[ Wilson is an American educator whose major area of research and writing is nineteenth-and twentieth-century Indian and white relations. In the following excerpt, he discusses Eastman's work as a writer and lecturer.]

Charles Eastman made his greatest impact on society as a writer and lecturer. He originally intended to preserve a written record of his Indian childhood for his children. After moving his burgeoning family to St. Paul in 1893, Eastman began to record his thoughts and recollections. Elaine [Goodale Eastman] read what her husband had written and persuaded him to send these earliest sketches of his childhood to St. Nicholas: An Illustrated Magazine for Young Folks for possible publication. They were immediately accepted and were serialized in six installments. These articles would later be incorporated in his first book, Indian Boyhood, published in 1902. The six serialized articles were his first publications. In years to come he wrote many additional articles and eleven books (two of which were combinations of others and were published as special school editions).

Although all of these books except Wigwam Evenings: Sioux Folk Tales Retold (1909) and Smoky Day's Wigwam Evenings: Indian Stories Retold (1910) bore only Eastman's name, he acknowledged his wife's collaboration. Indeed, she served as his principal editor. "Dr. Eastman's books left his hand," Elaine later wrote, "as a rough draft in pencil, on scratch paper." From these, she would then type copies, "revising, omitting, and re-writing as necessary," the same procedure undoubtedly employed in getting his articles ready for publication.

The subjects of Eastman's books and articles can be grouped into three general categories: autobiography; information concerning Indian life, customs, and religion; and information dealing with Indian and White relations. Two of his books which are specifically autobiographical in nature are integral to an understanding of the mental, spiritual, and attitudinal stages of development of Eastman's life. Although Eastman apparently planned to write a third book, concerned exclusively with the last years of his life, the book was never published.

His first book, Indian Boyhood (1902), dealt with his reminiscences of his first fifteen years of life as an Indian in the wilds of Minnesota and Canada. In From the Deep Woods to Civilization: Chapters in the Autobiography of an Indian, published in 1916, he continued the story of his life, emphasizing his schooling and subsequent work in white civilization up to about 1915. Both books contain material which Eastman had previously published in article form.

Written mainly for children, Indian Boyhood depicts the idyllic existence Indians once enjoyed. Eastman did not ignore the harsh realities associated with the type of life he led as a youth. He referred briefly to famine, disease, confrontations with other Indian bands, and intermittent conflicts with the white man, but he devoted greater attention to the more gratifying aspects of his childhood, idealizing and romanticizing his past and associating it with an atmosphere of childlike simplicity. In an informal and at times intimate tone, Eastman conveyed an unconscious longing to return to a world he viewed as naturally good. Even in the final chapter, in recounting what must have been a personal and emotional trauma at his father's request that he live in the white world, Eastman never revealed his true feelings about his displacement. Rather, he assumed an optimistic tone as he, his father, and his grandmother began their journey into white society.

The youthful optimism and idealism which Eastman possessed when he began his passage into an alien culture soon diminished with the sobering experiences of adulthood. As Eastman related in his second autobiographical work, From the Deep Woods to Civiliation, his varied experiences in white society gave him a more realistic perspective of that society. Eastman presented a more candid and critical opinion of the white world, openly attacking the evils of white society and lamenting the sorrows Indians encountered as a result of cultural contact, yet never completely turning his back on the positive aspects of the dominant society but only exposing the wrongs which certain Whites perpetrated on Indians.

Certain omissions in From the Deep Woods to Civilization are noteworthy. Eastman's presentation of the facts regarding the Pine Ridge controversy is entirely one-sided. Although he did not present false information, he was guilty of neglecting all data which would cast doubt on his arguments. He also did not discuss the turmoil-filled years he spent as government physician at Crow Creek, possibly because of inherent fears that his readers would question his ability to get along with Indian agents and other government officials. He should have detailed thoroughly both incidents, letting his readers make the ultimate decision as to who was to blame.

