Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions (Enriched Classics)

A review by Daniel A. Brown©2010 Daniel A. BrownThis book, published in 1972 about a contemporary Lakota elder and holy man was co-written by an unlikely source. Born in 1912 in Frankfort, Germany; Richard Erdoes was a shy, lonely kid, finding solace in nature and loving American Indians thanks to Karl May, who was famous in Europe for writing fantastically vivid Western epics.Fleeing Hitler, Erdoes re-settled in New York City, but found himself traveling to the wide open prairies of South Dakota, which filled him with a sense of peace. It was only a matter of time before he came into the company of Lakota spiritual elders, one of whom, John Fire Lame Deer, decided that he wanted Erdoes to write a book about his life and Lakota traditions. And so they began, at a time when Native Americans were finally emerging from their own Dark Ages of having their culture suppressed. "Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions" is the result of this collaboration.The story is narrated exclusively by its namesake and the old guy is a hoot. Profane, hilarious, sacred and profound, he destroys every stereotype about not only grim, unsmiling stoic Indians, but also grinning, antiseptic New Age "teachers". Raised on the Rosebud reservation right after the turn of the century, he began life as an angry, if not, imaginative rebel who refused to accept his humiliating station in life. Early in his story, Lame Deer describes this mad car-stealing spree in which he hijacked several Model T's in the middle of a South Dakota blizzard while "drunk as a boiled owl", one of the colorful metaphors that Lame Deer peppers his language with.Sent to a reformatory, he learned a trade and after a stint as a sign painter, rodeo clown, peyote-church worshipper, tribal cop, and sheep herder; all described in nuances that suggest an indigenous Garrison Keillor, he finally settled down into what he decided was his true mission in life, namely, "Being an Indian".A major portion of the narrative concerns the explanation of Lakota rituals and spiritual world-view that are most likely well-known to any informed reader. But these sections are not what make this tale unique. It is more about Lame Deer observing how the secret threads of life operate differently from the linear pattern we have come to expect: Go to school, get a job, get married, move up the ladder of material success, and then retire.Lame Deer looks at this differently, the result of his own erratic life. "The `find-out'", he explains, "It has lasted my whole life. In a way I was always hopping back and forth across the boundary line of my mind." He identifies with artists because they are the "Indians of the white world". Meaning, they are the dreamers and visionaries who see the spirit realm and usually have trouble navigating the "Green Frog Skin World", the colorful adjective referring to Lame Deer's term for money. Lame Deer understands only too well what a corrupting influence the Green Frog Skin has had, not only on his own people, but on humanity at large."Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions" might seem dated in the present culture of Indian casinos and New Age megabucks but it is an excellent bridge between the current and the traditional as well as a shrewdly entertaining read. Both Lame Deer and Erdoes have passed away but their book is a fitting tribute to the integrity of both men and their unusual partnership.Daniel A. Brown is a writer, artist and photographer living in Greenfield, Mass. His artwork can be seen at [...].

If you read this book, make up your mind to not just see the words from your own current point of view, but to see the truth in them. It is not hard, Lame Deer gives you simple, clear easy to "get" stories with his own intelligence and wisdom full of meaning, but with no trickery or pretense. I could easily feel what his words conveyed, even the looking- in- the mirror feel at his description of the white race's life choices, as that uncomfortable, squirmy feeling took over. But I let it, in order to know the truth behind that door that held reality in all it's glory and ghastliness which is the only way anyone can ever really know life. We must know and face the real truth about ourselves on an individual level to find peace and meaning to life and then we can know and respect others. We have a long history of not doing this. We live in denial even more than we are even aware of, but we don't have to and it's not hard to make that small yet large change. You will see that Lame Deer speaks this way. He does not portray his self as without faults, weaknesses and warts. His words are clear and honest and he tells some very humorous accounts of his adventures-I was laughing out loud in some sections where he told of his exploits that reminded me of my grandfather's own tales of what he did as a younger man. Let this book touch you. It is not preachy, but you will learn things. I highly recommend it to all.

