Book Description
A traditional Native American healer from the Karuk tribe shares his personal story of reconnection to the Great Spirit in contemporary America.
• By Bobby Lake-Thom, author of the bestseller Native Healer.
• Provides Native American shamanic perspective on disease and healing.
• Explores indigenous social identity in a spiritual and political context.
• Reveals authentic indigenous traditions and ceremonies from numerous tribes.
This redemption story of Native American healer Bobby Lake-Thom invites the reader to enter a world of authentic indigenous traditions and ceremonies. Bobby, also known as Medicine Grizzly Bear, didn't recognize his shamanic calling at first. He didn't know that his vivid dreams, psychic abilities, and visitations by wild animals and ghostly figures were calls from the Great Spirit.
In the age-old shamanic tradition, it took a near-death experience for the message to get through to him. Though still a young man, he was wracked with debilitating arthritis. Unable to handle the physical and psychic pain, he set out into the wilderness determined to kill himself with an overdose of drugs and alcohol. But before downing the substances, he approximated a Native American ceremony as best he could, sending a heartfelt prayer for assistance to the Great Spirit. He woke up--alive--the next morning and received a message from Eagle, telling him to seek help from Wahsek, a medicine man in the northern mountains. And so Bobby's apprenticeship began. Forbidden to reveal Wahsek's secrets until 10 years after his death, Bobby is now free to share this fascinating story with the world.
Customer Reviews:
Speechless, Humbled & Grateful.......2007-09-18
I am a psychotherapist in private practice in NYC. I've had a burning desire to understand the depth of what's being expressed through illness and imbalance for a very long time. Finding western psychology's understanding of mental health to be helpful but limiting, I've explored psychospiritual perspectives ala the Open Center in NYC & Omega for years. Through the generous sharing of his remarkable life & work, I feel that Bobby Lake-Thom has given me a strong sense of what is truly occurring on multiple levels. This is the most honest and revealing of these kinds of books that I've ever read. More than once I found myself speechless and truly humbled by his beautiful spirit. Not a New Ager, this guy is the real deal: answering the call of Shamanism, resulting in many many years of apprenticing with healers coming from a truly indigenous lineage, who unfortunately have almost been eradicated by our government. What a rare & invaluable treasure he is. Most grateful for the opportunity to encounter him through his writing, I hope to have the privilege of meeting him in person.
Great incite into native american spirituality.......2007-05-11
Bobby Lake-Thom takes the reader into the world of native american spirituality. He does an excellent job describing his introduction into a once hiden way of life. I have met him and find that he is an incredible person. He is truely a kind and generous man. His book tells of extraordinary happenings in his life. Those who only believe in "western" society and nothing else will find this book far fetched. However, those who believe in and have experienced this way of life will find this book amazing. The laws listed here are very similar to other native american cultures. They are not just made up. I encourage you to read this and his other 2 books to begin understanding of this way of life.
Authentic, powerful, inspiring.......2007-04-10
This book grabbed my attention immediately with its gritty, up-front honesty and vulnerable, first-person narrative. Bobby Lake-Thom's story takes us along the "Red" road of truth through tough, unbalanced beginnings, subsequent violations, confession, redemption, and awakening to a powerful healing destiny and life mission. I appreciated the generosity with which Bobby reveals the details of his doctoring journey, understanding that it is a powerful gift he is bestowing on all of us readers for him to divulge so much about his path, his teachers, and later on in the book, his doctoring cases.
If you were born into the Western, predominantly "White" way of life like me, you may be shocked and even stressed by the fantastic psycho-phenomenal nature of Bobby's experiences and spiritual/physical trials. You may have a knee-jerk repulsion or denial concerning the list of violations against Nature and the Great Creator, which Bobby insists are universal in truth whether you believe them or not, and which must be avoided or atoned for in order to live in health and balance. I can only speak for myself and tell you that once I allowed my initial reactions to settle, I breathed into Center to discover a profound desire to be reconnected and restored to my truest self and to Source. From this, a new humility emerged which allowed me a greater resonance with these principles, and a new willingness to take action caught fire.
