Brave Wolf and the Thunderbird is based on a story recounted by Joe
Medicine Crow in All Roads Are Good: Native Voices on Life and Culture
(Smithsonian Institution Press and NMAI). Grandson of a scout who rode
with Custer, Mr. Medicine Crow (1913-2016) was a highly respected elder,
storyteller, and historian of the Crow people. The first member of his
tribe to graduate from college, he earned an M.A. in anthropology. In
addition to his calling as a teacher and keeper of memories, he was a
decorated World War II combat veteran and was awarded the Presidential
Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2009.
About the Tales of the People series
Created with the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian
(NMAI), Tales of the People is a series of children's books celebrating
Native American culture with illustrations and stories by Indian artists
and writers. In addition to the tales themselves, each book also offers
four pages filled with information and photographs exploring various
aspects of Native culture, including a glossary of words in different
Indian languages.