RavenShadow (39 page)

Author’s Note

Though this is a work of fiction, the two worlds in which it exists, 1890 and 1990, are drawn with great care to tell both fact and truth. One of my primary goals is to draw an honest picture of the Ghost Dance and the Wounded Knee Massacre a century ago; another is to offer to the world the remarkable acts of devotion made by the Big Foot Memorial Riders, which began in 1986, came to a high point on the centennial of the massacre, and continue today.

Joseph Blue Crow, Sallee, Plez, Chup, Unchee, and the rest of Blue’s family and friends are children of my imagination; however, they are based on Indian people I know, and I believe they are true to the reality of contemporary Indians.

In the part of the book set a century ago, the depiction of the Ghost Dance, white and Indian attitudes at the time, the journey to Wounded Knee, the interaction of the Indians and soldiers, the massacre and its aftermath—all this is intended seriously, and I believe it to be scrupulously historical. Except for Blue and his ancestors, everything is actual—the Ghost Dance songs are real ones; the teachings of Wovoka, the preachments of Short Bull, the visions of Ghost Dancers, the statements of Indians about the dance, the living circumstances of the Lakota
in 1890—all this comes from the record. Big Foot, Yellow Bird, the Horn Cloud family, senior Horn Cloud’s advice to his sons on the morning of the fighting, Black Coyote, the circumstances around the first shot fired, the awful slaughter that followed, the acts of Iron Hail and other combatants on both sides—none of this is invented Colonel Forsyth and the other officers named, and their interpreters, are shown as the record shows them, doing what they did and saying what they said.

I hope Americans of all colors find it appalling.

My portrayal of the Big Foot Memorial Riders is also intended seriously. Alex White Plume, Jim Garrett, Birgil Kills Straight, Ron McNeill, Curtis Kills Ree, Percy White Plume, Arvol Looking Horse, June San and the other Japanese nuns and monks, Celene Not Help Him, Dennis Banks, Russell Means, Joshua Moon Guerro—these are real people, and I have sought to be faithful to what they actually did and said. The rides exist on film, in books, and in works of journalism. I talked to some of the principals, and traveled to Wounded Knee to witness the centennial ceremonies. Conger Beasley, Jr.’s
We Are a People in This World
is a remarkable documentation of the rides, and I recommend it as the best starting point for any serious student. To me the Big Foot Memorial Rides show what heights human beings can reach when we seek the guidance of Spirit and act from love for self, family, and people.

In recreating the events of 1890 I have relied on sources that are well known, especially the Ricker interviews and Robert Utley’s
Last Days of the Sioux Nation
(using the facts but not the underlying attitudes). I have also sought the knowledge and oral traditions of living Lakota people. The old records alone are at best facts deprived of their meaning, their living truth.

In 1975 I set out to write at least two ambitious books about the lives and ways of the Lakota people. The path has led me to become myself a carrier of the Pipe, habitue of the sweat lodge, seeker of visions, and traveler in the spirit world. The
journey brought me to the heart of whatever understanding I have of Indian people. The fruits of the journey I can offer to the world are this volume and my biographical novel about Crazy Horse,
Stone Song
.

Now, looking back on the enterprise begun in innocence and hope so many years ago, I see that its real gifts were personal, spiritual, and they are many as the infinite stars. From my deepest heart I thank the Grandfathers for them.

Mitakuye oyasin
,

Win Blevins

Bluff, Utah, February 18, 1999

Acknowledgments

Perhaps five years ago I was talking excitedly on the phone with my friend Jane Candia Coleman, a fine writer, about two books I was pondering about Wounded Knee, one set at the time of the massacre, a sequel at the time of the great Wiping Away the Tears ceremony a century later. In a blessed blunder I spoke of them as though they were one book, with a single character somehow participating in both events. Immediately I said, “Whoops! I’m sorry—slip of the tongue.”

Jane answered, “I don’t think so.”

I felt a sort of burst inside, as when a gas oven ignites. Reason leapt up and objected—How could someone be at events a hundred years apart? Imagination answered,
Via the magical and mystical
. In that moment this book was conceived. Thank you, Jane.

