Bestselling author Joseph Marshall III was born on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota where he was raised by his maternal grandparents. He is a historian, motivational speaker, and Lakota craftsman. One of the major cultural clashes between white people and Native Americans has been their very different views of the natural world. The former have seen it as a commodity to be dominated whereas the latter have seen it as a relative, a living entity. Marshall notes that his grandmother never referred to her property as "my land" and instead believed that she and her husband belonged to the land. That spiritual perspective is miles away from owning, controlling, and profiting from the land.
The author charts the concerted effort by the government to destroy the ancient Lakota connection to the land through attitude, policy, and action. He salutes the reverence his people have for the land and animals; he also takes a look at rituals designed to cope with times of trouble and times of celebration. In chapters on the drum, the ability to adapt, and coexisting with the earth; we see the shape and heft of Lakota tradition.
