My People the Sioux (Inscribed First Edition)

Inscribed First Edition of this extraordinary memoir by one of the most notable American Indian writers of the late 19th century and early 20th Century -- Chief Luther Standing Bear (Ota Kte.) An Oglala Lakota (eventually hereditary chief of the tribe), Luther Standing Bear was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation in Dakota Territory in the late 1860s in the era of the plains wars. His life experiences intersected with numerous projects to acculturate Indians in the late 19th century and 20th century. He was a student in the first graduating class of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, a performer in the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, and a cast member and consultant in Hollywood movies. Yet he also absorbed and transmitted elements of traditional culture and the book includes an account of the Ghost Dance. Inscribed by Chief Luther Standing Bear to a previous owner on the front endpaper. In the inscription, Standing Bear refers to his opportunity, during his Carlisle years, to work at the fabled John Wanamaker Department Store in Philadelphia, a subject to which he devotes a chapter in the book. The inscription is to Walter Cox, longtime buyer for Wanamaker. Cloth, 288 pages, illustrated. The book has a previous owner name (not Walter Cox) inked on the half-title page, otherwise minimal sign of previous use. The dust jacket is price-clipped and has edge wear including tiny chips at the edges of the spine and the fore-edge corners.…