
- Silver Midwest Book Award for “Multicultural”
- Used in college classes
by Ernest Thompson Seton
In response to mounting environmental concerns, a defining characteristic of the latter part of 20th century American life is the increasing interest in Native American philosophies. Ernest Thompson Seton (1860-1946) was one of the earliest supporters of the political, cultural, and spiritual rights of First Peoples, and as a corrective to the materialistic worldview and environmental abuses of our day. The Gospel of the Redman is a prophetic work.
This commemorative edition contains for the first time Seton’s drawings of American Indian motifs, a selection of photographs illustrating his life, information about his role as founder of the Boy Scouts of America, and his friendship with prominent American Indian leaders. (More)
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Indian Spirit: Revised and Enlarged
- Gold Midwest Book Award for “Culture”
- Gold Midwest Book Award for “Religion/Philosophy/Inspiration”
- Used in college classes
Edited by Judith Fitzgerald and Michael Fitzgerald
Through its striking combination of stirring oratory and majestic portraiture from the Plains Indian pre-reservation “old-timers,” Indian Spirit reveals the very heart of the traditional Native American life-way: a world where dignity of soul, nobility of sentiments, discipline of gesture, and a sense of the Great Spirit in all things, reigned supreme. This heroic ideal of the Native American, blending the courage of the warrior with the wisdom of the priest, stands as a timeless exemplar for all peoples.
This fully revised and expanded new edition of Indian Spirit, the popular American Indian photograph-and-quote book, have been completely redesigned with many new pictures and motiffs, and features a new Foreword by Shoshone Sun Dance Chief James Trosper. (More)
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Native Spirit: The Sun Dance Way
- Gold Midwest Book Award for "Culture"
- Silver Midwest Book Award for “Religion/Philosophy/Inspiration”
- Silver Benjamin Franklin Award "New Age/Metaphysics/Spirituality"
- Used in college classes
by Thomas Yellowtail
edited by Michael Fitzgerald
Native Spirit: The Sun Dance Way is the story of the remarkable preservation of an ancient cultural and spiritual way of life. In this companion book to the two documentary set Native Spirit & The Sun Dance Way, American Indian tribal elders and spiritual leaders tell of the struggle to preserve the way of their Grandfathers in the face of a government bent on their destruction. With over 100 color and sepia photographs from as early as 1903, along with the images from the only video footage officially sanctioned by the Sun Dance, this book reveals the symbolism and mystical beauty of the ancient Sun Dance ceremony, which still remains at the center of the spiritual life of many Plains Indians today.
Native Spirit: The Sun Dance Way includes rare interviews with such American Indian elders as John Arlee, Janine Pease, Joe Medicine Crow, James Trosper, Arvol Looking Horse, and Ines Talamantez. (More)
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The Spirit of Indian Women
- Gold Midwest Book Award for “Multicultural”
- Gold Midwest Book Award for “Religion/Philosophy”
- Used in college classes
Edited by Judith Fitzgerald and Michael Fitzgerald
What was the role of women in the world of nomadic American Indians in the 19th century? The Spirit of Indian Women provides a unique glimpse into a world that is almost inaccessible in our time. Through the combined power of photos, art, and the wisdom of traditional voices, modern readers can come to feel something of the timeless spirit of Indian women.
The Spirit of Indian Women is edited by Judith Fitzgerald and Michael Fitzgerald with an introduction by Janine Pease. (more)
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The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian:
Commemorative Edition with Letters while Living with Black Elk
by Joseph Epes Brown
edited by Elenita Brown, Marina Brown Weatherly and Michael Fitzgerald
The writings of Joseph Epes Brown are considered amongst the most important studies on the North American Indian undertaken in the 20th Century. His works have been translated into numerous languages and are re-igniting interest in American Indian religious tradition.
The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian: Commemorative Edition, not only presents his works on the fundamental and universal characteristics of the American Indian culture and tradition, but the previously unpublished correspondence sheds light on Dr. Brown’s time spent on the reservations immersed in the very cultures and peoples that he wrote about. His letters also shed new light on the ongoing debate as to the extent to which Black Elk was a sincere Catholic.