I am grateful that the author includes instruction and encouragement for readers to cleanse themselves of past wrong and come again into right relationship and respect for self, other people, Nature, and the Creator. I took this book to heart and began my own process of healing and transformation (and I'm feeling a world better!). I believe that wherever you're at in your growth, development, and understanding, "Call of the Great Spirit" can help you go to the next level. In such times as these, when radical change often comes unexpectedly and at accelerated pace in every strata, from personal to global to universal, this book and its stories come as strong medicine and answer to our prayers for help and health. A heart full of gratitude to Medicine Grizzlybear!
Most authentic native healung book.......2006-07-26
This book was by far,one of the most authentic depictions of genuine native american "shamanic " healing and medicine practices ive seen.Having spent many years with native people,its nice to see books written by native people in their own words(vs.anthropologists,mystic writers etc.)It is a gritty,true to life account and case studies, of the power and complexities of doctoring people in the traditional,ancient ways.Its a testament to how much ancient knowledge all people have lost, in the domination and abuse of indian people.There are many useful precautions to prevent violating natural laws and unconcious spiritual mistakes,that could wind up in illness and inabalance.This book is powerful,and stays on your mind and heart long after you read it.If I was on a desert island,this book would be with me.So many thanks to this author.
Very practical approach to a mystical subject........2003-11-30
I read "Native Healer" by the same author many years ago and I liked both books. This one gives you the added benefit of information on his teachers and case studies of healings as an afterward. He tells his story in such a personal way I felt like I was right there with him at times. It was also interesting to read about the sorcery and curses that he had to contend with as a healer.
I also appreciate the fact that he is a college professor and works at a normal job like the rest of us yet is in touch with the old ways. It also encouraged me how he talked of times in his life where he lost everything and had to start over and he did so by first seeking out a place to ask the Great Spirit for mercy. It gives me hope that there are people out there keeping the traditions alive for future generations. If he was nearby I'd be seeking him out right now.
I found his suggestions very helpful and I continue educating myself in the Native ways until I can find my teachers. May I also recommend:
Beyond the Lodge of the Sun /Chokecherry Gall Eagle
Black Elk: The Sacred Ways of The Lakota / Wallace Black Elk
Lame Deer: Seeker of Visions / Richard Erdoes
Gift of Power: The life and teachings of a Lakota Medicine Man /Archie Fire Lame Deer and Richard Erdoes
Sacred Fireplace / Peter S. Catches
Wisdom of the Native Americans / Kent Nerburn
Black Elk Speaks / John G. Niehardt
We are all related...
Customer Reviews:
Garrett, a 5th grader at Boise-Eliot says:.......1999-03-05
This is a great book with Native American stories from all over America. It has many stories and about four sections with about five stories in each section. I have some Native American blood and this book has stories from my ancestors. You should really read this book.
Book Description
Although the traditional Sioux nation was in its last days when Luther Standing Bear was born in the 1860s, he was raised in the ancestral manner to be a successful hunter and warrior and a respectful and productive member of Sioux society. Known as Plenty Kill, young Standing Bear belonged to the Western Sioux tribe that inhabited present-day North and South Dakota. In My Indian Boyhood he describes the home life and education of Indian children. Like other boys, he played with toy bows and arrows in the tipi before learning to make and use them and became schooled in the ways of animals and in the properties of plants and herbs. His life would be very different from that of his ancestors, but he was not denied the excitement of killing his first buffalo before leaving to attend the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania.
Customer Reviews:
A valuable insight into Lakota lifeways........2004-04-11
Being written for young people, Standing Bear's account of his Lakota childhood is necessarily sanitized and romanticized. Its focus is on the domestic life of his people. Mention is often made of the courage of the warriors but there is no description of any military action. An incident is related of an enemy warrior stumbling into the village. We are told that he was well treated and quickly released. It is hard to believe that that was typical treatment of an enemy. Similarly, the more adult themes of courtship and sexuality are largely ignored. What we are left with is a treasure trove of homely detail: how cooking was accomplished in the absence of metal pots, how the boys caught turtles in the creek, what games they played. This is the very warp and weft of everyday life that gets left out of the broad-sweep histories that concentrate on great battles and famous lives.
