The Soul of the Indian: An Interpretation

by Charles Alexander Eastman

Charles Alexander Eastman (1858-1939) was a mixed-blood Sioux. His maternal grandmother, daughter of Chief Cloudman of the Mdewankton Sioux, was married to a well-known western artist, Captain Seth Eastman, and in 1847 their daughter Mary Nancy Eastman became the wife of Chief Many Lightnings, a Wahpeton Sioux. Their fifth child, Charles Alexander Eastman, as a four-year old was given the name Ohiyesa (the Winner). During the Sioux Uprising of 1862 Ohiyesa became separated from his father—his mother had died soon after his birth-and fled from the reservation in Minnesota to Canada under the protection of his grandmother and uncle. There he was schooled in the Indian ways until the age of fifteen, when he was reunited with his father, who took him back to his homestead in present South Dakota. Eastman went on to become one of the best-known Indians of his time, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree from Dartmouth in 1887 and a medical degree from Boston University three years later. From his first appointment as a physician at Pine Ridge Agency, where he witnessed the events that culminated in the Wounded Knee massacre, he sought to bring understanding between Native and non-Native Americans. In addition to two autobiographical works, Indian Boyhood (1902) and From the Deep Woods to Civilization (1916), Charles Eastman wrote nine other books, some in collaboration with his wife, Elaine Goodale Eastman (who has told her story in Sister to the Sioux , also a Bison Book). In The Soul of the Indian , first published in 1911, the author's aim has been "to paint the religious life of the typical American Indian as it was before he knew the white man."

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Native American, Religion, Indigenous, Spirituality, Biography

170 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1911

About the author

Charles Alexander Eastman is unique among Indian writers, whether storytellers or oral historians. He was raised traditionally, as a Woodland Sioux, by his grandmother, from 1858 - 1874, until he was 15. He thus gained a thorough first-hand knowledge of the lifeways, language, culture, and oral history.

His father (thought to have been hanged at Mankato, Minnesota) reappeared and insisted he receive the white man's education. Educated at Dartmouth and Boston University medical school, Eastman became a highly literate physician, who was the only doctor available to the victims of the Wounded Knee massacre in 1890 -- a major historical event, often described as "ending the Indian wars".

Other Indian writers of this period were either entirely acculturated -- had never lived the traditional life of their people or been educated out of their native knowledge -- or were not literate, and were able to provide only "as told to" materials, through the filters of interpreters and non-Indian writers. Eastman had the lifeways and historical events experiences, and he did not need the literary filters of translators and white anthropologists or collectors.

http://www.worldwisdom.com/public/aut...

Reviews

[Red Haircrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I began to read "The Soul of the Indian" it was like taking a deep breath of relief, because it was as I've been taught and observed. In many ways, it is one of the most accurate accounts in the style and manner of the speaking of elders.

The point about reading books such as these is to put aside one's own beliefs and religious ideas based on one's own culture, and fully step outside to try to understand another people in a new way. Not many people seem to be able to do that, as they limit themselves into forcing an idea into terms or dogma they can more easily accept or understand.

The book is approximately 170 pages in a chapbook style. The edition I have is by Bison, 1980, typeset in an antiquated manner. It is very thought-provoking and contemplative but for all the supposed "complexities" some try to misinterpret from this work, for it us there is one simple premise: "It is as it is".

Quoting a Lakota elder I had the privilege of listening to October 2010, which is described in essays at my blog http://redhaircrow.com/native-america... :

“We people have mysteries. Things we cannot explain. Things we don’t know how they came to be or how they stay alive but it’s all part of life. For some things we have legends and tales passed down from our ancestors, and they’re enough though now we have science and all kinds of stuff which explain how things work inside. Or they try to anyway. There are still mysteries and will always be. There are some things you don’t need answers to in order to have a happy life or just get by even.

That’s the way it’s always been with the People but when the black robes came (the European settlers with their Christian religion. The Catholics are directly referred to first as “black robes” but that term came to include all Christians) they saw something they didn’t understand. Well, they thought they understood it and put their own words to it, words like “evil”, “wrong” and “sin”. But there is no evil among the People. Things happen. People are certain ways. That’s just life. We don’t try to force our own thoughts or beliefs on anybody else, but that’s what the black robes did to us.

Then you had some of the People converting to the black robe religion and they too tried to say certain things were “evil” and “sin”, but it’s not our way to judge others. It’s the white man’s God’s way. Every body should just be how they are and be allowed to. I can be happy with very little because their definition does not apply to me. They might be unhappy with what I had. I think that’s why they are so unhappy and so far from the earth. They’re always looking at someone else and trying to change them when they don’t really know themselves in the first place.”

Refreshing simplicity.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this to the general reader as well as those deeply interested in indigenous history and culture. I appreciate the simplicity of the syntax,the occasional poetic expression and even a few quotable phrases. This book I read in under two hours.It is an easy overview of some captivating myths, expressed in a way which will acquaint the reader with the general mindset of the Native American Indian.

