Gift of Power: The Life and Teachings of a Lakota Medicine Man [Paperback]

Chief Archie Fire Lame Deer (Author), Richard Erdoes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1992

With surprising candor, Archie Fire Lame Deer describes the magic and power of the Native American spirit life. Archie's compelling narrative recaptures his boyhood years under the tutelage of his medicine-man grandfather on a South Dakota farm. We follow him from Catholic school runaway to Army misfit, from bartender to boozer, from Hollywood stuntman to chief rattlesnake catcher of the state of South Dakota. And we exult with him when he comes home to the world of spirit.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Gift of Power is a classic story of one man's journey through alienation and struggle to epiphany and redemption. Archie Fire Lame Deer embodies the Native American struggle for survival in a homeland that has become foreign. In vivid first- person narrative, Lame Deer recalls his tumultuous life in a stereotypical Indian world of bottles, feathers, and horses. After enough booze and fighting to kill an average man, he transcends his self-destructive tendencies by reclaiming the spiritual elements of his traditional culture. We learn along with Lame Deer the power and secrets of native medicine and the gifts that they bring to the beholder. This Lakota medicine man is a teacher and a model.

From Publishers Weekly

Lame Deer here recreates his transformation from born hell-raiser to born-again "holy man" of his Lakota Indian tribe in South Dakota. Writing with longtime family friend Erdoes ( Living on the Brink of Apocalypse ), Lame Deer exposes his life in the so-called material world as an alcoholic and Hollywood stuntman. The spiritual "gift" was passed to him at his father's deathbed in 1976, which marked the beginning of his change. Lame Deer, now a lecturer on Lakota life and religion, discusses such noted ceremonies as the Sun Dance. Stirring and more worldly than similar works by other medicine men, this is instructive reading for those wishing to understand what it is like to be a Native American today.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Bear & Company (October 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879181126
• ISBN-13: 978-1879181120
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #432,238 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The "Indian" in our US culture's background, January 10, 2007

By 

Michael L. Taylor "M Taylor" (Monroe, Mi United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gift of Power: The Life and Teachings of a Lakota Medicine Man (Paperback)

If you like me, before I read this book, are naive to what true American Indian culture is all about (or maybe you won't realize how naive you are until you read the book), then this biography of Archie Fire Lame Deer, a Lakota Indian is definitely an excellent crash course to bring you up to date! Much of American Indian culture, especially their religion and intense beliefs about people, animals and our earth make a lot of sense to me. So many suppressed or simply not understood parts of this culture are clearly explained and described in fascinating detail. Though I don't plan to change my personal Christian beliefs, I'm moved by the depth and intensity of this culture; Archie Fire's descriptions moved me to intense shame regarding the many horrible things that were, and are still being done in the name of Christianity to this culturally rich, intelligent, colorful and generally peaceful people (Archie Fire Lame Deer, somewhat similarly, also expresses his shame of so many false medicine men promoting Indian religion & culture). And we claim to be a free country guaranteeing freedom of religion? As has become apparent to me, so many things that we believe to be a part of our white North American cultures are actually rooted in American Indian tradition. I say thanks very much to Archie Fire for recording this valuable, enlightening information for we, the unindoctrinated. I wish him and the American Indian people the realization of all of the wonderful dreams described here (as I wish to share in them also).

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gift of Power, November 9, 2006

By 

Shawn Dorris (Sacramento, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gift of Power: The Life and Teachings of a Lakota Medicine Man (Paperback)

This book was totally amazing. Written in Archie Lame Deer's own words. Archie really takes us deep into the Lakota culture and brings us into the world of American Indian life. The style in which Archie teaches instills in the reader the importance of laughter to the American Indian people as a way of dealing with the horror dealt by the government and settlers throughout history.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'D LOVE TO MEET HIM, January 19, 2008

By 

Sandy Nathan "Sandy" (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Gift of Power: The Life and Teachings of a Lakota Medicine Man (Paperback)

Archie Fire Lame Deer is the son of John Fire Lame Deer and succeeded him as head of his spiritual lineage upon his father's death. A "modern" medicine man with an incredible life story. He's funny, charming, impactful, tells the truth. If I were making a list of "must meet" holy men, he'd be on it.