Eastman's writings regarding Indian life, customs, and religion included many stories containing factual information about Indian culture, some of which were written especially for children. He heard many of these stories as a youth sitting around a campfire with other boys and listening to elders relate Indian tradition and history. In Old Indian Days (1907), Eastman presented fifteen stories—seven about Indian warriors and eight about Indian women. While all contained information about Indian customs, some stories were written far better than others. For example, one of the best stories on warriors, "The Love of Antelope," concerned an Indian named Antelope and his love for Taluta. Besides presenting information on courtship, marriage, and the role of women in Sioux society, Eastman discussed the Indians' practice of counting coup—the way in which warriors received honor and eagle feathers for extraordinary feats, usually in battle. In turn, one of the most poorly written stories on warriors was "The Madness of Bald Eagle," which contained information on the practice of accepting dares and explained the custom of redeeming peer approval through acts of bravery, but was sketchy and lacked character development.

His stories on women stressed their importance and function in Indian society. Two of his best were "Winoa, The Woman-Child" and "Winoa, The Child-Woman," in which Eastman excellently portrayed the life and training of an Indian girl, from birth taught to accept her role in society: "to serve and to do for others." In "The War Maiden" Eastman wrote about the rather unusual practice of a woman going to war. She was not only accepted by the Indian men, but she also proved herself worthy in battle.

Other books containing accounts on Indian life included some written for children, in which Eastman explained the Indians' concept of creation and their close relationship to nature and animals. In several of these stories animals represented Indians as leading characters, and the tales ended with a moral similar to the Aesop Fables. For instance, in one story concerning a drake outwitting a falcon, the drake believed that the falcon was dead, and later, while he was boasting of this feat to others, he was over-taken and killed by the falcon. The moral was "Do not exult too soon; nor is it wise to tell of your brave deeds within the hearing of your enemy."

Another story concerned a turtle who had been captured by his enemies. In contemplating a manner of death, they suggested burning him, but the turtle replied that he would scatter the burning coals and kill them all. Next, they considered boiling him, to which the turtle said that he would dance in the boiling kettle and the steam would blind them forever. Finally, the turtle's captors suggested drowning. To this form of death the turtle remained silent, and his enemies suspected that this was the best way of disposing of him. After being thrown into the water, the turtle, of course, escaped. Eastman moralized that "patience and quick wit are better than speed."

One of his best books containing stories about Indian life was Red Hunters and the Animal People (1904), in which Eastman stressed the honor and closeness that Indians felt for animals. The twelve excellent pieces in this book ranged from how hunters learned from animals in hope of acquiring their resourceful ways, to the Indians' view that animals were placed on the earth as a means of a life line for them.

Eastman wrote many straightforward accounts about Indian customs and religion. To Eastman Indians lived the "freest life in the world," and their handicrafts, their rudimentary technology, and their medicine were indeed significant because many were adopted by or influenced white civilization. He described how Indians made bows and arrows, canoes, pottery, and pipes; discussed at length the work Indians did with leather and hides; and detailed information on such political and social subjects as Indian government, humor, and burial. From Indians, white men learned new agricultural methods for growing vegetables and fruits, and even borrowed the national emblem of the United States, the American eagle, from them.

Eastman also stressed the healthier aspects of Indian living over white living. He encouraged white parents to involve their children in more outdoor activities because fresh air and nature were God's gifts and should be utilized. In one book, written specifically for the Boys Scouts and the Campfire Girls, he used the Indian as the prototype of these organizations and presented useful information that these youths could employ in their activities, such as outdoor survival techniques. In addition, he suggested special and honored Indian names and secret signals that they could adopt.

Many of these books and articles brought out his belief in the compatibility between certain aspects of Indian worship and Christianity. Eastman syncretized his beliefs to a certain extent, yet spiritually he maintained an affinity with his past. His Indian religion seemed to be the source from which he maintained his identity, an aspect which he covered more thoroughly in The Soul-of the Indian, published in 1911. The purpose, as he stated in the Foreword of the book, was "to paint the religious life of the typical American Indian as it was before he knew the white man." He presented his recollections knowing that "the religion of the Indian is the last thing about him that the man of another race will ever understand." His purpose for writing the book appears to have been his need to reaffirm his identity with the past rather than to explain that past to white society. Eastman let his readers know that he was proud to be an Indian and was proud of his ancestral religious beliefs, which seemed to give meaning and perspective to his life.