[Vaishali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be required reading for we Americans, connecting us with reverence for Mother Nature and the Universe. Eastman (actual Native name: Ohíye S’a) illustrates the magic to which we are blind.

If you choose out of the great fortune of experiencing this book, please read this excerpt encapsulating Eastman's beautiful worldview:
----------------------

"The Indian loved to come into sympathy and spiritual communion with his brothers of the animal kingdom, whose inarticulate souls had for him something of the sinless purity that we attribute to the innocent and irresponsible child. He had faith in their instincts, as in a mysterious wisdom given from above; and while he humbly accepted the supposedly voluntary sacrifice of their bodies to preserve his own, he paid homage to their spirits in prescribed prayers and offerings.

In every religion there is an element of the supernatural, varying with the influence of pure reason over its devotees. The Indian was a logical and clear thinker upon matters within the scope of his understanding, but he had not yet charted the vast field of nature or expressed her wonders in terms of science. With his limited knowledge of cause and effect, he saw miracles on every hand,—the miracle of life in seed and egg, the miracle of death in lightning flash and in the swelling deep! Nothing of the marvelous could astonish him; as that a beast should speak, or the sun stand still. The virgin birth would appear scarcely more miraculous than is the birth of every child that comes into the world, or the miracle of the loaves and fishes excite more wonder than the harvest that springs from a single ear of corn."



.

[Lisa]

I wanted a book which did not have a Christian theme, and found this little book in the Religious section at Project Gutenburg: The Soul of the Indian by Charles Alexander Eastman. It was published in 1911, and is an overview of some of the religious customs of the 'Indians' written by a Sioux who was raised in his native traditions, but later educated at Dartmouth and Boston University. This was an interesting book, as the author tried to separate the later traditions of his people from those they held before the white man came and corrupted them. The author is able, in the beginning of the book, to portray the beauty and peace of his people's silent and solitary communion with "the great mystery".

[Teresa Arauco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Page wise, this should be a short read about customs and religion.

So, (projecting my own mixed feelings about religion) I buckled down, suspended my own socialization and my own colonization (I am American, born in the States, but not white...many do not consider that American at all, but would regard me as "other" and by my ethnic heritage, Peru, South America).

In suspending all that, I was open to what Eastman had to say; how his people regarded each other, life, death, nature, "the Great Mystery that surrounds and embraces us". I appreciated that Eastman shared: he did not indict, nor criticize, nor victimize. He related values and customs once held and values still perpetuated and passed onto future generations.

This passage really struck me,

"The native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors for his poverty and simplicity. They forget, perhaps, that his religion forbade the accumulation of wealth and the enjoyment of luxury... the love of possessions has appeared a snare, and the burdens of a complex society a source of needless peril and temptation."

Theirs is a set of values...incongruous with...countless facets of our current society. I appreciate Eastman's clear illustration of this. I did feel like I was being guided by an elder, and really appreciated him putting himself out there and taking the time to share.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent read - one of Eastman's last works, it is much more introspective than his previous publications and we really begin to see Eastman's critique of both his worlds begin to emerge in this text. In places, he is quite candid about(then revered) elements of native religious practices and stories that as he rightly points out had been developed as a result of external influences (Christianity). Chapter 3, "Ceremonial and Symbolic Worship" was of particular interest to me in regard to NA medicine/religion. Those interested in NA folklore and creation stories will also find this work of particular interest. Anyone who reads this should follow it up with his last work, "From Deep Woods to Civilization" in which he expounds on many of his critiques of the anglo society that are still rather understated in this work.

[Scriptor Ignotus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles Alexander Eastman—or Ohíye S'a, to use his Santee Dakota name—was put on my radar by Paul Kingsnorth’s lovely essay “Against Christian Civilization,” which was published in First Things and delivered in lecture format earlier this year. I had the essay foremost in my mind as I read this book, so my review is a reaction to both pieces in tandem.

Ohíye S'a lived a traditional Sioux lifestyle for his first fifteen years, before his father, thought to have been killed during or after the Sioux Uprising of 1862, suddenly reappeared in his village, encouraged him to embrace Christianity, and sent him off to pursue an education and a livelihood in Anglo-American society. He went on to become an emergency physician for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in South Dakota, treating survivors of the Wounded Knee massacre. He served as a liaison in various capacities between the US government and the Sioux nation; he helped establish several youth organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America; and, as I’ve now discovered, he wrote a great deal of elegant prose. His interpretation of the Native American worldview and its contrast with that of the supposedly “civilized” whites is invaluable for having been written in the voice of someone who truly lived in both worlds.

The Soul of the Indian is Ohíye S'a’s distillation of that worldview as he personally experienced it, distinct from the syncretic and even fabricated forms of native culture that became popularized after the long era of assimilation. One of the treatise’s touchstones is the conviction that the Native American ethos, so often dismissed by Euro-Americans for its lack of “civilization” and “urbanity,” had much more in common with that of Jesus, the early Christians, and the holiness movements that have periodically sought to recover the radicality of the Gospel vision by fleeing from conventional “civilized” society, than it did with the violence, greed, and materialism of the settlers who tried to forcibly convert them to the True Faith. “It is my personal belief,” writes Ohíye S'a, in a passage that must have been germinal to Kingnorth’s essay, “after thirty-five years’ experience of it, that there is no such thing as ‘Christian civilization.’ I believe that Christianity and modern civilization are opposed and irreconcilable, and that the spirit of Christianity and of our ancient religion is essentially the same.”