Standing Bear may not always be totally reliable, any more than any other commentator - for example, his account of leather tanning, which was strictly women's work, did not quite ring true for me. (Not that I have ever tanned a buffalo hide - I just doubt it can be done in quite the way he describes). All the same this remains an essential work, packed full as it is of fascinating detail, for anyone interested in understanding the lifestyle of the Sioux, and is a perfect gift for a youngster who expresses an interest in American Indians.
Customer Reviews:
Accurate, easy to read book on black bears........1999-03-11
I'm the author of Backcountry Bear Basics: The Definitive Guide to Avoiding Unpleasant Encounters, and there aren't many books about bears I can recommend, but this is one of them. It doesn't portray black bears as demons or Disneyland characters. It's 100% accurate and the writing is top notch: very engaging. If you can only buy one book about black bears, this is it. If you can buy two books, add A Shadow In The Forest: Idaho's Black Bears, by two Idaho biologists.
Excellent detailed content along with wonderful photographs.......1997-08-21
Granted, this is not the type of book one would normally 'just happen upon'. However, if you are looking specifically for information on "Ursus Americanus", the American Black Bear, this is the one you want. I have been involved in black bear research for over 10 years. This is the most detailed, well photographed, and up to date book I have found. Did I mention it is also enjoyable to read?! The combined effort of the researcher and author resulted in an excellent book. While reading this book, you'll come to learn the behavior, life cycles, lauguage and habitat of the black bear. Take advantage of others' years of experience, and photography; take their knowledge. You'll come away with a complete understanding of black bears that you will not get from any other resource
Average customer rating:
- a good primer on Sioux folklore
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Stories of the Sioux, New Edition
Luther Standing Bear
Manufacturer: Bison Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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My People the Sioux, New Edition
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Land of the Spotted Eagle, New Edition
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Buffalo Dreams
ASIN: 0803293356 |
Book Description
Luther Standing Bear, a Lakota Sioux born in the 1860s, heard these legends in his youth, when his people were being moved to reservations. In haunting mood and imagery, they celebrate the old nomadic life of the Sioux, when buffalo were plentiful and all nature fed the spirit. The twenty stories honor not only the buffalo but also the dog, the horse, the eagle, and the wolf as workaday helpers and agents of divine intervention; the wisdom of the medicine man; and the heroism and resourcefulness of individual men and women.
Customer Reviews:
a good primer on Sioux folklore.......2000-06-01
This collection is a good primer for someone interested in the folklore of the Sioux Indians. They are a fascinating people and these tales hold great interest. There is a charm that accompanies these stories that will delight readers. One comes to understand and appreciate the Sioux love for nature and animals. These legends will inspire and awe readers. Luther Standing Bear does a great job of capturing the oral pulse of these stories. I was enamored of these stories when I read them as a teenager and they still hit the mark all these years later.
Average customer rating:
- Storytelling at its best, raised to the level of myth and timelessness
- Water-Dogs
- A truly fascinating story & so well written!
- A Book about Grace
- Inside the Mind of a Great Bear
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Where The Water-Dogs Laughed: The Story of the Great Bear
Charles F. Price
Manufacturer: High Country Publishers
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Binding: Hardcover
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The Cock's Spur
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Freedom's Altar
ASIN: 1932158502 |
Customer Reviews:
Storytelling at its best, raised to the level of myth and timelessness.......2007-01-01
With this novel Price brings to a close a remarkable multigenerational saga set in the mountains of North Carolina, a remote corner of the world in which the brutal aftermath of the Civil War is up-close-and-personal and seemingly without end. But what an end to this four-volume feast of the senses! Price engages the reader in the rawness of human nature and lets us rise to the level of myth and timelessness, right alongside his characters, touching the best and worst in all of us and causing us to think about our own need for finding meaning and seeking redemption. Price skillfully and sensitively lets us share in the journeys of both Hamby McFee and the Great Bear; and his drawing us inside the minds of both of them, raised to the level of myth, is storytelling at its very best. Supporting the central story of Hamby and the Great Bear are richly textured themes that create the fabric of the mountains and her people---environmental, economic, societal, political, spiritual---and never once does Price lapse into a gratuitous or stereotypical treatment of these themes. These books will linger in your mind long after you read the last page, and I recommend you treat yourself to a real feast by reading all four novels in the order they were written: Hiwassee, Freedom's Altar, The Cock's Spur, and Where the Water-Dogs Laughed.