Enhanced by previously unpublished photographs from Dr. Brown’s own private collection, The Spiritual of Legacy of the American Indian is a fascinating exposition of the often repeated Lakota phrase mitakuye oyasin, "We are all Related." (More)
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Tipi: Home of the Nomadic Buffalo Hunters
- Silver Midwest Book Award for “Child/Young-Adult Non-Fiction”
- Silver Midwest Book Award for “Nature”
- ForeWord Book of the Year Award Finalist for “Juvenile Nonfiction”
- Silver Benjamin Franklin Award “Interior Design, Children's/Young Adult”
- Used in college classes
by Paul Goble
“When I was a little boy, my mother made me a small tipi and painted it with Native American symbols. It excited my interest, and made me want to know more. This book is the kind of book I began looking for, but never found. So I have made it for you.” These are the opening words to world-renowned artist, Paul Goble’s latest work, Tipi: Home of the Nomadic Buffalo Hunters.
Through his award-winning art, and the stories and tales of the old-timers, Goble examines the construction and art of the tipi, which was more than a simple dwelling for the Plains Indians, but rather an expression of their belief in the spirituality of the world around them.
Libraries and some readers may be interested in the hardcover edition of Tipi: Home of the Nomadic Buffalo Hunters. Click here to go to the detail page for more information or to order the hardcover edition.
“Tipi: Home of the Nomadic Buffalo Hunters is an instant classic. It bids fair to to supplant the Laubins' (The Indian Tipi) as the ‘bible’ on this subject. While aimed at a young audience, this is a worthy and very serious contribution to American Indian art history, readable and yet comprehensive. It is immediately the best resource for painted-tipi imagery ever published.”—Mike Cowdrey, author of American Indian Horse Masks (More)
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The Earth Made New: Plains Indian Stories of Creation
by Paul Goble
This beautifully illustrated Plains Indian Creation story celebrates a new Earth after the flood and narrates the making of the buffaloes, mountains, plants, colorful horses and Thunderbirds among others. Weaving together the legends of the Plains Indian tribes, including the stories of the Cheyenne, Blackfoot, Arapaho, and the Crow, this revised edition contains 8 pages of additional illustrations and stories, as well as a new foreword. It also includes an extensive reference list and detailed introductory note. (More)
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The Cheyenne Indians: Their History and Lifeways, Edited and Illustrated
by George Bird Grinnell
edited by Joseph A. Fitzgerald
George Bird Grinnell (1849-1938) lived with and studied the last of the Cheyennes who had lived the nomadic life in the old West. He was the long-time editor of Field & Stream magazine and helped to establish both the Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. During his career he documented several tribes of the old West, including this vivid account of the last of the Cheyenne Indians, who were forced to live out their lives as nomads. Grinnell recorded for posterity the former way of life of the Cheyennes, making his career, as the famed historian Stephen Ambrose has said, “of incalculable benefit to every student of Western or Indian history.”
The present book is an edited version of Grinnell’s great work on the Cheyenne, which Dee Brown, author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee has described as “a favorite source book for everyone interested in Plains Indians.” This edition is also fully illustrated and includes selections from three articles previously unpublished in book form.
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The Image Taker: The Selected Stories and Photographs of Edward S. Curtis
edited by Gerald Hausman and Bob Kapoun
The photographs and stories of Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952) speak through time of a bygone age. His work acts as a bridge between generations and allows readers to experience firsthand the culture of the Indians of North America.
Between 1889 and 1930, Curtis traveled throughout North America photographing and recording the stories and lifeways of the last generation of Indians from the “Buffalo Days”. Beginning in 1907, he gradually published his 20-volume masterwork, The North American Indian.
Selected from that same masterwork, The Image Taker features nearly 200 photographs, rarely seen before in print, alongside the history, myths, and legends of 26 tribal nations. (More)
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John Arlee is a Salish traditional spiritual leader and teaches both the Salish language and Salish tribal history at the Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, MT.
Mr. Arlee is a contributor to the book Native Spirit: The Sun Dance Way, by Thomas Yellowtail, edited by Michael Fitzgerald. Film interviews with Mr. Arlee are also included in the documentary films Native Spirit and The Sun Dance Way, directed by Jennifer Casey and produced by Michael Fitzgerald. (More)
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Black Elk (Nicholas) (1863-1950) was an Oglala Sioux spiritual leader and medicine man. He was the second cousin of Crazy Horse. Black Elk participated, at about the age of twelve, in the Battle of Little Big Horn of 1876, and was wounded in the massacre that occurred at Wounded Knee in 1890.