The Sioux creation narrative, like that of Genesis, presents the original state of humanity as one of harmony with nature. Just as Adam and Eve lived in communion with all the creatures of the Garden, so the First-Born spoke the language of the animal people and taught their ways to Little Boy Man, who he fashioned from a splinter pulled from his big toe. While a clever serpent brought about the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise, rupturing the terrestrial peace, it was, in the Sioux account, the machinations of a mischievous spider that turned the animal kingdom against that lordly and inscrutable creature whose existence seemed to be mysteriously foundational to its own. Both stories are connected to a loss of innocence: individually as the end of childhood and the fundamental crudity, dishonesty, and self-alienation inherent in adult life; collectively in the form of humanity’s turn from “primitive” harmony with nature to “civilization,” that edifice of domination and acquisitive desire which now threatens the very foundations of organic life. Two sets of barriers are thrown up: that between the individual and the anonymous mass, and that between the city and the wild. Both Christian and Native American spirituality point us toward the recovery of this primordial innocence, while much of what passes for Christian civilization embraces the tragic consequences of our Fall—the opposition of humanity and nature, the subjection of women, social and psychological repression, acquisitive desire, lust for power—as positive goods.

As both Ohíye S'a and Kingsnorth point out, it is painfully ironic that the proponents of Christian civilization—whether the missionaries of Ohíye S'a’s time or the various evangelical fundamentalists, Catholic integralists, and Canadian psychologists of our own—identify the faith with an ethos so antithetical not only to the traditional praxis of the Native Americans, but also to that of Christ. While Christian civilization preaches masculine conquest, Jesus preaches love for one’s enemies and turning the other cheek when struck. While Christian civilization preaches social ambition and material acquisition, Jesus preaches the giving away of one’s possessions, indifference to tomorrow’s material provisions—God provides for the birds of the air and the lilies of the field—and freely supplying what others ask of us. While Christian civilization decries social justice, Jesus proclaims God’s solidarity with the poor, the marginalized, and the outcast, and his advent means that the poor have been “filled with good things” and the rich “sent away empty.” While Christian civilization rails against the “deviant,” Jesus condemns the self-righteous and the hypocritical—before whom the tax collectors and prostitutes go into the Kingdom of God—and he instructs us to remove the log from our own eye before we point out the speck of dust in the eye of another. While Christian civilization sees nature as a dead thing to be commodified and consumed, the world of Jesus and the early church is alive with the Spirit of God.

It seems to me that Ohíye S'a and Kingsnorth are right to say that if the mission of Christ is to restore us to the innocence of the Garden, then he is decidedly on the side of “primitive” societies over “civilized” ones. While one must be careful to avoid romanticizing indigenous life, the Native ethic described here—one that eschews material possessions and holds essential things in common; one which regrets its estrangement from the natural world and continually renews its covenant with plant and animal life; one which distrusts the anonymizing, competitive, stratifying, and acrimonious conditions of urban society*; one which sees all of nature as a manifestation of a great Spirit, and which devotes itself to strengthening the “spiritual mind” while weakening the physical one; one that refrains from harsh judgments and values the unique contributions of each community member; one which favors personal experience of the “Great Mystery” over abstract dogmas; one that values silence, humility, courage, fairness, integrity, justice, and compassion for all living things—persuades me to favor the “untutored sage” over the apostle of Christian civilization any day of the week.




* It’s worth pointing out that in the Genesis story, the first city is founded by the first murderer, while the greed and violence of the “cities of the plain” is negatively juxtaposed to the pastoral existence of Abraham. In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus spends most of his time in the countryside, denounces “the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it,” and is put to death less than a week after entering the big city at the behest of a crazed urban mob.

[Thom Swennes · Rating 4 out of 5]

You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and you can’t judge a book by its size. Although The Soul of the Indian by Charles Alexander (Ohiyesa) Eastman only counts sixty-four pages, it relays much about the Sioux Indians both before and after the arrival of Europeans in North America. Many of the general western beliefs about the plains Indians are based more on prejudices than fact. I was surprised by some of these but have no doubt that the book is a truer account than most. History lovers should read this book as it shows the red man from a new perspective. This book was first published in 1911 when conflicts with the Indians were still in personal memories but now, 100 years later, the spiritual, political and traditional information in this book are more easily accepted.

