Summary Overview

Charles Eastman wrote his first book, Indian Boyhood, in 1902, for a predominantly non-Indian audience. As a well-educated, highly assimilated Indian, Eastman wanted to describe his youth among his Santee Dakota tribe in positive terms. Throughout his adult life, Eastman was well-aware of his mediating position between Native American people and the general American society. He wanted to expose non-Indian people to some of the positive things about Indian culture, as he does in this excerpt. In some of his other writings, and in much of his work in a variety of positions throughout his career, he also encouraged Native Americans to embrace parts of the general American culture, especially to become American citizens and to pursue education. In this selection from Indian Boyhood, Eastman describes how young boys were educated among his people. They were well-educated, but not in formal schools like white Americans would have considered typical. They were taught by their families, and were taught by listening to stories told by their parents or other elders in the tribe. Much of this teaching was about their spiritual beliefs, and these spiritual beliefs were also connected to many aspects of everyday life. The Santee people believed that many of their customs and ways of life were based on teachings that had been revealed by the spirits that inhabit much of the natural world. Eastman notes that many non-Indians assume that Indian have instinctive or inherited skills as hunters or warriors, but he notes that these skills were taught through careful instruction. He details some of the ways in which his uncle sought to instill in him the habits and behavior that would produce the skills of a hunter and a warrior. Some of this training was somewhat frightening, or was arduous in other ways—but Eastman wanted to please his uncle and be thought to be making progress, so he never complained about the lessons he was being taught.

Defining Moment

Charles Eastman was writing primarily for non-Indian readers, and there was an eager audience among the American people for his books. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, while there was still much prejudice against Native Americans, there was also great interest in learning about their culture. Many people read “dime novels” and other types of popular literature that often did not portray a very realistic account of the lifestyle of the Native peoples—but this does demonstrate at least the interest the reading public had about Indian cultures and lifestyles. Eastman was writing during the era of the “Friends of the Indians” movement, and he himself was a significant figure in this movement, writing in many of the journals associated with the movement, and speaking at gatherings such as the Lake Mohonk conferences where the “Friends of the Indians” gathered to discuss ideas about reform of U.S. government Indian policy. Eastman was well-respected by those involved in this movement, and his writings were well received by the general reading public. It is difficult to know how many Indian people read Eastman’s writing, but he was well-respected by native peoples as well, and many Indians who read his writings probably came from backgrounds similar to how own—well educated in white schools, and somewhat assimilated into the general American culture.

Author Biography

Charles Eastman was born in 1858 (exact date unknown) on the Santee Sioux reservation in southwestern Minnesota. His father was a Santee warrior named Many Lightnings. His mother was the child of a Santee mother and a white father, Seth Eastman, an army officer who later became a prominent artist and illustrator. Since his mother died shortly after he was born, Charles was named Hakadah, meaning “the Pitiful Last” in Dakota. Later, however, he was named him Ohiyesa, which is Dakota for “the Winner.”

In 1862, the Santee tribe rebelled against their mistreatment by the U.S. government. During the fighting, Charles was separated from his family, but was reunited with his father several years later. Many Lightnings had taken the name Jacob Eastman, using the surname Eastman from his wife’s family. He had converted to Christianity, and lived among some Santee homesteaders near Flandreau, South Dakota. When Charles was fifteen, he came to live in this community of somewhat assimilated Indians. Charles spent more than eighteen years attending a variety of schools. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1887, and earned a medical degree at Boston University in 1890. Eastman became a government physician at the Pine Ridge Agency in South Dakota, and was there during the time of the Wounded Knee massacre in December 1890. While at Pine Ridge, Eastman married Elaine Goodale, a white teacher in the reservation schools. During his career, he worked in a variety of positions for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Eastman wrote a total of eleven books, and lectured widely on Indian affairs. He was one of most prominent Indian intellectuals and advocates of the early twentieth century. While he had firmly advocated assimilation for the Native Americans in his early career, in his later years, he argued that Indians needed to maintain much of their unique spirituality and culture. Eastman retired from public life in 1925, and spent the rest of his life living in a cabin near Detroit, MI. He died of pneumonia in Detroit on January 8, 1939.