The Spiritual Legacy of the American: Commemorative Edition (with letters while living with Black Elk) by Joseph Epes Brown contains previously unpublished correspondence from Brown during his time on the reservation, which sheds new light on the debate on whether Black Elk was indeed a sincere Catholic, as well as recording many of Black Elk’s observations on modern ways and traditional Indian spiritual values. (More)
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Joseph Epes Brown was a professor of Religious Studies at the University of Montana. A renowned author in the fields of American Indian traditions and World Religions, Brown was one of the founders of Native American Studies and was largely responsible for bringing the study of these religious traditions into American higher education. His publications include The Sacred Pipe, his famous recounting of the sacred rites of the Oglala Sioux, and The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian . (More)
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Tantoo Cardinal is a vetern actor, who films credits include Dances with Wolves, Legends of the Fall and Smoke Signals.
A member of the Cree Tribe, in Native Spirit, Ms. Cardinal's narration transports the audience to a time of cultural travail and heartbreaking transitions. (More)
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Ohiyesa, also known as Charles Alexander Eastman, was the first great American Indian author, publishing 11 books from 1902 until 1918. In his later adult life he was the foremost Indian spokesman of his day and his contributions to our understanding of the American Indian philosophy and religion are so significant that at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, Ohiyesa was presented a special medal honoring the most distinguished achievements by an American Indian.
World Wisdom has published The Essential Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa): Light on the Indian World, a selection of some of the best writings of Charles Eastman gathered from many of his books. Other materials on this web site include a slideshow, Who was Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa)? and a bibliography of Charles Eastman's 11 books. (More)
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Judith Fitzgerald is an artisan, calligrapher, and graphic designer. She is an adopted member of the Apsaroke tribe and the family of the late Thomas Yellowtail, one of the most honored American Indian spiritual leaders of the last century. A graduate of Indiana University, she has collaborated with her husband Michael Fitzgerald on a series of award winning titles, including Indian Spirit: Revised and Enlarged and The Spirit of Indian Women. (More)
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Michael Fitzgerald has created over a dozen books that have received more than fifteen prestigious awards. Eight of his books and two documentary films produced by him are used in university classes. Fitzgerald has taught Religious Traditions of the North American Indians in the Indiana University Continuing Studies Department. Michael is also the adopted son of the late Thomas Yellowtail, one of the most honored American Indian spiritual leaders of the last century. He holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Indiana University. Fitzgerald was Joseph Epes Brown’s graduate teaching assistant at Indiana University for three semesters. (More)
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Rodney Frey is a Professor American Indian Studies and Anthropology at the University of Idaho.
His books include The World of the Crow Indians: As Driftwood Lodges, Stories That Make the World: Oral Literature of the Indian Peoples of the Inland Northwest as Told by Lawrence Aripa, Tom Yellowtail and other Elders and Landscape Traveled by Coyote and Crane: The World of the Schitsu'umsh - Coeur d'Alene Indians, in collaboration with the Schitsu'umsh
Rodney Frey wrote the foreword for Paul Goble's Tipi: Home of the Nomadic Buffalo Hunters (More)
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Paul Goble is an award winning author and illustrator of children's books. To date, Mr. Goble has illustrated over 28 books, including the World Wisdom titles All Our Relatives and Tipi: Home of the Nomadic Buffalo Hunters. Mr. Goble also wrote the Foreword to The Gospel of the Redman: Commemorative Edition by Ernest Thompson Seton and Julia M. Seton. His best known work, The Girl who Loved Horses won the prestigious Caldecott Medal.
His illustrations accurately depict Native American clothing, customs and surroundings in brilliant color and detail. Goble researches ancient stories and retells them for his young audience in a manner sympathetic to Native American ways. (More)
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Dr. Âke Hultkrantz was recognized as a major authority on Native American religions and shamanism. He was a professor of religion at the University of Stockholm, Sweden. During the years 1948 and 1958, Professor Hultrkrantz conducted field work at the Wind River reservation, which resulted in his ground-breaking book, Native American Religions of North America: The Power of Visions and Fertility. His other works include The Religions of the American Indians, Shamanic Healing & Ritual Drama: Health & Medicine in the Native North American Religious Traditions, and Belief and Worship in Native America.
