In the cold winter of 1858, a boy was born near Redwood Falls, Minnesota.  He was given the name "the pitiful last" because his mother died shortly after his birth.  Hakadah, his Santee Dakota name, would grow up to become a respected physician, lecturer, and author. Eleven years after the Dakota War, the young man now known as Ohiye S'a (or Ohiyesa) would convert to Christianity and adopt the name Charles Eastman. 

Eastman would graduate from Beloit College, Dartmouth, and Boston University, where he earned his M.D. and became the "first" Native American physician.  Following his graduation, Eastman and his wife settled in South Dakota just before the (trigger warning: violent content, death) Massacre at Wounded Knee. He became the Pine Ridge reservation physician and provided medical treatment to the massacre  survivors. 

Later, Eastman would settle in New Hampshire and serve as the Native American advisor to the Boy Scouts.  He traveled widely and lectured about Native cultures. Articles, such as this one from La Opinion (Los Angeles) in 1933,  acknowledge Eastman's contributions to helping non-Native people understand the first peoples of North America. His birthplace even became part of a local legend.  

In 1902, Eastman published his first book Indian Boyhood. He went on to write many books including:  From the Deep Woods to Civilization: Chapters in the Autobiography of an Indian in 1916, The Raccoon and the Bee Tree (a children's book), Old Indian Days, Wigwam Evenings: Sioux Tales Retold in 1928, Indian Scout Talks: A Guide for Boy Scouts and Campfire Girls, My Canoe Trip Among the Northern Ojibwe, and The Soul of an Indian.

Eastman, Ohiye S'a, died in 1939 and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Detroit.

How can you incorporate first hand Native American authors into your ELA lessons? What value to they have in presenting a picture of life during the Reservation Period? What stereotypes may Eastman have contributed to and why do you think he may have done it (refer to Dartmouth portrait)? 

Learn more about Ohiye S'a's life: 

Lakota Museum and Cultural Center

Hood Museum at Dartmouth

National Museum of the American Indian

Minnesota Historical Society

Boston University School of Medicine

National Library of Medicine

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