Singing for a Spirit: A Portrait of the Dakota Spirit [Hardcover]

Vine Deloria (Author), Vine Deloreu (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1999

The vision experiences of one man - a Dakota chief and healer - would profoundly affect the lives of four generations of the Deloria family. That man was the author's great-grandfather. In this book America's foremost Native American writer and scholar tells of the moving struggle of his family to preserve integrity, sacredness, and a sense of purpose in a time when their way of life was under assault by the juggernaut of U.S. westward expansion.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Vine Deloria, Jr --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Clear Light Books (May 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574160257
• ISBN-13: 978-1574160253
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,702,581 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deloria family biography, July 25, 2006

By 

Thomas Hoffman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Singing For A Spirit (Paperback)

Vine Deloria, Jr., a contemporary Renaissance man who unfortunately left us this past October, 2005, traces his family back to two brothers coming to North America from France. He spends most of the book on his Great Grandfather Saswe (b. 1816), a Sioux holy man and leader, and his Grandfather Tipi Sapa (b. 1853), a Sioux holy man, leader, and Episcopal priest. He also describes his father's work, Vine Deloria, Sr., also an Episcopal priest.

This is an excellent work which reveals the real world of Sioux life -- one which changed radically with the advent of the Europeans. He describes a saga of how his family, with his people, found ways to survive in a new world that was thrust upon them.

Those who like this book should definitely read Deloria's "The World We Used to Live In."

4.0 out of 5 stars This is an important book, January 19, 2009

By 

Chandira (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Singing for a Spirit: A Portrait of the Dakota Spirit (Hardcover)

This is an important book, and a must-read I'd love to see in all American classrooms one day.

Tipi Sapa and Saswe were important figures in the history of the First People, and this book continues some of the important themes and history touched on in Bury My Heart.