Frank Fiske was a young boy in 1890 when he moved to Fort Yates on Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, where Sitting Bull was being held in a form of house arrest. He observed the confrontation of two chosen people. The whites believed they had the right to take Indians land as their manifest destiny. Wovoka, the Indian Messiah, declared Indians were the chosen people and would be saved when all whites were eliminated from earth and Ghost Dancing followed. The story presents Sitting Bulls anger over the notion of American exceptionalism, experienced as profound condescension. He saw broken promises and treaties and these were supported by court decisions and congressional action, adding supposed legitimacy to repeated degradation. Frank Fiske met the great chief and had respect for him throughout his life. This book is the story of the Sioux based on Fiske's personal knowledge of them and their memories, augmented with additional carefully selected historical material. Fiske lived with the Sioux and became a leading Indian photographer. His accounts of major events, such as the confrontation following the Minnesota Sioux uprising of 1862 and the story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, include recollections from Sioux who were involved or had relatives involved whom Fiske encountered. He recorded the stories they recalled in two books and numerous articles in two regional newspaper columns over the years, as well as personal notes maintained in the eight cubic feet of documents maintained by the North Dakota Historical Society that the author relied on as his main sources. The story of the Sioux is interwoven with the story of the early years in the life of the multitalented Fiske, who attended school at Fort Yates with Indian children. He entertained soldiers, cowboys, and Indians by playing the violin, worked as a steamboat cabin boy and helped in the army posts photograph studio. Photography proved to be his specialty and when still in his teens, he opened his own commercial studio. His appreciation of Native American culture led him to photographing the Sioux. Fiske's photographs feature prominently in this book and his photographic techniques are explained.
Frank Fiske was a young boy in 1890 when he moved to Fort Yates on Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, where Sitting Bull was being held in a form of house arrest. He observed the confrontation of two chosen people. The whites believed they had the right to take Indians land as their manifest destiny. Wovoka, the Indian Messiah, declared Indians were the chosen people and would be saved when all whites were eliminated from earth and Ghost Dancing followed. The story presents Sitting Bulls anger over the notion of American exceptionalism, experienced as profound condescension. He saw broken promises and treaties and these were supported by court decisions and congressional action, adding supposed legitimacy to repeated degradation. Frank Fiske met the great chief and had respect for him throughout his life. This book is the story of the Sioux based on Fiske's personal knowledge of them and their memories, augmented with additional carefully selected historical material. Fiske lived with the Sioux and became a leading Indian photographer. His accounts of major events, such as the confrontation following the Minnesota Sioux uprising of 1862 and the story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, include recollections from Sioux who were involved or had relatives involved whom Fiske encountered. He recorded the stories they recalled in two books and numerous articles in two regional newspaper columns over the years, as well as personal notes maintained in the eight cubic feet of documents maintained by the North Dakota Historical Society that the author relied on as his main sources. The story of the Sioux is interwoven with the story of the early years in the life of the multitalented Fiske, who attended school at Fort Yates with Indian children. He entertained soldiers, cowboys, and Indians by playing the violin, worked as a steamboat cabin boy and helped in the army posts photograph studio. Photography proved to be his specialty and when still in his teens, he opened his own commercial studio. His appreciation of Native American culture led him to photographing the Sioux. Fiske's photographs feature prominently in this book and his photographic techniques are explained.