In the Foreword of this book, Eastman explained the sources of his religious knowledge. "It is as true as I can make it to my childhood teaching and ancestral ideals, but from the human, not the ethnological standpoint." He used the term the Great Mystery (Wakan Tanka) to explain the Indians' concept of God and His creation. They worshipped this all-powerful force in silence and solitude. The responsibility for religious instruction was given to the woman, who from the time the baby was conceived practiced a sort of spiritual training, praying and meditating "to instill into the receptive soul of the unborn child the love of the 'Great Mystery' and a sense of brotherhood with all creation." After birth, she began pointing out and explaining nature to her newborn baby. Eastman recalled his own surrogate mother, Uncheedah, through whose guidance he was taught to pray in silence, was told the history of his people, and was instructed in the art of storytelling.

An integral part of the ritual of passage in which a boy became a man was the first offering, which required that the Indian child sacrifice the thing most dear to him to the Great Mystery. Such a sacrifice instilled in the child an appreciation of others' needs. Eastman decided to sacrifice his beloved dog because it was the thing he most cherished. When detailing the procedure, he failed to mention to his readers, however, that he probably ate some of the dog's remains, most likely feeling that his white audience might be offended by this part of the ceremony.

In sum, Eastman described the Indians' concept of religion as recognizing "a power behind every natural force. He saw God, not only in the sky, but in every creation. All Nature sang his praises—birds, waterfalls, tree tops—everything whispered the name of the mysterious God." To Indians the supernatural was commonplace. "The virgin birth would appear," wrote Eastman, "scarcely more miraculous than is the birth of every child that comes into the world, or the miracle of the loaves and fishes excite more wonder than the harvest that springs from a single ear of corn."

He commented on white missionaries and their frequent attacks on Indian beliefs. He thought that their methods were unjust, characterizing them as "good men imbued with the narrowness of their age" and chastising their practice of classifying Indians as pagans because they followed a different religion. To substantiate this view, Eastman told about a group of Indians listening to a missionary tell about the creation and the fall of Adam and Eve. After he finished his account, the Indians, in turn, told him about their belief of how maize originated. When the missionary became outraged and discounted their story as false, the Indians calmly replied that they believed his stories, so why did he not believe theirs?

The most significant topics to Eastman were perhaps the ones concerning Indian and White relations, especially during the reservation period. In Eastman's opinion the coming of the white men destroyed forever the Indian's way of life. Labeling Indian and White contact as the Transition Period—a movement from the natural life to an artificial existence—Eastman declared that the two greatest white civilizers were whiskey and gunpowder. Contact with Whites forced Indian women into prostitution, altered or perverted Indian customs and manners, and caused divisions within tribes. He speculated that the mass killing of buffalo was a conspiracy by Whites to conquer the Plains Indians because it was less expensive to attack them economically than militarily.

Warfare between Indians and Whites was, according to Eastman, the usual and gravest result of contact. Originally, war among Indians was regarded as part of their life. "It was held to develop," wrote Eastman, "the quality of manliness, and its motive was chivalric or patriotic." He suggested incorrectly that these tribal wars were little more than tournaments and compared them to the white man's football games. "It was common, in early times, for a battle or skirmish to last all day, with great display of daring and horsemanship, but with scarcely more killed and wounded than may be carried from the field during a university game of football."

Eastman described how Indians revered a brave enemy in mourning by scalping him and holding a ceremony to honor his departed spirit. Warfare with Whites, however, was different. Eastman believed that all major Indian wars were caused by land-hungry Whites and broken treaties. He declared that "wanton cruelties and the more barbarous customs of war were greatly intensified with the coming of white men, who brought with them fiery liquor and deadly weapons, aroused the Indian's worst passions, provoking in him revenge and cupidity, and even offered bounties for the scalps of innocent men, women, and children."

