Singing for a Spirit: A Portrait of the Dakota Sioux

By Vine Deloria.  The vision experiences of one man -- a Dakota chief and healer -- would profoundly affect the lives of four generation of the Deloria family. That man was the author's great-grandfather.  In this book Americas foremost Native American writer and scholar tells of the moving struggle of his family to preserve integrity, sacredness, and a sense of purpose in a time when their way of life was under assault by the juggernaut of US westward expansion.  The second part of the book gives an authentic account of that heritage, as caught in the recollections of the author's grandfather, Tipi Sapa. Drawing both on his own experiences and on memories passed down by other elders of the Yankton Band, Tipi Sapa describes Yankton Dakota spiritual beliefs, rituals and tradition, and recounts the stories and songs that bound the community together.  The Deloria family story helps us understand the revolutionary changes the Sioux were experiencing during this period, and they offer a sometimes wrenching contrast to Tipi Sapa's descriptions of a distinctive way of life that was already lost to the onrush of history.

221 pages     Paperback $14.95