the Soul of Indian: An Interpretation

First published in 1911, ‘The Soul of the Indian: An Interpretation’ was written by Charles Alexander Eastman, a physician, writer, and social reformer. The text represents Eastman's attempt to examine and explain Native American history and spirituality as it was before European settlement.Eastman was of Santee Dakota, English, and French ancestry. After working as a physician on reservations in South Dakota, he became increasingly enthusiastic about politics and issues on Native American Rights, he worked to improve the lives of youths and founded thirty-two Native American chapters of the Young Men's Christian Association. He also helped found the Boy Scouts of America. He is considered the first Native American author to write American history from the Native American point of view. He was ‘one of the most prolific authors and speakers on Sioux ethnohistory and American Indian affairs’ in the early 20th century.