Shadow Puppet Storyteller

Peacemakers Still Exist

My childhood was anchored to a long-held family genealogy that traced through my maternal grandmother to the famous Mohican chief Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea). It was exciting to claim, even as the connection clearly was distant to look at my very Caucasian family. Those recollections and a desire to belong have swirled with them certain touchstones related to Native American pop references from early on. The television PSA commercials during the Seventies featuring Iron Eyes Cody  , for a start. I was specifically enamored of Tonto's Pinto, likely due to a resurgence of adventure on television in 1980 and its attendant toy marketing. With that horse called Scout, add, that my ardor was reinforced by Tonto's portrayal on the big screen by Michael Horse  , also at the beginning of the Eighties.

By the time I was a young adult, the Kevin Costner film based on Michael Blake's novel, Dances With Wolves, completely captivated me. I know I am not alone in recognizing the way that one film catapulted personal admiration for American Indian life to new levels, particularly the Lakota. For me, it drew my attention away from the marginal and impersonated portrayals, and caused me to thirst for information on the true nature of the First Americans. My biggest hurdle? The seeming incompatibility of living in a computer age and wanting connection to a disenfranchised people and a history based in a spoken language struggling to survive. Even in making that statement, I recognize my own arrogance. I expect the information to be brought to me.

I recently connected with the BookNook   community and agreed to review this book, Returning to the Lakota Way: Old Values to Save a Modern World And in seeking answers in my own lazy sort of way, I will say honestly that I was so happy to find author Joseph M. Marshall III the storyteller that he is, and that his experience was gathered in an easily readable format, making this such an enjoyable read.

At less than ten chapters, with the various Sioux stories based in themes like Wisdom, Tolerance, Patience, etc., I appreciated the beautiful descriptions, the correlations, and the gravitas within such an accessible read. Each story ends with the way to pronounce in the Lakota language the theme. The author also then takes time to express how the story relates to experiences in his own life raised on the Rosebud Reservation. He is able to reflect back on childhood appreciation as well as the lessons he perceives now that he is older and observing a device-driven world.

I particularly liked the author's personal comments about tolerance. He states things more clearly than politicians who have speech writers. His take on tolerance is colored by the experience of his people, but it is very tempered considering.
I found that the author engaged and masterfully altered my perceptions about topics I felt I'd already formed a resolute opinion on. Look for his worthy comments after the chapter about the crow family assisting the hunt of the wolf family .

I also enjoyed the chapter titled, The Journey. This story, and his own is the true heart of this book -- the coming of age for a person or even a whole society unsure where they stand. After reading this entire book, I can accept my weaknesses as a two-legged in this world. And appreciate more fully that this world has the abundance of life upon it and all types of wisdom to be seen in the natural order of it all.

I acknowledge that I received this book free of charge from Hay House in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.
You can purchase a copy of Returning to the Lakota Way   on the Hay House website.

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