Water-Dogs.......2006-12-22
Charles F. Price is one of the best kept secrets in the Appalachian Mountains. His book, "Where the Water-Dogs Laughed: The Story of the Great Bear," contains sophisticated character development and a true to life historical treatment of the time just after the Civil War. Those who were wealthy and powerful got that way by exploiting the land, and most everyone else scraped by and wished they could do the same, except for Hamby, a half Black, half White man who spends much of the story working out his anger toward the injustices he faces.
I was thoroughly taken by the main character, Hamby, and the Great Bear Yan-e'gwa's intertwined fates and of course the crooked dog Cattywampus' role in the end. The dog, who had previously been damaged by a bear so severely he could not walk straight quite literally had to be made straight again by Yan-e'gwa.
The idea of recognizing the life force of the land made the book feel so much more contemporary than the typical story written about the era of the Civil War and after. The strength of humans is measured not in their defeat of the land as adversary, but in their connection to it as steward. In this, Hamby comes out superior to all.
This was the first Charles F. Price book I have read and I highly recommend it. His is not a genre I normally read, but I found it a pleasant surprise and plan to read the rest of his work.
A truly fascinating story & so well written!.......2006-12-21
The other reviews here are more detailed than mine. but I do want to add that "Where the Water Dogs Laughed" is a marvelous book, one that shows some literary cohones and ingenuity. When Price writes in the voice of the bear, the font changes to clue you in, but even if it didn't, you would know it isn't the voice of a person. It's hard to put my finger on exactly how (the magic!) Price does this but he does it so well that going from people narrative to the voice of the bear is totally seamless. It works really well.
Hamby McFee makes his last comeback here in a truly poignant story of family loyalty, complex racial issues, accurate local history such as the typhoid epidemic of 1889 ( I hope I have the correct date!) The ending of this book is spectacular, one that is not only surprising but has a vivid luminous quality that left me breathless. It reminded me of Nuala O'Faolain's 2002 novel "My Dream of You" that has a mystical and also surprising ending.
Why no large publisher picked up this book, even for a possible movie version, is almost shocking. This is a wonderful book full of great characters and exquisite storytelling. Charles Frazier, move over!
A Book about Grace.......2003-12-07
This book is about grace. Where the Water-dogs Laughed is peopled with characters so real I experienced their triumphs, failures, and thoughts as my own. Set in the late 1800's in the mountains of Western North Carolina, the characters are engaged in struggles that echo many of today's troubles including the devastation of the environment, the need to make money from the land, domestic emotional abuse, and hard economic times. The Great Bear and Cattywampus Dog are as real as the people. The Cherokee belief about the covenant between bears and man is told through the Great Bear. I found this a surprising approach and became intrigued with the Bear's voice and experience of his world. My favorite character is Hamby McFee, an ex-slave, who takes over the book from beginning to end. He struggles with feeling separated from others and yet bound to them through their shared place in the Hiwassee valley. His desire to maintain his integrity by protecting himself from the judgment of others with a hard, bitter attitude results in a loneliness I found familiar. Hamby is one of the most original characters I've encountered and I found myself wanting to defend him whenever he was misunderstood by the other characters. Price incorporates the romance of his own grandparents, Lily Carter and Will Price, into the story. Their courtship is formal and old-fashioned and ultimately inspiring as they overcome the obstacles laid out for them by Will's adopted father. Another love relationship takes place between Absalom Middleton and Cassandra Weatherby; Price does an incredible job of evoking an erotic, passionate relationship without ever depicting a sexual encounter. Adding balance, humor, and grace is Irish Bill Moore who is as rooted to the land as the Great Bear. Like an elf who lives in the forest he emerges from the mountain mists beating his Civil War drum, gaily teasing the wife he adores, mourning his two sons who are lost to a typhoid epidemic, longing for his youth, and wisely seeing the ability of man and Mother Earth to endure. This book is gritty, true, and full of the struggles of daily existence and it raises us up to taste something larger than ourselves.
Inside the Mind of a Great Bear.......2003-11-12
In WHERE THE WATER DOGS LAUGHED, the last in a series of four books by Charles F. Price, the author has reached his full stride as a writer. His characters, especially the protagonists, Hamby and the Great Bear, are finely drawn and the way their minds work, is the most fascinating part of the book. In addition, his skillful blending of Cherokee legend and family history creates an accurate and telling picture of that part of western North Carolina that never seems to be included, on a map, with the rest of the state.