He contributed the introduction to The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian: Commemorative Edition With Letters While Living with Black Elk. (More)
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Arvol Looking Horse was born on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. At the age of 12, he was given the responsibility of becoming the 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, the sacred pipe of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Nations. He is widely recognized as a chief and the spiritual leader of all three branches of the Sioux tribe. (More)
Chief Looking Horse contributed to the Conversations with the Elders section of Native Spirit & The Sun Dance Way and its companion book Native Spirit: The Sun Dance Way.
A selection of video clips of Arvol Looking Horse can be viewed in the Video Clips section of this page.
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Oren R. Lyons is a traditional Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, and a member of the Onondoga Nation Council of Chiefs of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy (the Haudenosaunee). He is Associate Professor in the Department of Native American Studies at the State University of New York in Buffalo. Lyons co-founded and publishes Daybreak, a national American Indian quarterly news magazine. He also edited the book Exiled In The Land Of The Free: Democracy, The Iroquois and The Constitution (1992), and is an accomplished illustrator and painter.
An essay from Oren Lyons, "Our Mother Earth," is included in Seeing God Everywhere: Essays on Nature and the Sacred. (More)
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Dr. Joe Medicine Crow is the Crow Tribal Historian and the oldest living man of the Crow tribe. In 1939, he was the first member of the Crow tribe to obtain a master’s degree. His Master’s thesis, “The Effects of European Culture Contact upon the Economic, Social, and Religious Life of the Crow Indians”, remains the most widely read source on Crow culture. Medicine Crow is the last traditional Crow chief, having achieved the war deeds necessary to be declared a "chief" during World War II. (More)
Medicine Crow wrote the foreword to Paul Goble's All Our Relatives, and Native Spirit: The Sun Dance Way by Thomas Yellowtail.
A selection of Video Clips of Interviews with Joe Medicine Crow can be view above in the Video Clips section of this page.
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Dr. Janine Pease is the founding president of the Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency Montana, a past president of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (for two terms), a director of the American Indian College Fund (for seven years), and was appointed by President Clinton to the National Advisory Council on Indian Education (for eight years).
She wrote the introduction for The Essential Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa), edited by Michael Fitzgerald. Dr. Pease is also the author of the foreword to the award winning book The Spirit of Indian Women, in addition to being featured in the Conversation with the Elders section of Native Spirit: The Sun Dance Way. (More)
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Frithjof Schuon is best known as the foremost spokesman of the Traditionalist school of comparative religion. The author of more than 25 books on spirituality, he wrote extensively on the beliefs of Plains Indians tribes. A friend of Thomas Yellowtail and Joseph Epes Brown, he was an adopted member of both the Crow and the Sioux tribes, and was given the name of Wambali Ohitika – Brave Eagle – by Chief James Red Cloud (grandson of the great Sioux chief). Schuon was also a well respected painter. One of the dominate themes of his art were American Indian subjects.
The Feathered Sun is a collection of Schuon's articles on American Indian Spirituality and features many of his paintings. (More)
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Co-founder of the Boy Scouts of America, naturalist, author, and painter Ernest Thompson Seton, was born in England in 1860. His stories and paintings of wildlife are standard works on nature study and wood lore for boys and girls that continue to be used today. Together, with Lord Baden-Powell, Seton created the Boy Scouts of America as an organization that would respects nature's gifts. Seton was especially concerned with the plight of American Indians as well as the environment which is throughout his writing. Author of over 50 books, Mr. Seton's message that the natural world is to be respected and nutured is more relevant today than ever before. He died in 1946.
He is the co-author of The Gospel of the Redman: Commemorative Edition with his wife Julia M. Seton. (More)
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A member of the Mescalero Apache tribe, Inés M. Talamantez is a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Professor Talamantez is the author of Teaching Religion and Healing and has contributed articles to Native Religions and Cultures of North America: Anthropology of the Sacred and Unspoken Worlds: Women's Religious Lives.
