Growing Up Dakota by Charles Alexander Eastman, edited and illustrated by Charlene Notgrass. From Indian Child Life and Indian Boyhood, both by Charles Alexander Eastman.
Charles Eastman was an amazing Native American voice and man. After reading about him in the linked article, I am surprised that I had never heard of him before now. With all of the emphasis on “own voices” and the authentic Native American experience these days, Mr. Eastman’s writing and perspective would seem to be particularly valuable to children who are learning about American history and about Native American life. And yet, only one of his many books is available in print from my large city library system, and none of his work is available in an edition meant for children, even though much of Mr. Eastman’s original writing was intended for children and young adults.
Growing Up Dakota its an edited version of two of Eastman’s books, Indian Child Life and Indian Boyhood, a sort of “youth edition” of Eastman’s stories. Charlene Notgrass, the editor, summarizes some parts of Eastman’s text with her own words in italics. But she writes in her foreword, “All of the words in Growing Up Dakota are the original words of Charles Eastman, except when you see lines typed like this: the italicized words between the lines are mine. . . . I have not changed the words that Eastman chose because I want you to be able to read this story in the words of the real Dakota man who wrote them.”
Mr. Eastman tells his story in roughly chronological order, but it’s also a rambling sort of story that reminds one of an old man reciting his memories of his boyhood, stories that others told to him, and other anecdotal accounts as they occur to him. The author begins with the story that was told to him of his birth and his name, “Hakadah” meaning Pitiful Last. He was given this name because he was the last of five children, and his mother died soon after he was born. Hakadah, who later received the more pleasant name Ohiyesa, which means Winner, was raised by his grandmother and his uncle. Ohiyesa’s father was presumed dead when the family was separated during the Dakota Wars of 1862.
The book ends with Ohiyesa’s father reappearance when Ohiyesa was fifteen years old. His father had been imprisoned, then released, and had to search to find Ohiyesa and the rest of his tribe and family. Ohiyesa’s father, Jacob Eastman, had in the interim become a Christian, and he took Ohiyesa to live “like the white men” on a homestead in South Dakota. That’s when Ohiyesa took a “Christian name,” Charles Alexander Eastman. He went to school, graduated from Dartmouth College, and Boston University’s medical school, and became a doctor and an author.
In between are the memories of Ohiyesa/Eastman’s Indian boyhood: the customs and celebrations, hunts and courting rituals, feasts and training for manhood. All that the author remembers is described vividly and with respect for the Dakota (Sioux) way of life. This book would be fascinating for children to listen to if read aloud in brief pieces, Charlotte Mason-style, and would provide much food for discussion. Boys and girls who are interested in learning more about Native American culture should definitely be introduced to Ohiyesa’s story.
Growing Up Dakota is available for purchase from Notgrass History, a homeschool curriculum publisher and distributor.