Eastman had the opportunity to interview several famous Indian leaders and to write accounts of their lives and battles. Such prestigious individuals as Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, and Chief Joseph were included in a book entitled Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains (1918), which also contained excellent photographs of many famous Indians. His vivid portrayal of these Indians and other leading figures, as well as battles between Indians and Whites, appears, in the main, accurate in detail and sympathetic in tone.

He used the Battle of the Little Big Horn as an example of the consequence of broken treaties. In no uncertain terms he condemned historians and military personnel for inflating the number of Indians engaged in this encounter and for underestimating the Indians' military genius. In summing up the battle Eastman wrote, "The simple truth is that Custer met the combined forces of the hostiles, which were greater than his own, and that he had not so much underestimated their numbers as their ability." He stated, however, that this victory was short-lived, and the result of this war and most Indian wars with Whites was imprisonment on reservations.

Eastman sharply criticized the Indian bureau's responsibility for the wretched conditions on reservations, basing his observations on his own experiences as a government physician on reservations and as a visitor to several reserves. Commenting that many of the reservations were located in dry places and were unfit for agriculture except with proper irrigation, he complained that Indians were forced to eat unhealthful food. "In a word," wrote Eastman, "he lived a squalid life, unclean and apathetic physically, mentally, and spiritually."

Eastman held the Indian bureau and its system responsible, because though the bureau was set up to serve Indians, instead it became an autocracy over them. Furthermore, he believed that many Indian agents were "nothing more than a ward politician of the commonest stamp, whose main purpose is to get all that is coming to him. His salary is small, but there are endless opportunities for graft." Eastman recognized that there were good men in the Indian bureau, but their numbers were few and they were not in positions of authority to implement their views.

To rectify matters, he called for the abolition of the Indian bureau, whose political interests appalled him. He blamed it "for all the ills of our Indian civilization." He thought that the bureau had outlived its usefulness and was too paternalistic toward Indians, but he was not, however, in favor of complete termination of government services and aid. Indeed, he wanted the machinery updated possibly in the form of a commission that would serve as a guardian over Indians. He specifically stressed that at least half the members on the commission should be Indians, that it should be as free as possible from political pressures, and that it should have direct authority to handle Indian affairs without going through other departments for approval. Such a commission or program was never established.

Eastman also expressed his views about Indian policies and humanitarian organizations. He generally condemned Republican administration during the early 1860s for its extreme corruption in the handling of Indian affairs; but, in turn, he applauded President Abraham Lincoln's courage in pardoning hundreds of Indians held responsible for the 1862 Sioux Uprising in Minnesota. In addition, he praised Indian reform measures enacted under President Ulysses S. Grant, especially the upgrading of agency officials in order to curb graft and corruption on reservations. He expressed anger at the abandonment of the policy as partisan politics again dictated the selection of Indian agents.

Eastman, along with many other reform-minded individuals and organizations, supported the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887, which provided for allotments in severalty and the breakup of reservations. He called it the Emancipation Act of the Indian and praised such organizations as the Board of Indian Commissioners, the Indian Rights Association, and the Lake Mohonk Conference of Friends of the Indian, not only for their support of this act, but also for their work on behalf of Indians. Eastman supported the Dawes Act primarily because it granted citizenship to Indians who accepted allotments. By becoming citizens Indians could obtain rights of the dominant Americans, particularly the suffrage, which he hoped would give Indians a voice in decisions affecting their lives. His later publications, however, contain little praise and minimal mention of the Dawes Act but do contain criticism of the Burke Act of 1906, which dealt with Indian allotment fees, patents, and citizenship. Most reformers condemned the Burke Act, especially the provisions making it more difficult for Indians to acquire citizenship. Eastman chastised the framers of the act as interested only in graft and believed that such a law would confuse the status of Indians. Eastman can certainly be criticized for supporting the Dawes Act, especially by citing the devastating results of the act. The Dawes Act and related pieces of legislation operated for nearly fifty years, during which time Indians lost over 85 million acres. Yet, in his defense, most well-meaning reformers supported the Dawes Act, sincerely believing that it would bring the two races closer together. Perhaps Eastman was too naive and put too much faith in the Dawes Act as a means to achieve harmony between Indians and Whites.

