Lame Deer Seeker of Visions

319 Pages·1972·17.001 MB·English

by  John (Fire) Lame Deer, Richard Erdoes

“A MASTERPIECE” —ROBERT BURNETT; AUTHOR OF THE TORTURED AMERICANS
LAME DEER
SEEKER OF VISIONS
T H E LIFE O F A
SIOUX M EDECIN E M AN
JOHN (FIRE) LAME DEER AND RICHARD ERDOES
Biography/Native American Studies
Tahc^ushte—John (Fire) Lame Deer—is a full-blooded Sioux Indian born at
the beginning of the century on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.
Lame Deer is a medicine man, a vision seeker, a man who upholds the old
religion and the ancient ways of his people. He is a man of the earth. He has
been many things in his time—a rodeo clown, a soldier, a sign painter, a spud
picker, a jail prisoner, a tribal policeman, a sheep herder and a singer. But
above all else he is wicasa wakan, a Sioux Medicine Man.
“It’s a wonderful book, and it reflects a wonderful thing that’s hap­
pening. At long last, Indians are being permitted to speak and write
about themselves and their peoples, and the rest of us are finding
that they have—and always did have—an enormous contribution to
make to our literature. Lame Deer is a magnificent American. As an
individual and as a representative voice of his people, he is someone
whom all readers should get to know—not just those who are inter­
ested in Indians, but every American. The book is destined to
become a classic. It will be read, and reread, and quoted from
through the years. Personally, I am enormously enriched by it.”
—Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., author of Indian Heritage of
America; editor of American Heritage’s Indians
“A fasci nati ng story.” —Library Journal
Richard Erdoes has written extensively about Native Americans. Born in
Europe and influenced by Karl May, his writings include The Sun Dance
People and The Pueblo Indians. He is the coauthor of Lakota Woman.
A Touchstone Book
Published by Simon & Schuster
New York

LAME DEER
Seeker of Visions
BY
John (Fire) Lame Deer
AND
Richard Erdoes
A TOUCHSTONE BOOK
Published by Simon & Schuster
New York London Toronto Sydney
Copyright • 1972 by John Fire/Lame Deer and Richard Erdoes
All rights reserved
including the right of reproduction
in whole or in part in any form
A Touchstone Book
Published by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Simon & Schuster Building, Rockefeller Center
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
TOUCHSTONE and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc
ISBN-13: 978-0-671-21197-4
ISBN-10: 0-671-21197-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-671-21535-4 (Pbk)
ISBN-10: 0-671-21535-3 (Pbk)
Library of Congress Catalog Number 79-190730
Manufactured in the United States of America
29 30
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO:
Frank Fools Crow
Pete Catches
George Eagle Elk
Bill Schweigman
Leonard Crow Dog
Wallace Black Elk
John Strike
Raymond Hunts Horse
Charles Kills Enemy
Godfrey Chips
and all the other medicine men
of the Sioux Nation
Contents
1 Alone on the Hilltop 11
2 That Gun in the New York Museum Belongs to Me 17
3 The Green Frog Skin 42
4 Getting Drunk, Going to Jail 71
5 Sitting on Top of Teddy Roosevelt’s Head 91
6 The Circle and the Square 108
7 Talking to the Owls and Butterflies 119
8 Two in a Blanket 139
9 Medicine, Good and Bad 154
10 Inipi—Grandfather’s Breath 174
n Yurwipi—Little Lights from Nowhere 183
12 Looking at the Sun, They Dance 198
13 Don’t Hurt the Trees 214
14 Roll Up the World 225
15 The Upside-Down, Forward-Backward, Icy-Hot
Contrary 236
16 Blood Turned into Stone 247
epilogue: Inyan Wasicun, the White Man with the
Rocks 267
GLOSSARY 285
LAME DEER
Seeker of Visions