[Tina Škrokov · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Bil sem na koncu zemlje.
Bil sem na koncu voda.
Bil sem na koncu neba.
Bil sem na koncu gora.
Ničesar nisem našel, kar mi ne bi bilo prijatelj."
Rek plemena Navaho

[Susana Resende · Rating 5 out of 5]

#leituraconcluida2022
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚 𝔸 𝔸𝕝𝕞𝕒 𝕕𝕠 Í𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕠
𝕌𝕞𝕒 𝕧𝕚𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕞 𝕖𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕝
𝕕𝕖 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕖𝕤 𝔸𝕝𝕖𝕩𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝔼𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕞𝕒𝕟

Fascinante.
Uma viagem espiritual ao mundo da natureza e da simplicidade.
Para quem quer conhecer mais sobre a cultura e os costumes dos nativos americanos, aqui está um excelente livro.
Recomendo.

🔖"Não deixes que a fome, o frio, a dor ou o medo, muito menos os dentes afiados do perigo ou as temidas garras da morte, te impeçam de fazer uma boa acção."

[Shoma]

I strayed off to Project Gutenberg's Native American shelf after I found Navajo Silversmiths on the Art one. I have to say that I'm discovering a whole wealth of excellent reading material here.

This book really spoke to me because of the ideas in it. Ohiyesa, or Charles Eastman states that he hasn't attempted to write a scholarly treatise, merely a recollection of the spirituality of his Sioux roots. I am a little wary of books that attempt to describe Native American spirituality and religion: too often they're a superficial twisting of facts to New Age ideologies without trying to really understand the people behind the faith. However, since Mr. Eastman was brought up in this culture, I feel safer taking his word for it.

It's true that the book feels idealistic and almost too poetic, but perhaps that is the cynic in me; I haven't been able to associate religion with sense. But the ideas and philosophies of the native peoples - at least of the Santé Sioux tribe that Mr. Eastman belongs to - make perfect sense to me. I was surprised at how much my personal philosophies corresponded to the ones described by Ohiyesa. One point in particular resounded with me: "To the untutored sage, the concentration of population was the prolific mother of all evils, moral no less than physical. He argued that food is good, while surfeit kills; that love is good, but lust destroys; and not less dreaded than the pestilence following upon crowded and unsanitary dwellings was the loss of spiritual power inseparable from too close contact with one's fellow-men."

He refers to this as the reason why the native tribes of North America did not build cities or conquer nations and it makes perfect sense. The freedom that accompanies such a life would surely create a purer faith. As he writes, "The native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors for his poverty and simplicity. They forget, perhaps, that his religion forbade the accumulation of wealth and the enjoyment of luxury. To him, as to other single-minded men in every age and race, from Diogenes to the brothers of Saint Francis, from the Montanists to the Shakers, the love of possessions has appeared a snare, and the burdens of a complex society a source of needless peril and temptation."

I liked the chapters on The Great Mystery and Barbarism and the Moral Code, although the entire book was a pleasure to read. I am really no expert on Native American culture and religion, so even though the philosophy in the book made sense to me and was worthy of admiration, even emulation, I can't say how accurate it is. I don't know if the Sioux really had no priests (I would understand perfectly their reason for it) and if their Sun worship, for example, was purely symbolic. Since I have little knowledge myself, and have much more to read and learn, I will assume that this is how it actually is.

I certainly appreciate Mr. Eastman's attempt to present the beliefs of his people without pretension or attempts at exoticism. Then again, he doesn't shrink back from the transcendental, poetic nature of the faith: "He who rides upon the rigorous wind of the north, or breathes forth His spirit upon aromatic southern airs, whose war-canoe is launched upon majestic rivers and inland seas—He needs no lesser cathedral! That solitary communion with the Unseen which was the highest expression of our religious life is partly described in the word bambeday, literally "mysterious feeling," which has been variously translated "fasting" and "dreaming." It may better be interpreted as "consciousness of the divine."

Ohiyesa acknowledges the xenophobia of the white settlers without giving in to bitterness. He talks of a missionary who after talking of the Gospel to a tribe, refused to hear their own beliefs. He chooses to take the higher moral ground by describing them simply as "... the first missionaries, good men imbued with the narrowness of their age."

The only drawback of the book is its brevity; it ends rather abruptly. A pity, because Mr. Eastman writes beautifully, with honesty and insight: "The logical man must either deny all miracles or none."

[Andrew Greer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, straightforward account of the poised life and deep spirituality of the American Indian prior to European (“White Man”) influences. Written by a Native American man born in the mid-1800s with unusual access to a collegiate education (in medicine). Published in the early twentieth century. Not effusive. Simple, short, and informational. Perspective-shifting in regard to how we often are taught to think about American Indians and their traditions.

[Jaime M · Rating 5 out of 5]

100% five stars. First Indigenous autobiography. Heck yeah.

It’s a quick read but it’s good. Read this. An interesting account of his Dakota peoples’ community prior to European interference.

There are some beautiful lessons and original teachings that are crystal clear here. Need some direction? Need some philosophical thinking to get you in thought? Check this book out.

[McCain Library]

This title is available at McCain Library as an eBook.

Follow the link to check availability and more information: https://agnesscott.on.worldcat.org/oc...

If you need help locating it or requesting it for pickup, just ask a librarian or visit the Check Out Desk!

[Avery Amstutz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this after listening to a lecture that referenced it. I very much recommend it. I do wonder how it holds up to fellow scholarship.