Many of his later publications, written between 1910 and 1919, dealt with the contributions and needs of Indians. He wrote that Indians were no longer regarded as "bloody savages," and white civilization was finally recognizing their worth. He cited, for example, their native arts and crafts as much in demand, and he ridiculed the use of machine-made products in the place of handmade items. Furthermore, non-Indian painters, sculptors, authors, and other patrons were honoring and praising Indians for their achievements.

Even though Indians were at last being recognized, they still suffered from unhealthful living conditions and inadequate educational facilities. Eastman lamented that the annual death rate of Indians was alarming in comparison to the death rate of Whites, and he stated that tuberculosis and trachoma, an eye disease, were among the major diseases that attacked Indians. He believed that Indians were receiving better care and treatment than in previous years, but that there was still a need for more services. In addition, educational facilities for Indians were often over-crowded, unsanitary, and breeding grounds for disease. He called for the support of programs that directed more appropriations to improve Indian health and to teach Indians about proper hygiene.

Eastman continually stressed the need for Indians to obtain a proper education, believing that this was the best way for Indians to contribute to their people and to white society. He offered himself as an example of what an Indian could attain. Though he recognized that many schools were inadequate, he stated, "I would give up anything rather than the schools, unmoral [sic] as many of them are." He suggested that more qualified teachers and improved facilities were needed to eradicate the deficiencies, praising the Hampton Institute in Virginia and Carlisle School in Pennsylvania, two institutions attended by Indians, because they showed that Indians could be properly educated. He also remarked that more and more educated Indians were being accepted by their fellow tribesmen upon returning to the reservation.

The granting of citizenship to Indians continued to be, in Eastman's opinion, their most pressing need, particularly following World War I. He regarded Indian status in the United States as extremely confusing. "I do not believe," he wrote, "there is a learned judge in these United States who can tell an Indian's exact status without a great deal of study, and even then he may be in doubt." Eastman used Indian involvement in World War I and the goals of peace after the war as reasons for granting citizenship. Emphasizing the way they were actively involved in the defense of liberty and their need to be adequately compensated, he used President Woodrow Wilson's goals of peace for European countries as a premise to what should be applied at home for Indians. He wrote, "We ask nothing unreasonable—only the freedom and privileges for which your boy and mine have fought." Indians had to wait for several more years, however, before receiving such a privilege.

Lucrative lecture engagements resulted from his writings. Addressing audiences was nothing new to Eastman, who during his college days had given speeches before groups and later spoke at the Lake Mohonk Conference of Friends of the Indian. After publication of Indian Boyhood he accepted a lecture invitation from the Twentieth Century Club in Brooklyn, New York, for which he received $100. While there, he met Major James B. Pond, a lyceum manager, who asked Eastman if he wanted "to go on the lecture platform under his management." Eastman found the arrangements satisfactory and accepted his offer. The two men developed a good rapport and worked together until Pond's untimely death. Because of the initial success of this first venture and a growing demand for more personal appearances. Eastman continued to give lectures. His wife took over the duties of handling all of his correspondence and publicity.

Eastman wrote that he could lecture on any general or specific Indian topic. The subjects of his talks ranged from "The School of Savagery," "The Real Indian," "The Story of the Little Big Horn," to aesthetic topics such as, "Indian Wit, Music, Poetry and Eloquence." Frequently Eastman would be attired in full Sioux regalia while presenting these lectures. He must have cast a striking pose, wearing such items as an eagle-feathered war bonnet, a beautifully beaded tan costume made from animal skins, and carrying a tomahawk/peace-pipe. His stage presence and commanding voice must have been overwhelming.

Response to Eastman's writings and lectures was phenomenal. Almost every review of his books contained both laudatory remarks of their contents and high praise of the author. For example, The Soul of the Indian and The Indian Today (1915), two of his most profound books, received good reviews. In the case of the former, one reviewer wrote, "Not being influenced by the prejudices and legends which prevail in the mind of most white men concerning the Indian, Dr. Eastman is able to give us a clear idea of what the red man really thinks and feels" [American Review of Reviews 43 (Jan.-June 1911)]. Regarding the latter book, several reviewers believed that it was well written, forceful, and most enlightening.

