Dakota Philosopher: Charles Eastman and American Indian Thought Book

For the month of July I read Dakota Philosopher: Charles Eastman and American Indian Thought by David Martinez, a professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. This book examines the life and legacy of Charles Eastman, a physician, philosopher, and American Indian rights activist during the late 1800's and the early part of the 1900's. Eastman is often- and as Martinez argues, unfairly - labelled as an "assimilationist", a term which refers to individuals who encouraged the adoption of anglo-european values and modes of life and the repression of traditional Native American ways of life. However, one of the principal aims of this book is to paint a portrait of Eastman as being highly influential in the development of American Indian intellectual thought, and as well in helping promote indigenous rights and a broader understanding of Indian views.



Eastman lived through a period of immense change for the Sioux people. As a young boy, living very much a traditional lifestyle, he experienced the U.S. Dakota War of 1862, which separated him from his father and exiled his family to Canada. Later in life, after graduating from Dartmouth and Boston University, he witnessed first hand the aftermath of the Massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890, an event which impacted him deeply. During his lifetime he also did extensive work with the YMCA, toured as a popular lecturer, and co-founded the Society of American Indians alongside other known Indian scholars. Martinez asserts that despite his ability to integrate and succeed in the context of anglo-european culture, Eastman's perspective, expressed through his lectures and writing, was decidedly indigenous. This ability to interact with a broadly european cultural and political landscape, while maintaining indigenous values before such a drastically changing context is one of the reasons Eastman's contributions to Indian thought is so relevant.


This book relates to my year of service in two distinct ways. First of all, many of the events described in the book take place in Minnesota, and particularly, in what is now Saint Paul. In its own way, this book adds to my ever growing understanding of the rich historical and cultural context in which I am serving. Second of all, Eastman's ability to not only strike a balance between two sometimes radically different cultures, but to even successfully synthesize the complementary elements of each, compels me to consider my clients who come from immigrant and refugee backgrounds. Like Eastman, they are forced to come up against needing to adapt to different value systems and ways of living, while at the same time wanting to hold onto the values and practices that have gone into the formation of their personal and cultural identity.