[Simon Robs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Myths, legends & lore of the native American plains tribes BEFORE the white man appeared.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The rites of this physical worship, again, were wholly symbolic, and the Indian no more worshiped the Sun than the Christian adores the Cross. The Sun and the Earth, by an obvious parable, holding scarcely more of poetic metaphor than of scientific truth, were in his view the parents of all organic life. From the Sun, as the universal father, proceeds the quickening principle in nature, and in the patient and fruitful womb of our mother, the Earth, are hidden embryos of plants and men. Therefore our reverence and love for them was really an imaginative extension of our love for our immediate parents, and with this sentiment of filial piety was joined a willingness to appeal to them, as to a father, for such good gifts as we may desire. This is the material or physical prayer.”

Written in 1911, this is a brief survey on the spiritual lives of the ancestors as described by the first Native American physician Ohíye S'a (born Hakadah and later named Charles Alexander Eastman with conversion to Christianity; February 19, 1858 – January 8, 1939, Santee Dakota). He just so beautifully lays out what was, what was negatively effected by contact with white Christians, and I wish we could all read this as required reading. I can’t quite remember what I was taught beyond the idea that the Pilgrims in New England were helped by the indigenous people but were destined and right to convert them and take over the land. This is such a powerful rebuke to that and needs to be known. I hope I understand the religion of the indigenous people he writes about, and the earth is who taught me.

We also have a religion which was given to our forefathers, and has been handed down to us their children. It teaches us to be thankful, to be united, and to love one another! We never quarrel about religion.”
Thus spoke the great Seneca orator, Red Jacket, in his superb reply to Missionary Cram more than a century ago, and I have often heard the same thought expressed by my countrymen.

I have attempted to paint the religious life of the typical American Indian as it was before he knew the white man. I have long wished to do this, because I cannot find that it has ever been seriously, adequately, and sincerely done. The religion of the Indian is the last thing about him that the man of another race will ever understand.

There were no temples or shrines among us save those of nature. Being a natural man, the Indian was intensely poetical. He would deem it sacrilege to build a house for Him who may be met face to face in the mysterious, shadowy aisles of the primeval forest, or on the sunlit bosom of virgin prairies, upon dizzy spires and pinnacles of naked rock, and yonder in the jeweled vault of the night sky! He who enrobes Himself in filmy veils of cloud, there on the rim of the visible world where our Great-Grandfather Sun kindles his evening camp-fire, He who rides upon the rigorous wind of the north, or breathes forth His spirit upon aromatic southern airs, whose war-canoe is launched upon majestic rivers and inland seas—He needs no lesser cathedral!

That solitary communion with the Unseen which was the highest expression of our religious life is partly described in the word bambeday, literally “mysterious feeling,” which has been variously translated “fasting” and “dreaming.” It may better be interpreted as “consciousness of the divine.”

In every religion there is an element of the supernatural, varying with the influence of pure reason over its devotees. The Indian was a logical and clear thinker upon matters within the scope of his understanding, but he had not yet charted the vast field of nature or expressed her wonders in terms of science. With his limited knowledge of cause and effect, he saw miracles on every hand,—the miracle of life in seed and egg, the miracle of death in lightning flash and in the swelling deep! Nothing of the marvelous could astonish him; as that a beast should speak, or the sun stand still. The virgin birth would appear scarcely more miraculous than is the birth of every child that comes into the world, or the miracle of the loaves and fishes excite more wonder than the harvest that springs from a single ear of corn.

Who may condemn his superstition? Surely not the devout Catholic, or even Protestant missionary, who teaches Bible miracles as literal fact! The logical man must either deny all miracles or none, and our American Indian myths and hero stories are perhaps, in themselves, quite as credible as those of the Hebrews of old. If we are of the modern type of mind, that sees in natural law a majesty and grandeur far more impressive than any solitary infraction of it could possibly be, let us not forget that, after all, science has not explained everything. We have still to face the ultimate miracle,—the origin and principle of life! Here is the supreme mystery that is the essence of worship, without which there can be no religion, and in the presence of this mystery our attitude cannot be very unlike that of the natural philosopher, who beholds with awe the Divine in all creation.

From the moment of her recognition of the fact of conception to the end of the second year of life, which was the ordinary duration of lactation, it was supposed by us that the mother’s spiritual influence counted for most. Her attitude and secret meditations must be such as to instill into the receptive soul of the unborn child the love of the “Great Mystery” and a sense of brotherhood with all creation. Silence and isolation are the rule of life for the expectant mother. She wanders prayerful in the stillness of great woods, or on the bosom of the untrodden prairie, and to her poetic mind the immanent birth of her child prefigures the advent of a master-man—a hero, or the mother of heroes—a thought conceived in the virgin breast of primeval nature, and dreamed out in a hush that is only broken by the sighing of the pine tree or the thrilling orchestra of a distant waterfall.

She bids it be still and listen—listen to the silver voice of the aspen, or the clashing cymbals of the birch; and at night she points to the heavenly, blazed trail, through nature’s galaxy of splendor to nature’s God. Silence, love, reverence,—this is the trinity of first lessons; and to these she later adds generosity, courage, and chastity.