Document Analysis

In his book Indian Boyhood, Charles Eastman wrote about his life from his early childhood until the time he was reunited with his father and moved with him to a homestead near Flandreau in what is now South Dakota. After the Santee uprising in 1862, Charles had become separated from his father, and many of his extended family believed his father and siblings had all been killed. Charles moved with some Santee families into Canada for a time, to escape the fighting and its aftermath. In what is now Manitoba, they were able to continue their traditional way of life for several more years. Charles lived with his grandmother, and he was taught many of the Santee customs by his uncle, a brother of his father. His uncle was named Mysterious Medicine, although he was also known as “Big Hunter” and “Long Rifle.” Throughout this excerpt, his uncle and grandmother refer to Charles as Hakadah, a name meaning “the Pitiful Last,” given to him because he mother died shortly after his birth. Later, when he was about four years old, Charles represented his band in a sporting contest against another band, and when he was victorious, he was given the name Ohiyesa, meaning “The Winner.”

This excerpt is chapter six in the book, and the beginning of part two. Eastman wrote about his childhood with a note of nostalgia, for he realized that even Native American youth, at the time he was writing, no longer lived like his people did when he was a child. He wanted to describe the lifestyle of the Santee tribe for non-Indian readers, in order to promote understanding between Indians and whites. In explaining his life as an Indian child, he describes many things that would have been foreign to non-Indian readers, yet he also draws out some commonalities that would resonate with all readers. He also seeks to show how some of the lessons he was taught might have broader application, and were valuable for people of varied backgrounds.

Like most Native Americans, the Santee or Dakota people believed that the world around them was filled with many powerful spirits, and that these affected the lives and fortunes of humans in many ways. The spirits could affect a woman during pregnancy, which would also impact the child to be born. Some of these impacts could be negative and be a danger to the child, but spirits could also impart valuable gifts of insight and power that would benefit a person. Eastman’s writing reflects the intimate connection that native peoples believed that humans have with the natural world. Animals are to be regarded as friends, even though hunting and killing some animals is necessary for the sustenance of the people. He notes that animals were thought of “almost as tribes of people.” Even today, it is common among many Native Americans to hear references to “the buffalo people” or “the deer people.”

The first part of this excerpt deals with traditions and practices related to caring for infants and young children. Of course, Charles did not remember these from his own experience, but he saw how children younger than he were raised. It was believed that what the mother thought about and experienced during pregnancy could impact the character of the child. The mother would sing lullabies about great hunters or warriors while the child was still in the womb. A baby boy would be greeted as a future defender and provider for the people, while a baby girl would be thought to be the future mother of a great people.

Eastman wrote that it was popularly believed, by non-Indians, that the skills that made an Indian boy into a good hunter or warrior were “instinctive and hereditary.” He argues this is not true. Young men were taught these skills, and they mastered them by “continual practice.” He describes many of the ways his uncle taught him. Each day, Charles would report about new birds he had seen—describing their appearance and behavior, and trying to give them the proper name. If he was correct, his uncle would commend him warmly, but would correct him when he was wrong. His uncle often taught him by asking questions—more questions that Charles could ever answer as a youngster—but his uncle did not expect answers, he simply wished for Charles to think about these questions as this would make him more observant. He should learn from the example of the wolf, his uncle said. Even when surprised and fleeing for safety, the wolf would pause and take one more look before entering some safe cover. Learning the habits and characteristic behavior of the animals that are hunted would make one a better hunter. Also, learning how to approach dangerous animals, such as a grizzly bear in its den, would keep the hunter safe.

Some of his uncle’s lessons were arduous and might be fearsome to a young boy. Others were simply frustrating. To teach him to find his way in the woods at night, and not to be afraid of the dark or unfamiliar surroundings, his uncle would send him to a stream to fetch water. But when Charles came back with the water, his uncle would pour it out and send him again—teaching patience and stoicism as well. But Charles did not complain—he wanted to learn these skills, and to show stamina and to prove himself to be brave.

Some of the teachings Eastman describes in this excerpt are simply about proper behavior—to show respect to elders, and to listen to adults without speaking unless invited to reply. When addressing a person, a title or respect or a term of relationship would be used, because direct address was considered improper. Their religion—their reverence for what the Dakota and the related Lakota peoples called “The Great Mystery”—taught them these rules of behavior, and also to be generous in sharing with the poor within the tribe. A young man was not to marry until he had proven that he had the skill as a hunter to provide for his family.

Charles believed he was being prepared for the life of a warrior, and that someday he would be called upon to avenge the death of his father. But as he describes later in the book, when he was fifteen years old, he was reunited with his father. His father had converted to Christianity, and was living as a homesteader in a community with other Christian Indians. His father had taken the name Jacob Eastman (taking the surname Eastman from his mother’s white family). Ohiyesa then became known as Charles Eastman. When Charles went to live with his father, his life was changed dramatically and he began to be more exposed to the lifestyles of non-Indian people.

