Imagine a childhood full of adventure. Where riding horses, playing in
the woods, and hunting for food was part of everyday life; where a
grizzly bear, a raccoon, or a squirrel was your favorite pet. But
imagine, too, being an orphan at the age of six, being forced off your
land by U.S. soldiers, and often going hungry. Such was the childhood of
the first great American Indian author, Charles Eastman, or Ohiyesa
(1858-1939). Carefully edited for a younger audience by multiple
award-winning author and editor, Michael Oren Fitzgerald, Indian Boyhood
recalls Eastman's earliest childhood memories. He was born in a buffalo
hide tipi in western Minnesota, and raised in the traditional Dakota
Sioux manner until he was fifteen years old. He was then transplanted
into the "white man's" world. Educated at Dartmouth College, he went on
to become a medical doctor, renowned author, field secretary for the
YMCA, and a spokesman for American Indians. Eastman was at Pine Ridge
during the "Ghost Dance" rebellion of 1890-91, and he cared for the
wounded Indians after the massacre at Wounded Knee. In 1910 he began his
long association with the Boy Scouts of America, helping Ernest Thompson
Seton establish the organization. A 2007 HBO film, entitled Bury My
Heart at Wounded Knee, features American Indian actor Adam Beach as
Eastman.