A missionary once undertook to instruct a group of Indians in the truths of his holy religion. He told them of the creation of the earth in six days, and of the fall of our first parents by eating an apple. The courteous Indians listened attentively, and, after thanking him, one related in his turn a very ancient tradition concerning the origin of the maize. But the missionary plainly showed his disgust and disbelief, indignantly saying:—

“What I delivered to you were sacred truths, but this that you tell me is mere fable and falsehood! “My brother,” gravely replied the offended Indian, “it seems that you have not been well grounded in the rules of civility. You saw that we, who practice these rules, believed your stories; why, then, do you refuse to credit ours?”

Every religion has its Holy Book, and ours was a mingling of history, poetry, and prophecy, of precept and folk-lore, even such as the modern reader finds within the covers of his Bible. This Bible of ours was our whole literature, a living Book, sowed as precious seed by our wisest sages, and springing anew in the wondering eyes and upon the innocent lips of little children. Upon its hoary wisdom of proverb and fable, its mystic and legendary lore thus sacredly preserved and transmitted from father to son, was based in large part our customs and philosophy.

Naturally magnanimous and open-minded, the red man prefers to believe that the Spirit of God is not breathed into man alone, but that the whole created universe is a sharer in the immortal perfection of its Maker. His imaginative and poetic mind, like that of the Greek, assigns to every mountain, tree, and spring its spirit, nymph, or divinity either beneficent or mischievous. The heroes and demigods of Indian tradition reflect the characteristic trend of his thought, and his attribution of personality and will to the elements, the sun and stars, and all animate or inanimate nature.

The attitude of the Indian toward death, the test and background of life, is entirely consistent with his character and philosophy. Death has no terrors for him; he meets it with simplicity and perfect calm, seeking only an honorable end as his last gift to his family and descendants. Therefore he courts death in battle; on the other hand, he would regard it as disgraceful to be killed in a private quarrel. If one be dying at home, it is customary to carry his bed out of doors as the end approaches, that his spirit may pass under the open sky.

Certainly the Indian never doubted the immortal nature of the spirit or soul of man, but neither did he care to speculate upon its probable state or condition in a future life. The idea of a “happy hunting-ground” is modern and probably borrowed, or invented by the white man. The primitive Indian was content to believe that the spirit which the “Great Mystery” breathed into man returns to Him who gave it, and that after it is freed from the body, it is everywhere and pervades all nature, yet often lingers near the grave or “spirit bundle” for the consolation of friends, and is able to hear prayers. So much of reverence was due the disembodied spirit, that it was not customary with us even to name the dead aloud.

[James Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is about Native American spirituality. They had an established spiritual system which was strongly attacked by missionaries who believed that their way was the only correct way to believe.

Sometimes nothing changes.

The book talks about the "Great Mystery," which includes no preaching, no persecutions, no concentration on possessions, sharing skill and success and that every creature has a soul.

They did not have organized ways of worship, no priests, no bishops and no group saying that there was only one way to believe.

There are also major differences as in the maternal line is dominant.

The book goes into which groups damaged Native American worship, things like the Sun Dance, Totems, the Medicine Lodge and other topics.

One really interesting thing to me was how they were finding arrowheads which they did not make and were not made like theirs at all, indicating t here were some groups living in their area that were not gone from memory.

The book goes into how Native Americans view Death, how they grieve and various prophets.

A lot of really good information.

[Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a gem. I do not remember how I stumbled upon this book, but I am happy I did. Charles Eastman (Ohíye S'a) was an amazing individual—as an ambassador of his people, a generous medical doctor, and historiographer.

This book alone is extremely fascinating; I personally was most interested in the earlier chapters as he discussed the metaphysical abstractions present in the Dakota belief system (and the general whole of Native American theological perspectives). The Dakota religious attitude, which rejected proselytization and lauded introspection, privacy, and spiritual independence, deeply resonated with me. Eastman's juxtaposition of spiritual independence and physical interdependence with the world around you was fascinating to follow.

I highly recommend this quick read to those who wish to know more about religious attitudes among Native Americans.

[Dave Holt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a lot of respect for Ohiyesa (Charles Eastman) and many of the messages in this book which are often posted as "pull" quotes on social media. Some drawbacks are: the antique language which can't be helped (that's when he was writing), his dwelling on aspects of the culture which cannot be revived or recreated (the joyful and free childhoods of American Indian children), and the odd ending he chose for the book which makes it seem that it hasn't actually ended. In spite of these complaints, he makes an admirable presentation of Dakota Indian spirituality and this is what has immortalized his work.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book of such spiritual and simple truth I love it all area's in life Life Death Nature the direction into Indian Tradition can bring only peace all these truths were the way before being altered by the white Mans perspective a missionary brain washing So many beautiful quotes about being thankful united silent and solitary to be free of all self seeking a sharing of all posessions and a gathering of so many simple truth to bring out peace and calm there is also the sadness within the story as you see how much was taken from the Indian Tradition this is book for anyone a quick and easy read that might just make our journey in life a little bit easier to follow.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading Ohlone Way it is interesting to read another tribe's way of being. Different places lead to different world views in some ways. I read this after seeing Ohiyesa the documentary about the author's life. The philosophy of the many indigenous peoples of North America is rich and varied. So much to explore.

