I’m happy to announce that my second book was recently published by the University of Nebraska Press. Special thanks to editor Matthew Bokovoy, editorial assistant Heather Stauffer, and the entire UNP staff for all of their help and professionalism during the past several years in shepherding this project to completion.
The book is entitled Welcome to the Oglala Nation: A Documentary Reader in Oglala Lakota Political History. The UN Press website for the book is here. The Amazon page for the book is here.
Clocking in at nearly 300 pages from start to finish, the book is composed in three parts.
Part I is a forty page narrative essay that traces the political history of the Oglala Lakota people from the 14th century to the near present day. The Oglalas are the largest of seven groups that make up the Tituwan Lakotas, better known as the Sioux (“Sioux” is a French mangling of an Anishinaabe [Ojibwa] word). During its imperial heyday in the early-mid 19th century, the Lakota empire, with the Oglalas leading the way, covered much of the northern Great Plains. Since the late 19th century, Pine Ridge Reservation in southwestern South Dakota has been the Oglala homeland, although they and other Lakota and Dakota nations continue the fight to regain their sacred He Sapa (Black Hills).
Part II is the largest chunk of the book, tallying 165 pages. It is a collection of sixty historical documents that I selected and edited with an eye towards illustrating Oglala political developments during the past several centuries. These documents are what Historians refer to as primary sources, the records of the past that we consult to write history.
I chose these sixty documents from among thousands. They come from a variety of sources, ranging from newspapers accounts to government records to oral histories. Some were drawn from previously published collections, and some come from archives, such as the National Archives or the wonderful archive at the Woksape Tipi (library) of Oglala Lakota College on Pine Ridge Reservation. The OLC library is run by Michelle May and the archive is run by Tawa Ducheneaux. Many thanks to both of them for being so helpful and welcoming during my research trips there.
Part III of the book is a bibliographic essay. It cites and discusses the most important works published on the topic of Oglala Lakota political history.
The book also features a beautiful map created by Pat Guiberson, various appendixes, an index, oodles of annotations, a glossary of Lakota language names and terms, a brief discussion about why I use Lakota names instead of English translations (eg. Tasunka Witko instead of “Crazy Horse”), and an Introduction wherein I cogitate on the topic of writing American Indian History: how it’s been written in the past, all the problems with that, and the many new ways in which it is being written today.
The book cover’s centerpiece (seen above) is a sign one may encounter when entering Pine Ridge Reservation. The logo at the center of the sign is the same one that appears on the flag of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The photograph of the sign, which UN Press elected to use for the book’s cover shot, was taken about 10 years ago by some hack who was driving around the country in his beige VW Golf, before he totaled that chunky vehicle while leaving campus one day.
As of right now, Welcome to the Oglala Nation is available in hardcover and as a kindle e-book. Hopefully there will also be a paperback edition down the line.
I would like to thank everyone who helped make this book possible, too many people to name here. And special Pilamayayelo (Thank You) to the people of the Oglala Oyate (nation), whose story I sought to tell and illustrate. Please know that I present this book to you with humility, and I apologize in advance for any errors I may have made.
I began this website five years ago to support a book project I was working on about the decline of communities in America. My work on Welcome to the Oglala Nation actually pre-dates my work on the community book; I began working on the communities book in 2007, and began working Welcome to the Oglala Nation as far back as the late 1990s in some respects, and in earnest beginning in 2005.
The communities book, which people still ask me about from time to time, is an ongoing project. Hopefully it will see the light of day at some point in the future.
In the meantime, The Public Professor website continues plodding on, with a different purpose and scope than originally conceived. Accordingly this site will be getting a redesign in the new year. Stay tuned.