Grandpa Was a Cowboy and an Indian and Other Stories

by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve

Book Overview

"'Grandpa, ' I quietly asked, 'how come when you talk about the past, you say you were a cowboy and an Indian?' I sensed the regret in his short laugh when he answered, 'Cause I was both and both ways are gone forever.'"

With great imagination and vigor, award-winning Lakota storyteller Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve treats readers to a collection of her best stories. She first spins tales of Lakota and Dakota generations today, of what the youngest can learn from their elders, if they choose to listen. The second group of stories, set in the turbulent and tragic years of the nineteenth century, teaches the need for understanding across cultures. The collection ends with spellbinding ancient Sioux tales about the birth of the universe, the deeds of legendary beings, and an unforgettable story about Old Woman, whose quill work maps out the end of the world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803293003
• ISBN13: 9780803293007
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Length: 116 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Must Read

If read for the wrong reasons, it is possible to come away from this book with the wrong impressions. It may further codify and substantiate the stereotypical understanding of "Indianness" that an inexperienced reader may bring. Yet, it is a valuable, well written collection of stories, ringing truer than anything in Silko's "Storyteller." Sneve's "The Medicine Bag" alone tells more about contemporary Indian life than anything written by Alexie and without his extraneous sexual references.

Great!

When I first read the title of the book I thought it was going to be boring...I was wrong! This book is very interesting and wonderful.