[Tracie Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Soul of an Indian: and Seven Native American Tales by Charles A. Eastman

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS:
-Print: COPYRIGHT ©: October 26, 2022; ISBN 978-1015473393; PUBLISHER: Legare Street Press; PAGES: 194; UNABRIDGED (Hardback info from Amazon)
-Digital: COPYRIGHT ©: (“From a 1911 edition) 2012; ISBN: 9781620114377; PUBLISHER: Duke Classics; PAGES: 56; UNABRIDGED (Digital Info from Amazon)
*Audio: COPYRIGHT ©: June 23, 2005;PUBLISHER: ISBN: 9780786193400; Blackstone Publishing and Buck 50 Productions LLC; DURATION: 2 hours (approx..); Unabridged; (Audio info from Libby app)
-FEATURE FILM OR TV: No.

SERIES: No

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
-SELECTED. This was the result of a topic search in Libby on Native Americans.
-ABOUT: It describes the religion, and thereby, lifestyle, of the “typical American Indian as it was before the white man”.
-OVERALL OPINION: The forward states, in regards to the American Indian’s religious life, that “the Indian does not speak of these deep matters so long as he believes in them, and when he ceased to believe he speaks inaccurately and slightingly.” And adds that “even if he can be induced to speak, the racial and religious prejudice of the other [race] stands in the way of his sympathetic comprehension.” I think this is so, even within a race, that religions not shared tend to be unembraceable, though I have known a few white folks who so admire the Native American’s spirituality, that they prefer it to any version within their own race.

AUTHOR:
Charles Alexander Eastman (Excerpts from Wikipedia)
“Charles Alexander Eastman (February 19, 1858 – January 8, 1939, born Hakadah and later named Ohíye S'a, sometimes written Ohiyesa) was an American physician, writer, and social reformer. He was the first Native American to be certified in Western medicine [citation needed] and was "one of the most prolific authors and speakers on Sioux ethnohistory and American Indian affairs" in the early 20th century.[1][2]
Eastman was of Santee Dakota, English and French ancestry. After working as a physician on reservations in South Dakota, he became increasingly active in politics and issues on Native American rights. He worked to improve the lives of youths, and founded thirty-two Native American chapters of the YMCA.[3] He is considered the first Native American author to write American history from the Native American point of view. He also helped found the Boy Scouts of America.”

“Shortly after graduating from medical school, Charles Eastman returned to the West, where he worked as an agency physician for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Indian Health Service on the Pine Ridge Reservation and later at the Crow Creek Reservation, both in South Dakota. He cared for Indians after the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre. Of the 38 or more victims he treated, only seven died.[6] He later established a private medical practice after being forced out of his position, but was not able to make it succeed financially.”

“Eastman became active with the new organization of the YMCA, working to support Native American youth. Between 1894 and 1898, he established 32 Indian groups of the YMCA, and also founded leadership programs and outdoor youth camps. In 1899, he helped recruit students for the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, which had been established as the first Indian boarding school run by the federal government. Given his own education and career, he favored children learning more about mainstream American culture.”

“In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt assigned Eastman to helping Sioux (Dakota, Nakota, Lakota) tribal members to choose English legal names, in order to prevent individuals and families from losing allotted lands due to confusion over cultural naming conventions and spellings. Eastman was one of the co-founders of the Society of American Indians (SAI), which pushed for freedom and self-determination for the American Indian.”

NARRATORS
Scott Peterson
I do not find a biography of Scott online, though I see many books narrated by him.

GENRE:
Nonfiction; Faith; Religion;

SUBJECTS :
Religion; American Indian; Native American; Legends; Nature

EXCERPT: From “IV – Barbarism and Moral Code”
“Silence the Corner-Stone of Character: Basic Ideas of Morality. “Give All or Nothing!” Rules of Honorable Warfare. An Indian Conception of Courage.
Long before I ever heard of Christ, or saw a white man, I had learned from an untutored woman the essence of morality. With the help of dear Nature herself, she taught me things simple but of mighty import. I knew God. I perceived what goodness is. I saw and loved what is really beautiful. Civilization has not taught me anything better!
As a child I understood how to give; I have forgotten that grace since I became civilized. I lived the natural life, whereas I now live the artificial. Any pretty pebble was valuable to me then; every growing tree an object of reverence. Now I worship with the white man before a painted landscape whose value is estimated in dollars! Thus, the Indian is reconstructed, as the natural rocks are ground to powder, and made into artificial blocks which may be built into the walls of modern society.”

RATING:.
4

STARTED READING – FINISHED READING
3-19-2024 to 4-1-2024

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome little book! Written in 1911 by a man who was raised among his native Sioux until the age of 15, this book is a great account of the American Indians' traditions, beliefs, and lifestyle before being embellished and altered through lore and cultural influence.