The time is the turn of the last century, when the first glimmerings of antipathy between "progress" and "ecology" become apparent. As often happens, the need to provide a livlihood for one's family, is frequently at odds with what is good for the land and its' inhabitants, including bears. This Bear is the standard bearer for his race and his thoughts and memories form his purpose.
Hamby, the main human character has appeared in the earlier books, but without the sensitivity and definition given him in this novel. He is a man who lives alone, spiritually, from the rest of the world and has his own set of standards, from which he never deviates. As a result, he misses some of the gentler experiences, of human life. These two uncompromising characters are brought together in a stunning, yet trimphant collision, that will ring through the mountains for years.
Charles Price is considered a regional writer, but this book makes him a universal one, in my opinion. No matter where you live, this book is a great read. Don't miss it.
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- Montana's Bob Marshall Country
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Montana's Bob Marshall Country: The Bob Marshall, Scapegoat, Great Bear Wilderness Areas and Surrounding Wildlands (Montana Geographic Series)
Richard P. Graetz
Manufacturer: Two Bears Press
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Hiking Montana's Bob Marshall Wilderness
ASIN: 0938314157 |
Customer Reviews:
Montana's Bob Marshall Country.......2000-01-29
A great preview of "The Bob". Very good, concise information in a very readable format. I especially liked the sections on wildlife and history. Makes you want to go to Montana tomorrow and see the country, even if it is January and you hate snow. I can hardly wait for the summer and a visit to the wild country of "The Bob".
Book Description
Young Brave Bear must figure out a way to outwit four ghosts who are haunting him in this humorous Sioux legend.
The Legends of the World opens readers' minds to the diverse cultures of Native America, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and the Americas through enchanting tales passed down through countless generations. Each book in the series features geographical, historical, and cultural information. Illustrated in full color.
Customer Reviews:
Wondeful illustrations of the ghosts in this first rate Lakota legend.......2005-08-31
I have liked Charles Reasoner's artwork for these Native American Lore & Legends series books, but "Brave Bear and the Ghosts: A Sioux Legend" is my new favorite because of the way he does the ghosts. You get a hint of it from the cover painting with Brave Bear on the left and a ghost riding a ghost horse on the right. But the ghosts are, for the most part, more purple than what you see. Reasoner's figures usually do not have mouths and for eyes just the little slits we would all associate with Snoopy in the "Peanuts" cartoons. This time, there are mouths for these figures, but mouths that suggest the space between the cranium and the jaw on a skull. The eyes are still little slits, but they have a dark circle around them. The shades of purple are also really cool. Too bad they are the villains in the story, retold by Gloria Dominic.
It is always winter in the land of ghosts and as they sit around talking about how much fun it is to scare people one of them tells of Brave Bear, a warrior and hunter who laughs in the face of death. The ghosts make a bet that the first ghost to scare Brave Bear will win the ghost horses of the others. But when they go after Brave Bear to win their bet he keeps making bets with them and winning their horses. This is fairly predictable, since Brave Bear is the hero of the tale. But what is great are all the clever ways that Brave Bear bests each of the ghosts. They are as cool as the illustrations of the ghosts, which is why this Sioux story has become one of my favorites. Plus, there is a punch line at the end that will appeal to young readers as well.
The back of the book talks about the Sioux, which is problematic because ever since "Dances With Wolves" most of us have learned that these people called themselves the Lakota (or Dakota or Nakota), and that the word "Sioux" is the Ojibwa word for "snake." That is covered in the back of this book, but then the book continues to use the derogatory term, but without justifying why (if kids can learn to call a brontosaurus an apatosaurus, they can learn to call the Sioux the Lakota). Is the point here that racism is okay if one Native American tribe hangs a derogatory name on another as opposed to having it done by the settlers? This book is going to be the first opportunity for many young readers to find out about this particular society, so this really should have been a Lakota (or Dakota or Nakota) legend.
