An illuminating picture book biography of the Lakota warrior and chief
Red Cloud, from award-winning author and illustrator S. D. Nelson
Red Cloud (1822-1909) was a great warrior and chief of the Lakota. Told
from his perspective, Red Cloud: A Lakota Story of War and Surrender
describes the events that brought him to prominence as a leader of his
people and how he came to surrender them to the wasichus (White Man),
ending their way of life on the Great Plains.
From the intrusion of white settlers into Lakota territory, to the
treaties signed with the U.S. government, and to the many subsequent
battles, Red Cloud explains how the Lakota became the only nation to
win a war against the U.S. Army on American soil. However, unlike fellow
warriors Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, Red Cloud eventually came to
accept the inevitable advance of white civilization. He submitted to
change and moved his followers onto a reservation. The story concludes
with Red Cloud's trip to the East Coast, where he visited New York City
and met President Ulysses S. Grant.
Award-winning author and member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe S. D.
Nelson reinterprets the nineteenth-century Lakota ledger-art style to
give authenticity to the story as he brings to light one of the most
controversial members of the Lakota tribe, Red Cloud. Backmatter
includes a timeline.