[Justin Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing and sobering read published in 1911. Ohiyesa was an incredible human being, and his book gave me a greater appreciation for the Iroqua heritage on the Paternal side of my family.

[Summer D Clemenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A distinct and relatively easy read.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have much to learn from the First Nations people. I’m grateful for Hakada (Eastman’s birth name) ‘s articulate penning of a rich culture and mindset traditionally passed down by mothers and fathers personally and orally over thousands of years without which we would remain in arrogant ignorance of sound moral teachings that were already prevalent long before Europeans brought their priests.

Eastman’s understanding of both cultures as a Native American and as a Christian insightfully cautions the religion(s) of the majority culture against their noticeable hypocrisy, materialism, greed, lust and other indulgences that goes against true spirituality that all humans share.

For as the Scripture of “new world” settlers themselves point out in Romans 1:19-20, “since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.”

The people of North America have always known this God as “the Great Mystery” as Ohiyesa documents. Rightly so, as He whispers truth and prophecy even to whom some derogatorily call “heathen.” For we all come from the same Creator who imbued us with our spirit that recognizes His Spirit.

Silence does not mean lost. It may mean humility, strength, and self-control. Simplicity may not mean poverty. It may mean generosity, hospitality, and wisdom over decadence. It turns out our western culture may be more savage with its ruthlessness and selfishness/self-centeredness than we are willing to acknowledge.

I have never heard of their Creation and flood story until I read the fifth chapter. Many similarities. Could it be a retelling of the same ancient story?

I definitely have been enriched countless ways by this powerful little book. My appreciation for nature and animal creatures has exponentially been deepened. This book should be required reading for all who now reside in the lands formerly enjoyed by those who were first here.

[Randy Daugherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Soul of the Indian, Eastman brings to life the rich spirituality and morality of the Native Americans as they existed before contact with missionaries and other whites. This is a rare firsthand expression of native religion, without the filters imposed by translators or anthropologists. Rather than a scientific treatise, Eastman has written a book, "as true as I can make it to my childhood teaching and ancestral ideals, but from the human, not the ethnological standpoint." His discussions of the forms of ceremonial and symbolic worship, the unwritten scriptures, and the spirit world emphasize the universal quality and personal appeal of Native American religion.
Charles Alexander Eastman is unique among Indian writers, whether storytellers or oral historians. He was raised traditionally, as a Woodland Sioux, by his grandmother, from 1858 - 1874, until he was 15. He thus gained a thorough first-hand knowledge of the lifeways, language, culture, and oral history.
Eastman walked in two worlds so his perspective is from one of experience, he speaks the truth in a way even for those who deny the past to understand and have to admit to. The Native Spirit was both complex and yet simplistic and Eastman conveys this in a unique way. I will have to read more of his works.
His father (thought to have been hanged at Mankato, Minnesota) reappeared and insisted he receive the white man's education. Educated at Dartmouth and Boston University medical school, Eastman became a highly literate physician, who was the only doctor available to the victims of the Wounded Knee massacre in 1890 -- a major historical event, often described as "ending the Indian wars".

[Vasilis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles Eastman grew up as an Indian but was educated in a white man's university, so he is in the unique position of someone who can communicate the Indian ways in a western audience.
Note that what we nowadays call Native Indians, cannot encapsulate the pluralism of political, religious and other customs of each tribe. Also there is a transition period, when Indian ways of life were altered by the encroachment of western vices such as alcohol, greed for money etc.
Still, Charles Eastman can articulate in an elegant way some deep insights of the soul of the Indian.

I lived the natural life, whereas I now live the artificial. Any pretty pebble was valuable to me then; every growing tree an object of reverence. Now I worship with the white man before a painted landscape whose value is estimated in dollars! Thus the Indian is reconstructed, as the natural rocks are ground to powder, and made into artificial blocks which may be built into the walls of modern society

Long before I ever heard of Christ, or saw a white man, I had learned from an untutored woman the essence of morality. With the help of dear Nature herself, she taught me things simple but of mighty import. I knew God. I perceived what goodness is. I saw and loved what is really beautiful. Civilization has not taught me anything better

Silence is the cornerstone of character

[Heather Turiello · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've started picking up all the books I can by this author. As I explore American History at the formation of the current United States, I try to pick up first hand accounts and diaries whenever I can. It's fascinating to hear the stories from the perspective of the individual and get a feel for their own personal viewpoints and prejudices. This book, by an American Indigenous "Indian" shares the mythology, folk tales and love of the people who were resident on the continent before white Europeans arrived. He's almost making a plea (which makes me sad) to Christians to show how Indians (I'll use that erroneous term because the author does) aren't studying and celebrating pagan gods or devil worshipping. They had a deep love for the earth and nature and formulated their beliefs around that relationship with the land. And for that they are accused of evil or being misled by satan (because Christians have always only had that one lens). This book is a study of their beliefs as much as it is the argument that what they believe is beautiful and very much in line with Christianity. Honestly, the message is so similar to many modern humans who are rejecting the rigidity of one religion and replacing it with a love for life and beauty. Definitely recommend.