In evaluating Eastman's expertise as a writer, several observations are in order. One of the major criticisms of his works is his neglect, at times, to make it clear to the reader whether he is discussing particular traits of all Indians or of just the Sioux, though most of what he wrote applied to his kinsmen. Because he seemed to draw little distinction between being an Indian and being a Sioux, his works tend to emphasize the similarities rather than the marked differences among Indian cultures. He helped to influence the contemporary stereotyped image of Native Americans. Today, non-Indians the world over have painted a mental picture of what an Indian is: a Plains Indian—more specifically, a Sioux.

In general, Eastman's depiction of Indian life and subsequent white contact is reinforced by several of his contemporaries, two of whom were Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Bonnin), a writer, poet, and lecturer, and Luther Standing Bear, a noted Sioux author. In comparing Eastman to these writers, interesting and important distinctions emerge. Gertrude Bonnin, born in 1876 at Yankton Reservation, South Dakota, learned quickly from her mother to distrust and resent the white man. She sought a formal education despite her mother's wishes and later attended Earlham College in Indiana. A few years later, she studied at the Boston Conservatory of Music, when she began to write. Some of her articles were published in the Atlantic Monthly and in Harper's Monthly. Her most memorable book was American Indian Stories, published in 1921, in which she depicted her childhood, her initial rejection and eventual acceptance of Christianity, and her changing attitudes toward the white man. Like Eastman, her autobiography is romantic in scope and viewed the Indian way of life as a state of grace eventually corrupted by the coming of the white man. Bonnin's account, however, was less detailed on Sioux customs and more resentful toward the white man.

Luther Standing Bear, born in the 1860s, unlike Eastman, who was a Santee, or Eastern, Sioux, was a Teton, or Western, Sioux. Standing Bear attended Carlisle Indian School, where he acquired a trade, tinsmithing, which proved to be impractical on the reservation, and as a result, he undertook various jobs ranging from an assistant teacher at a reservation school to an agency clerk and storekeeper. He eventually became involved in show business. Later in his life he wrote four books, a noteworthy accomplishment for someone with only a rudimentary education as Carlisle provided. Two of his best works are My People the Sioux (1928) and Land of the Spotted Eagle (1933).

Standing Bear was not as prolific a writer as Eastman, but they wrote about many of the same topics. Although they expressed similar points of view regarding Indian and White relations, reservation life, and the role of women, Standing Bear tended to give a more elaborate account of certain events than did Eastman. Their descriptions of the Sun Dance, for example, reflect their different viewpoints. According to Eastman, the Sun Dance occurred when a Sioux warrior wanted to fulfill a vow made to the Sun for prolonging his life. Standing Bear, on the other hand, remembered the Sun Dance as a sacrificial rite which was fulfilled every year. Both writers had similar accounts of the elaborate selection and importance of the pole to the ceremony and also agreed on the symbolic importance of the figures which hung from the pole, but differed in their accounts of the final stage of the Sun Dance. Standing Bear recalled, in detail, the brutal aspects of the ceremony, from the piercing of the participant's breast, through which a wooden pin was inserted, to the ensuing results. Eastman, however, did not emphasize these points. The cut made, according to Eastman, was just deep enough to draw blood. The rawhide was then attached to the shoulders of the participant rather than the breast. In fairness to both writers, there are two rites of sacrifice of the Sun Dance—one which pierces the breast, and the other which pierces the shoulders. The lodge ceremony (breast) is the more spectacular. Unlike his conscious omission in Indian Boyhood regarding his consumption of his favorite dog, Eastman did not avoid the gruesome aspects of the Sun Dance to appease the sensibilities of the white audience. Rather, he paralleled the increase of cruelty in the event to the Indians' contact with white men. He declared, "The Sun Dance of the Plains Indians, the most important of their public ceremonies, was abused and perverted until it became a horrible exhibition of barbarism." The amount of brutality involved in the Sun Dance and aspects of the ceremony still remain matters of controversy.

