The Soul of the Indian: an Interpretation

THE SOUL OF THE INDIAN is Charles Eastman?s fascinating study of the religious and spiritual life of the Indian people, as he knew them over 100 years ago. He explores the Dakota belief in God??the Great Mystery?, ceremonies, symbolism, the moral code of the Dakota and much more. Eastman was born on the Santee Reservation in Minnesota in 1858. His grandparents raised him after his mother?s death and his father?s capture during the ?Minnesota Sioux Uprising?. At the age of fifteen, he was reunited with his father and embarked on a life in white man?s society. He became a doctor and spent the rest of his life helping Indian people cope with the changes to their world and trying to reconcile the opposing values and beliefs of white society and Sioux culture.