The back of the book covers the homeland, food and clothing, and where the people called in this book the Sioux live today. Young readers will also find a Glossary of terms from "akicita" to "travios," and a list of important dates that begins with the 1700s when these people became expert horsemen and 1979 when the U.S. Supreme Court awarded them $105 million for the taking of their lands, which settled a legal action begun in 1923. This section is illustrated with historic photographs of these people and contemporary shots of artifacts. If the explanation for the name of the Sioux was not included here I would round down, but hopefully teachers and parents can rectify the decision made here.
Customer Reviews:
Delightful short stories with ethnic humor........1997-01-14
This book and the other 3 in the series show insight of the world
of the ghetto in Russia. The hard times and difficult life of
Jews in the town are diminished as the warmth, emotions and humor
of daily events are told.
Average customer rating:
- The Little Known Story of the Sad Fate of Canada's Crees
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Big Bear: The End of Freedom
Hugh A. Dempsey
Manufacturer: University of Nebraska Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0803216688 |
Customer Reviews:
The Little Known Story of the Sad Fate of Canada's Crees.......2005-01-09
Big Bear was a noble man who yearned for peace between the Red man and the White, but was caught up in the vortex of his time - a time when the whites pushed into the Cree lands along the Blue Canadian Rockies, when the white government in Ottawa was diffident to the fate of the Natives, when Canada's vast buffalo herds were slaughtered to near extinction, and when unscrupulous traders poisoned the Crees with Whiskey and Illness, and Cree women were forced into prostitution to survive.
Big Bear? For Americans and even Canadians who are unfamiliar with the Riel Rebellion of 1884-1885, think Sitting Bull meets Chief Joseph. Big Bear was more a medicine man than a fighting chief, and like the Nez Perce Chief Joseph, preferred co-existence with the Whites. But events, including the chaotic aftermath of the Little Big Horn, the expansion of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, the arrival in Canada of American whiskey traders - and finally the savage decimation of Canada's Buffalo herds by the beginning of the 1880s pushed Big Bear over the edge.
Urging co-existence and compromise, only to see his efforts largely ignored by the national government in Ottawa, and watching his people slowly starve to death when the Canadian promise of food never materialized, Big Bear, against his better judgment, rallied his people to the side of the equally persecuted Metis, the half-French, half-Indian people led by the fiery Louis Riel. When Riel promised the Indians that they would have a sovereign entity if the rebellion succeeded, Big Bear joined Riel in his desperate rebellion against the Canadian authorities. Despite some initial victories, the rebellion was quickly crushed by the superior firepower of the RCMP and the (British) Canadian militia.
Whereas Big Bear sought only peace and reconciliation, the victorious Canadians, fearing that a successful rebellion would have seen a Metis state in alliance with the United States, as well as a sovereign Cree-Blackfoot entity as promised by Riel, sought only vengeful and reprisal. Riel was hanged, in a trial that borderlined on judicial murder. Big Bear and his fellow chief Poundmaker were sentenced to death, but their sentences were commuted to long prison terms. Although the sentences were later reduced, and Big Bear released after only a couple of years in a Canadian prison, he soon sickened and died, about a year after his release. Many say, as in the case of Chief Joseph, that Big Bear did of a broken heart.
If Big Bear was the kind of warrior chief that Crazy Horse was, and had Riel's rebellion took place right after Custer's Last Stand, when the Metis-Cree-Blackfoot alliance might have even linked up with the Sioux (the Sioux and the Blackfoot were enemies, but they might have considered an alliance of convienence in a war against the hated Whites), history would have been changed - with Canada's western provinces quite possible included into the United States with the possible allowance of a sovereign Indian nation in the Northwest. "The End of Freedom" was truly an end of freedom - in more ways than one - for Big Bear and for his people.
I read this book many years ago and would love to get a personal copy. I also recommend the out-of-print "Strange Empire" by Howard.
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- Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: The Bestselling Guide to Doing Business in More Than 60 Countries
- Blue Book of Gun Values
- The Corporate Directory of U.S. Public Companies 2001: Company Profiles and Indexes
- The Flight of the Eisenstein
- The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next
- Coco All Year Round
- Actions of Chemicals on Dividing Cells
- The Future of the Safety Net: Social Insurance and Employee Benefits
- The New Reality of Wall Street : An Investor's Survival Guide to Triple Waterfalls and Other Stock M
- Novia Oscura, La