"This volume has withstood the test of time. . . . Eastman provides insight on every page and much of his focus is on the religious practices and beliefs of the Native Americans."—Roundup
“Like his Dakota ancestors, Eastman was a thinker and a diplomat. He offered up this book and others as a warriors’ feast, even as he could have dissolved into rage and silence. Instead, he chose paper and pen. The Soul of the Indian concludes with a complex interpretation of Dakota and Ojibwe people, possibly more than Americans were prepared to understand at the time of its publication. Eastman wrote in a deceptively simple hand, with a subtle plea for justice for American Indians. He concludes with a beautiful story of goodwill and peace, the moral subtext of The Soul of the Indian. As Eastman exhorted his readers, American Indians held ‘a unique character among the peoples of the earth’ so that when Americans reflect on Indians, ‘let that remembrance be just.’ This was his warriors’ feast.”—from Brenda Child’s introduction