Tahca Ushte (Lame Deer) was a Lakota medicine man from a land now known as South Dakota ("Sioux" is a white name that insults the Lakota). His government-issued name was John Fire. He was born some time between 1895 and 1903, and died in 1976. His parents were of the last generation to be born wild and free. Two of his grandfathers had been at the battle of Little Big Horn, Custer's last stand, and one of them survived the massacre at Wounded Knee.Lame Deer's early years were spent in a remote location, where they had no contact with the outside world. He never saw a white man until he was five. At 14, he was taken away to a boarding school, where he was prohibited from speaking his language or singing his songs. The class work never went beyond the level of third grade, so Lame Deer spent six years in the third grade. He eventually gained renown for being a rebellious troublemaker. When he was 16, he went on a vision quest, and discovered that he was to become a medicine man.Sons destined to become medicine men were often removed from school by their families, because schooling was harmful to the growth of someone walking a spiritual path. One father drove away truancy officers with a shotgun. For medicine men, the skills of reading and writing had absolutely no value.When Lame Deer was 17, his mother died, and the family fell apart. The white world was closing in, making it hard for his father to survive as a rancher. He gave his children some livestock and wished them good luck. By that time, the buffalo were dead, their land was gone, many lived on reservations, and the good old days for the Lakota were behind them.Lame Deer straddled two worlds, the sacred path of Lakota tradition, and the pure madness of the "frog-skinners," -- people who were driven by an insatiable hunger for green frog-skins (dollar bills). The frog-skinners were bred to be consumers, not human beings, so they were not fun to be around.Lame Deer spent maybe 20 years wandering. He made money as a rodeo rider, clown, square dance caller, potato picker, shepherd, and so on. He always avoided work in factories or offices, "because any human being is too good for that kind of no-life, even white people." He enjoyed many women, did more than a little drinking, stole a few cars, and shunned the conventional civilized life.Between jobs he would return to his reservation and spend time with the elders. During World War II, just before Normandy, he was thrown out of the Army when they discovered that he was 39, too old. Soon after, he abandoned the frog-skin world and became a full time Indian, walking on the sacred path of a medicine man.For the Lakota, the Black Hills were the most sacred place in their world. To retain possession of them, they surrendered much of what became Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas. The treaty declared that the Black Hills would remain Indian territory "for as long as the sun shined." Soon after, whites discovered gold in the Black Hills, and flooded into the holy lands with drills, dynamite, whiskey, and prostitutes. The Lakota were horrified by the behavior of these civilized Christians.The frog-skinners exterminated the buffalo, and replaced them with livestock. Buffalo were beings of great power and intelligence. They even had a sense of humor. Lame Deer said that if buffalo were used in bullfighting, the cocky matadors would promptly be trampled and gored into extinction. Cattle were dullards that had the power bred out of them. Sheep and goats would stand calmly while you cut their throats.To provide additional vegetation for the dim-witted livestock, the prairie dogs had to go. Ranchers launched an intensive poisoning campaign that also killed more than a few children and pets. With the prairie dogs gone, there was far less prey for the wolves, coyotes, bobcats, foxes, badgers, hawks, and eagles. A diverse, thriving prairie ecosystem was replaced with monocultures of destructive sub-intelligent exotic species.Sheep were amazingly frail. They often fell over, with their feet in the air, and couldn't get back up again. If the shepherd didn't rescue them, they would bloat up and die. Lambs often had to be hand-raised because their mothers didn't recognize them or feed them."There was great power in a wolf, even in a coyote. You have made him into a freak -- a toy poodle, a Pekingese, a lap dog. ... You have not only altered, declawed, and malformed your winged and four-legged cousins; you have done it to yourselves. ... You live in prisons which you have built for yourselves, calling them homes, offices, factories."In the 1880s, the Indians of the west were in despair, and the Ghost Dance movement was spreading from tribe to tribe. It was a grand magic act intended to bring a new world into existence via sacred song and dance. The dead would come back to life, the buffalo herds would return, the whites would get sent back home, and the civilized world would be rolled up like a dirty old carpet -- the cities, mines, farms, and factories. This would reveal a healthy unspoiled land, with many teepees and animals, as it once had been.Dancers were not allowed to possess things from the white world: liquor, guns, knives, kettles, or metal ornaments. They would dance for four days. Whites feared an armed uprising, so they attacked the dancers. Hundreds of unarmed Indians were murdered at the Wounded Knee massacre.The magic dancing did not succeed, but today many can see that a great healing is badly needed. Obviously, the madness cannot continue forever. Lame Deer was clear: "The machine will stop." He said that a young man would one day come who would know how to turn it off. "It won't be bad, doing without many things you are now used to, things taken out of the earth and wasted foolishly." We will have to learn how to live more simply, and this will be good for one and all.Lame Deer asked Richard Erdoes to help write his story, to pass along important information. He included several chapters describing the sacred culture of the Lakota. He wanted hold up a mirror for us, to give us a different perspective, to feed a sane voice into our lost and confused world. "We must try to save the white man from himself. This can be done if only all of us, Indians and non-Indians alike, can once again see ourselves as part of this earth."Richard Adrian ReeseAuthor of What Is Sustainable

Highly recommend.

Muy interesante la vida de este hombre y un libro ideal para conocer un poco más la historia del pueblo americano.

Cadeau pour mon mari , il parrait que c'estun shaman trés connu .... bon livre a recommanderbonne lecture mes amis

Sehr gut und billig, hab das Buch mal vor 28 Jahren auf Deutsch gelesen, und bin sehr froh es wieder gefunden zu haben.

As I read this book I felt I was being taken along a journey by an old Indian. Here, in Lame Deer's book, we have an old Indian who is willing to take the reader on a journey of what it was like to be an Indian many years ago and how the values and skills known to this Native American race have been eroded through oppression and discrimination. This is not a book about self-pity or loathing or anger. In fact one gets the sense of a generous spirit who is trying to talk to and counsel humankind in the benefits of caring for the Earth that gives us life and sustenance. Lame Deer takes us on a journey that gives us glimpses of himself as he goes through his life. He makes no claims to being from a greater race or creed than anyone else but one gets the sense that spiritually he is far more advanced than the White Man who came to convert and 'civilise' the Red Man.There is also humour throughout the book, Lame Deer's own individual sense of humour that is both generous and accommodating of difference. I have marked several passages in this book to go back to. I was going to write a few of them in here but I think the best thing I can do is to direct you to the book itself. It's worth reading, even if only to make friends with an old Indian.