Essential Themes

Charles Eastman wrote Indian Boyhood in the waning days of the “Friends of the Indian Movement,” and he himself was a prominent part of this movement, speaking often at some of their meetings such as the Lake Mohonk Conferences held in upstate New York, and publishing in the journals sympathetic to the movement. The Friends of the Indians was not a single organization but rather a loose coalition of like-minded people; it began in the post-Civil War era and lasted into the early twentieth century. They were genuinely angered at what they believed was the precipitate violence that was waged against Native Americans in incidents such as the Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado in 1864, and at the Washita Massacre in western Oklahoma in 1868. They advocated what they believed were positive reforms in Indian policy, but they operated from a paternalistic perspective and tended to believe that they, and not the Indians, knew what was best for the native people. They sought three major reforms: more and better schools for Indian children, allotment of reservation land into individual homesteads for Indian families, and citizenship for the Indians. Many Indian parents did want their children to receive more education, but they did not understand that the goal of this education, in that era, was often to stamp out the Indian culture in the hearts and minds of the children. Very few Indians supported allotment, and many bitterly opposed it, and it generally was a disaster that ultimately led to many Indians losing their lands. In the long run, citizenship was a positive reform because Indians could then use the protections of the U.S. Constitution in fighting for their rights, but few Indians at the time saw it as a positive development. By the 1920s, the Friends of the Indians had largely ceased to exist as an identifiable movement, partly because World War I had caused the American people to focus on the war effort and distract them from reform movements in general.

Eastman was also writing in the early days of the Progressive movement. Progressivism was a reform-minded movement that sought to make the government more responsive to the needs of the people, and to protect the small businessman and the consumer from the monopolistic power of big business. Progressives in general, however, did not show much concern for racial or ethnic minorities. There was a small sub-set within the movement known as the “Red Progressives.” This included many Native American people like Eastman himself, and also the Apache medical doctor Carlos Montezuma, and the Winnebago tribal leader and educator Henry Roe Cloud. Both of these men were involved with Eastman in the founding of the Society of American Indians. Some non-Indians among the “Red Progressives” included Wisconsin Senator Robert LaFollette, the western writer Hamlin Garland, and John Collier, a social worker who later became the Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The “Red Progressives” generally believed that ultimately, Native Americans would have to largely assimilate and become a part of the overall American society. Early in his career as a writer and activist, Eastman believed in this goal also, and was himself an example of a highly assimilated, educated American Indian. One writer has called him a “poster child” for assimilation. In his later writings, however, Eastman showed more concern for native peoples maintaining some of their traditional ways of life and their spiritual beliefs and practices.

Because Eastman wrote eleven books, and many journal articles and encyclopedia entries, and made scores of speeches over the years, all dealing with Indian culture, government Indian policy, and seeking to better the relations between Indians and whites, it would be difficult to identify the precise impact of any one of his books. But his first book, Indian Boyhood, was an immediate publishing success. It has been republished many times, and over a century after its first appearance, it is still in print and is still the subject of critical analysis by scholars of Native American history and culture, and by communication scholars studying the genre of autobiography. The book was sometimes used in public schools in the United States, at a time when few white students ever encountered anything written by a Native American author. Eastman became one of, if not the most famous American Indians of his day. All of his books sold well, and several were translated into a few foreign languages and sold widely overseas.

Toward the end of his life, Eastman had doubts about the kind of assimilation and acculturation her had urged Indians to pursue in his earlier writings. Although this book about his childhood does not lend itself to that kind of advocacy, it is interesting to read this book in conjunction with his later memoir of his adult years, From the Deep Woods to Civilization, published in 1916. Eastman lived long enough to see some movement away from the government’s policies that had put a heavy emphasis on assimilating the American Indians, and he played a role in bringing about these changes. In 1923, he was asked to be part of the Committee of 100, a body of influential Americans who were asked to investigate conditions among the Indians and to make recommendations to the government for reform. Many of the problems this group identified were also noted by the Meriam Report published in 1928. This was a report produced for the Secretary of the Interior (the Bureau of Indian Affairs is part of the Department of the Interior) by an independent group consultants led by the social scientist Lewis Meriam. During the tenure of John Collier as Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, many positive reforms were put in place. Collier was a friend of Eastman’s, and believed the Indian people brought many positive things to American society. The disastrous policy of allotment was ended, and Collier directed that efforts should be made to preserve Indian languages and traditional arts and crafts.

Bibliography and Additional Reading