She is the past president of the Indigenous Studies Group at the Amercian Academy of Religion and is one of the most well known American Indian scholars. (More)
Prof. Talamantez is featured in the Conversation with the Elders section of Native Spirit: The Sun Dance Way
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A veteran of over 40 films and member of the Cree Tribe, Tootoosis has appeared with such stars as Ben Affleck and Charlize Theron in Reindeer Games (2000) and joined an all-star cast in Legends of the Fall (1994) with such actors as Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins.
Born on Saskatchewan’s Poundmaker Reserve, Gordon Tootoosis was raised with a strong Cree belief system and knowledge of the Cree language, art, and worldview. In 2001, he won the Eagle Spirit award at the American Indian Motion Picture awards. (More)
In Native Spirit & The Sun Dance way, Gordon Tootoosis stars as the voice of Thomas Yellowtail.
A selection of Video Clips from interviews with Gordon Tootoosis can be view in the Video Clips section of this page.
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James Trosper is a Sun Dance chief of the Shoshone tribe on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. He is from a long line of Shoshone Sun Dance chiefs that includes John Trehero, the Sun Dance chief who brought the Shoshone Sun Dance to the Crow tribe, and is a direct descendent of Chief Washakie, who is the most important chief of the Shoshone tribe in history. (More)
Trosper wrote the foreword to Indian Spirit: Revised and Enlarged edited by Michael Fitzgerald and Judith Fitzgerald. He is also featured in the Conversations with the Elders section of Native Spirit: The Sun Dance Way.
Video Clips of James Trosper can be seen in the Video Clips section on this page.
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Raymond Wilson is Professor of History and former chair of the Department of History at Hays University, Kansas. He is a well-known author who has written five books, including the definitive biography of Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa), Ohiyesa: Charles Eastman, Santee Sioux. He is the editor of Natives Americans in the Twentieth Century and Indian Lives: Essays on Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Native American Leaders.(More)
Wilson wrote the Foreword to The Essential Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa) edited by Michael Fitzgerald and introduced by Janine Pease
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Born in 1903, Medicine Man and Sundance Chief Thomas Yellowtail was a pivotal figure in Crow tribal life and one of the most admired American Indian spiritual leaders of the last century. As a youth he lived in the presence of old warriors, hunters, and medicine men who knew the freedom and sacred ways of pre-reservation life. As the principal figure in the Crow-Shoshone Sun Dance religion during the last half of the 20th century, he has perpetuated the spiritual traditions of his Crow tribe as one of the last living links to the pre-reservation days. He died in 1993.
The story of his life and his descriptions of the Sun Dance religion are revealed in the book Yellowtail: Crow Medicine Man and Sun Dance Chief, edited by Michael Fitzgerald. (More)
Yellowtail is the author of Native Spirit: The Sun Dance Way, and provided the Introduction to Indian Spirit: Revised & Enlarged
A selection of video clips taken from interviews with Thomas Yellowtail can be found in the Video Clips section above.
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Joseph Fitzgerald is an author and editor of books on subjects that include Buddhism, Hinduism, the American Indians, Christianity and the Perennial Philosophy. At four years of age he was adopted into the Crow tribe and the family of Thomas Yellowtail, one of the most honored American Indian spiritual leaders of the past century. Yellowtail was to provide Fitzgerald and his parents with introductions to many spiritual leaders of other American Indian tribes; thus Fitzgerald has spent extended periods of time over more than thirty years visiting traditional cultures and attending sacred ceremonies throughout the American West, including the sacred rites of the Crow, Sioux, Cheyenne, Shoshone, Bannock, and Apache Tribes. He is the editor of The Cheyenne Indians: Their History and Lifeways, Edited and Illustrated, by George Bird Grinnell.
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Sample Presentation of our American Indian illustrated titles
To see a Flash presentation of pages from our illustrated titles click on the links below:
- Tipi: Home of the Nomadic Buffalo Hunters, click here.
- Indian Spirit: Revised and Enlarged click here
You will need to have Macromedia Flash (version 8 or newer) on your computer to see this presentation. A slow internet connection will require a bit of waiting, too. Click here to learn about Flash Player or to download it for your web browser.
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World Wisdom's award winning graphic designers have prepared a selection of free eProducts based on American Indian themes. To visit our eProducts page click any of the links below.
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