A well-researched, engaging biography with historic photographs

Ohiyesa—Dr. Charles Alexander Eastman—is one of the most enduring and fascinating figures in United States history and one of the most influential Native Americans of any time, serving as a cultural bridge, interpreter, spiritual guide, historian, and advocate for civil rights for Indians and all Americans. An adviser to presidents and social activist, he is the author of famous classic works of American Literature: The Soul of the Indian, From the Deep Woods to Civilization, Indian Boyhood, Indian Scout Talks and Lore, Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains, and others. The Soul of the Indian will have endured 100 successful years in print in 2011, and as the Boy Scouts of America and the Camp Fire Organization celebrate 100 years, they have much to thank in Charles Eastman, who was influential in their beginnings.

Through one man’s dynamic life story, the biography Beyond Wounded Knee takes readers from the traditional Sioux life of the Old West to the new America at the turn of the 19th to 20th Century, from the travesties of Wounded Knee to the possibilities of a future that combines the old with the new, the mainstream with the indigenous.

One history expert wrote of Beyond Wounded Knee: "This manuscript is exceedingly well written. Ms. Lorbiecki is a gifted writer. At several points in my reading, I found myself admiring the craftsmanship. Clearly one of the merits of the manuscript is that the reader is given a real sense of the life and times of Eastman, including the immense challenges he faced straddling the Indian and white worlds." The commentator even suggested a blurb: "This beautifully written biography tracks the triumphs, conflicts, and careers of one of the most fascinating and consequential Indian leaders of the Progressive era" [of any era!].

This manuscript has been meticulously researched, with input from Eastman family members, Dakota historians and language experts, and other historical resources. It includes dynamic historic photographs, many of which have not been previously published. It includes samples of Eastman’s own writings, cultural context, and American Indian history. A former director of the Smithsonian Institute’s Museum of the American Indian, W. Richard West, Jr., a Peace Chief of the Southern Cheyenne, provided an introduction for Beyond Wounded Knee.

If you are an editor interested in considering publication, please contact Marybeth Lorbiecki via the .

Read more about Eastman on Marybeth Lorbiecki's blog, Ohiyesa Thoughts.