When the Tree Flowered: The Fictional Autobiography of Eagle Voice, a Sioux Indian.

Lincoln, NE University of Nebraska Pr: Bison Books, 1991. Paperback Reprint Edition (1991); Second Printing thus. Very Good+ in Wraps: shows indications of very careful use: the spine leans ever so slightly; else only a hint of a crease at the upper corner of the front panel; a faint smudge at the lower fore-edge; the backstrip is very faintly sunned, muting the brightness of the orange titles very slightly; the binding remains secure; the text is clean. Free of creases to the backstrip. Free of creased or dog-eared pages in the text. Free of any underlining, hi-lighting or marginalia or marks in the text. Free of ownership names, dates, addresses, notations, inscriptions, stamps, or labels. A handsome copy, structurally sound and tightly bound, showing minor cosmetic imperfections. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo.(8 x 5.3 x 0.65 inches). xx, 248 pages. Introduction by Raymond J. DeMallie. Language: English. Weight: 10.4 ounces. Reprint Edition (1991); Second Printing thus. Trade Paperback. John Gneisenau Neihardt (January 8, 1881 – November 3, 1973) was an American writer and poet, amateur historian and ethnographer. Born at the end of the American settlement of the Plains, he became interested in the lives of the Indigenous peoples whom European settlers had displaced. In the summer of 1930, as part of his research into the American Indian Ghost Dance movement, Neihardt contacted an Oglala holy man named Black Elk. Neihardt developed the book Black Elk Speaks from their conversations, which continued in the spring of 1931, and published it in 1932. It is now Neihardt's best known work. When the Tree Flowered is, however, in our opinion, Neihardt's best prose work, taken from material gathered at Pine Ridge Reservation in the forties from Eagle Elk and other Sioux Indians. It draws delightful pictures of Sioux life, weaves in charming Indian folk tales and legends, and describes an enlightened society where generosity was the way to status and young men chosen to hunt for the poor were honored. The gently humorous wisdom that pervades the culture comes to life. "....for the Great Mysterious One meant all things to be round--the sky and prarie, the sun and moon, the bodies of men and animals, trees and the nests of birds, and the hoop of the people. The days and the seasons come back in a circle, and so do the generations. The young grow old, and from the old young begin and grow. It is the sacred way."