I have incurred innumerable other debts along the way, some to people I talked with back in the mid 1970s, when I first turned my mind toward writing about Wounded Knee. Some people in this large group I’ve forgotten, for which I apologize.

Important among my conversational companions about Lakota people and Wounded Knee have been Larry Gneiting, Richard Wheeler, Lenore Carroll, Linda Hasselstrom, Bobby Bridger,
Dale Wasserman, Martha Stearn, Page Lambert, and the people mentioned below.

I owe particular thanks to Los Angeles teacher Sandra Porter, who helped with research in the early years; novelist Terry Johnston, who made the trip to the centennial ceremonies at Wounded Knee with me, and was a fine sounding board; Marilee Gordon of Jackson, Wyoming, who gave me shelter when I needed it; Michael Moffitt of the Seattle Public Library, who gave me information about the world the character Delphine grew up in; fellow writer Martha Ture, who helped me with the political aspects of Delphine; Monica Drapeau of Martin, South Dakota, who offered bed, board, and valued friendship; Jim Cross of Yellow Bear Canyon, Pine Ridge Reservation, who invited me into his sweat lodge at a crucial time; Kay Roo of Bozeman, Montana, who explained the workings of radio stations to me; to Alex White Plume and Jim Garrett, originators of the Big Foot Memorial Rides, who made generous gifts of information and understanding.

My special brainstorming companions during the writing were my son Adam Blevins, Jenna Caplette, and Madam Mishy.

Meredith read the manuscript with a fine eye for good storytelling, and has been my loving companion every day.

My editor, Dale Walker, made an amazing contribution to the first page.

Two other men, one Lakota and one Anglo, were generous enough to read the manuscript and give me the benefit of their special knowledge.

Conger Beasley, Jr. walked on the centennial Big Foot Memorial Ride in 1990 and transformed his experience and research into a grand book,
We Are a People in This World
. He kindly read my manuscript and gave me valuable corrections and suggestions.

Joseph Marshall, author of
Soldiers Falling into Camp, Winter of the Holy Iron
, and other books, is uniquely enabled to comment on this manuscript. He himself has lived a life much like
my principal character Joseph Blue Crow, raised away from white ways, not even speaking English, yet later college-educated, finally a citizen of two worlds but deeply Lakota. Joe’s expertise on Lakota language, customs, worldview, and on the history of Wounded Knee is formidable. I could not have written this book without him. Thank you, Joe.

As always, I owe a special debt to my longtime mentor and friend Clyde Hall. A Shoshone taught in Lakota ways, Two Spirit, vessel of medicine, Clyde has been a fountainhead of information and wisdom. He also took me by the hand and introduced me to the great gifts of the vision quest and spirit journey.

Enormous thanks to my companions in the Naraya Dance, especially Clyde Hall, Charles Lawrence, and Ann Roberts, who have offered love.

My heartfelt gratitude to Phil Heron, who introduced me to the Harner method of journeying. And to Larsen Medicine Horse and Tyler Medicine Horse, men of medicine and guides.

About the Author

Win Blevins is the author of thirty-one books. He has received the Owen Wister Award for Lifetime Contributions to Western Literature, has twice been named Writer of the Year by Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers, has been selected for the Western Writers Hall of Fame, and has won two Spur Awards for Novel of the West. His novel about Crazy Horse,
Stone Song
, was a candidate for the Pulitzer Prize.

A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Blevins is of Cherokee and Welsh Irish descent. He received a master’s degree from Columbia University and attended the music conservatory of the University of Southern California. He started his writing career as a music and drama reviewer for the
Los Angeles Times
and then became the entertainment editor and principal theater and movie critic for the
Los Angeles Herald Examiner
. His first book was published in 1973, and since then he has made a living as a freelance writer, publishing essays, articles, and reviews. From 2010 to 2012, Blevins served as Gaylord Family Visiting Professor of Professional Writing at the University of Oklahoma.

Blevins has five children and a growing number of grandchildren. He lives with his wife, the novelist Meredith Blevins, among the Navajos in San Juan County, Utah. He has been a river runner and has climbed mountains on three continents. His greatest loves are his family, music, and the untamed places of the West.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this book or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2013 by Win Blevins

Cover design by Mimi Bark

978-1-5040-1264-5

This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

345 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com