Customer Reviews

The Man Who Knew the Medicine: The Teachings of Bill Eagle Feather

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's a testament to the writer's humility that this book is not a how to in the Ways of The Lakota. More honestly it is a loving and skilled tribute to Bill Eagle Feather. I cried through much of this book..everything so vivid and real. I only wish it had been twice as long.

The Man Who Knew the Medicine: The Teachings of Bill Eagle Feather A wonderful truth. A story of discovery and of the path of the red road. Henry Niese weaves a wonderful panorama of his life, seen through the eyes of experience as taught to him by Bill Eagle Father. This is a MUST have book, to pull out again and again throughout life. Each time I pick it up, I learn something new. I love this man, and this book.

The Man Who Knew The Medicine: The Teachings Of Bill Eagle Feather by Henry Niese (who has participated in more than one hundred Native American ceremonies, including dancing in thirty-seven Sun Dances) showcases the Lakota shaman Bill Schweigman Eagle Feather who in the 1960s defied a U.S. government ban on Native American religious practice and performed the Sun Dance ritual with public piercings and continued on as a Sun Dance chief and instructor in the Lakota way of life until his death in 1980. Niese first met Bill Eagle Feather during a Seat Lodge ceremony preceding a Sun Dance on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in 1975 and now carries on the work and legacy of Bill Eagle Feather by performing healings and giving seminars and workshops on medicinal plans and Native American healing practices. The Man Who Knew Medicine is a unique and enthusiastically recommended addition to Native American Studies collections, and an invaluable contribution to Alternative Medicine reading lists as well.

In searching for that illusive "something", I came upon this book. Its stories and lessons have made a profound impact on my life and how I view the world. As a Mohawk, I have deep respect and admiration for the way Henry has honored Bill Eagle Feather. The sharing of the amazing experiences and teachings is done in such a way that anyone can grasp the meaning and depth and power of the Lakota ways.

The faith of the Native peoples is captured here, and if you are looking for something to touch you and change your direction, this could be the book. Aho Mitake Oyasin.

"The author's memoirs of the Lakota ceremonies are brilliantly vivid and downright fascinating. I cringed as they were making flesh sacrifices and discovered that I was rubbing my chest after reading how the Sacred Tree would not allow him to break free during his first Sun Dance, even though he had only been lightly pierced. Eagle Feather's explanation for this sent chill bumps down my spine."
-RAMBLES pub. March 13, 2004
written by Alicia Karen Elkins