The diversity in the writing styles and content of Standing Bear and Eastman can be attributed to many factors. Because they were from different bands, they probably had different versions of particular events. Standing Bear's tendency to write more detailed accounts than Eastman could be explained by having people like E. A. Brininstool, author of several books on western history, and Dr. Melvin R. Gilmore, an ethnologist, serve as collaborators on his books. Eastman, on the other hand, relied primarily on his own expertise and his wife's knowledge and editorial skills.

Eastman's books were so popular that some were translated into different languages. Even today, Eastman's works continue to be in vogue. Recently published anthologies contain selections from his works, and some of his books are still being reprinted. The Wassaja/The Indian Historian, a national Indian magazine, frequently cites and praises Eastman's works. As a source for Indian topics, Eastman's writings have been employed by several historians of the past and of the present. Indeed, Eastman's knowledge of historical data regarding Indian and White relations are quite accurate. For example, his views on the Custer debacle and on the Wounded Knee tragedy parallel most of the major accounts of these confrontations. In addition, the information he presented on Indian customs, the different ways in which Indians and Whites conducted warfare, the lack of respect most missionaries had toward Indian beliefs, and the deplorable conditions on reservations are valid and, in most cases, accurate observations. His interpretation that the mass slaughter of the buffalo—the Indians' lifeline—was a plot conceived by Whites to defeat economically the Plains Indians because it would be less costly to engage in economic warfare than major military operations is a view still held by many contemporary writers.

His statements on the corruption, graft, and inefficiency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs primarily surfaced after 1910. By that date, Eastman had had two bitter confrontations with white agents while serving under them as a government physician. Ironically, by criticizing the bureau, Eastman was demeaning the vehicle through which he pursued his original goal as a physician to his people. Failing in this role, he engaged in other pursuits, specifically writing and lecturing. Although certainly his criticism of the bureau was tempered by the unpleasant episodes he had encountered at Pine Ridge and at Crow Creek, he justifiably condemned the wretched conditions on reservations and called for desperately needed reforms.

Eastman received equal praise as a lecturer. The popularity of his books made him a sought after speaker in many cities throughout the United States and in England. People who heard his lectures found him to be a knowledgeable, dignified, and an attractive speaker.

Through his writing and lecturing, Eastman hoped to influence Whites, to make them aware of the "Indian problem" from an Indian point of view, and to spur them to the cause of reform. On some occasions he used powerful language to make a point, and at other times, his audience had to read between the lines to get his message. One of his nephews, Oliver Eastman, a Flandreau Sioux, believed that his uncle's books were popular because of their truthfulness. However, he thought that Eastman was forced to choose his words carefully in order not to offend his white readers. Although this may be true, he did, nevertheless, make some bold and valid statements regarding reform of Indian policy.

There is little doubt that Eastman believed Indians should adopt white ways; however, he did not favor total rejection of past customs and traditions. He supported many of the old customs but realized that Indians were doomed if they clung to the past and did not alter their ways. As a subjugated people, Indians had to acquire the more advanced aspects of white civilization to survive and then to compete in white society.

Eastman's writings are important to historians not only because he interviewed several famous Indians and recorded their views but also because he was writing about Indian history from his own perspective as an Indian—an uncommon perspective in the early twentieth century. Through his works he hoped to bring Indians and Whites closer together in an effort to break down the wall of prejudice which existed. That was his greatest contribution as author and lecturer. Indeed, commenting on the primary purpose of his lectures, which can also be applied to his writings as well, Eastman wrote:

My chief object has been, not to entertain, but to present the American Indian in his true character before Americans. The barbarous and atrocious character commonly attributed to him has dated from the transition period, when the strong drink, powerful temptations, and commercialism of the white man led to deep demoralization. Really it was a campaign of education on the Indian and his true place in American history.

That his books are still widely read is testimony to his success.

Raymond Wilson, in hisOhiyesa: Charles Eastman, Santee Sioux, University of Illinois Press, 1983, 219 p.