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= Charles_Eastman =
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Introduction
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Charles Alexander Eastman (February 19, 1858 - January 8, 1939, born
Hakadah and later named Ohíye S'a, sometimes written Ohiyesa) was an
American physician, writer, and social reformer. He was among the
first Native Americans to be certified in Western medicine and was
"one of the most prolific authors and speakers on Sioux ethnohistory
and American Indian affairs" in the early 20th century.
Eastman was of Santee Dakota, English and French ancestry. After
working as a physician on reservations in South Dakota, he became
increasingly active in politics and issues on Native American rights.
He worked to improve the lives of youths: he founded thirty-two Native
American chapters of the YMCA and helped to found the Boy Scouts of
America. He was an early Native American historian.
Early life and education
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Eastman was named Hakadah at his birth in Minnesota; his name meant
"pitiful last" in Dakota. Eastman was so named because his mother died
following his birth. He was the last of five children of
'Wakantakawin,' a mixed-race woman also known as Winona (meaning
"First-Born Daughter" in the Dakota language), or Mary Nancy Eastman.
She and Eastman's father, a Santee Dakota named 'Wak-anhdi Ota' (Many
Lightnings), lived on a Santee Dakota reservation near Redwood Falls,
Minnesota.
Winona was the only child of Wakháŋ Inážiŋ Wiŋ (Stands Sacred) and
Seth Eastman, a U.S. Army career officer and illustrator, who married
at Fort Snelling in 1830, where he was stationed. This post later
developed as the city of Minneapolis. Stands Sacred was the
fifteen-year-old daughter of Cloud Man, a Santee Dakota chief of
French and Mdewakanton descent. Seth Eastman was reassigned from Fort
Snelling in 1832, soon after the birth of Winona. The girl was later
called 'Wakantakawin.' Eastman left the two there, in Dakota country.
In the Dakota tradition of naming to mark life passages, Hakadah was
later named Ohíye S'a (Dakota: "always wins" or "the winner"). He had
three older brothers (later known as John, David, and James after
their conversion to Christianity) and an older sister Mary. During the
Dakota War of 1862, Ohíye S'a was separated from his father Wak-anhdi
Ota and siblings, and they were thought to have died. His maternal
grandmother Stands Sacred (Wakháŋ Inážiŋ Wiŋ) and her family took the
boy with them as they fled from the warfare into North Dakota and
Manitoba, Canada.
Fifteen years later Ohíyesa was reunited with his father and oldest
brother John in South Dakota. The father had converted to
Christianity, after which he took the name of Jacob Eastman. John also
converted and took the surname Eastman. The Eastman family established
a homestead in Dakota Territory. When Ohíyesa accepted Christianity,
he took the name Charles Alexander Eastman.
His father strongly supported his sons getting an education in
European-American style schools. Eastman and his older brother John
attended a mission then a preparatory school, Kimball Union Academy
from 1882 to 1883, and college. Eastman first attended Beloit College
and Knox College; he graduated from Dartmouth College in 1887. He
attended medical school at Boston University, where he graduated in
1890 and was among the first Native Americans to be certified as a
European-style doctor, a year after Carlos Montezuma (Yavapai/Apache)
and Susan La Flesche Picotte (Omaha/Iowa) earned their degrees.
His older brother John became a minister. Rev. John ('Maȟpiyawaku
Kida') Eastman served as a Presbyterian missionary at the Santee
Dakota settlement of Flandreau, South Dakota.
Medical practice
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Shortly after graduating from medical school, Charles Eastman returned
to the West, where he worked as an agency physician for the Bureau of
Indian Affairs (BIA) Indian Health Service on the Pine Ridge
Reservation and later at the Crow Creek Reservation, both in South
Dakota. He cared for Indians after the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre. Of
the 38 or more victims he treated, only seven died. He later
established a private medical practice after being forced out of his
position, but was not able to make it succeed financially.
He married Elaine Goodale, a teacher from Massachusetts who, after
serving as a teacher elsewhere in South Dakota, had been appointed as
the first Supervisor of Education for the newly divided states of
North and South Dakota. While they were struggling, she encouraged
him to write some of the stories of his childhood. At her suggestion
(and with her editing help), he published the first two stories in
1893 and 1894 in 'St. Nicholas Magazine'. It had earlier published
poetry of hers. These stories were collected in his first book,
'Indian Boyhood'.
Eastman became active with the new organization of the YMCA, working
to support Native American youth. Between 1894 and 1898, he
established 32 Indian groups of the YMCA, and also founded leadership
programs and outdoor youth camps. In 1899, he helped recruit students
for the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, which had
been established as the first Indian boarding school run by the
federal government. Given his own education and career, he favored
children learning more about mainstream American culture.
Writing
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In 1902, Eastman published a memoir, 'Indian Boyhood', recounting his
first 15 years of life among the Dakota Sioux during the later years
of the nineteenth century. In the following two decades, he wrote ten
more books, most concerned with his Native American culture. In the
early 20th century, he was "one of the most prolific authors and
speakers on Sioux ethnohistory and American Indian affairs." He also
became one of the most photographed Native Americans, sometimes
appearing his traditional Sioux regalia and sometimes in Euro-American
clothing.
Historians debate how Eastman and his wife worked together through the
decades of his publishing career. Theodore Sargent, a biographer of
Elaine, noted that Eastman gained acclaim for the nine books he
published on Sioux life, whereas Elaine's seven books received little
notice. According to Ruth Ann Alexander, Elaine is not given enough
credit for his success, although she worked intensively on Charles's
stories as a way both to share his life and to use her own literary
talent as his typist and editor. Carol Lea Clark believes that the
books under Eastman's name should be seen as a collaboration:
"Together they produced works of a public popularity that neither
could produce separately." After the couple separated in 1921, Eastman
never published another book. These views, however, are contested by
other Eastman scholars, who suggest they reflect a bias toward a
European-American influence in Eastman's published works. Some Native
scholars suggest that in fact, there is both content and style in
Eastman's writing that reflects Indigenous techniques.
While Elaine may have helped Eastman edit his work, Ruth J. Heflin
argues that Elaine's later claims that she wrote his works ring false.
She did not make that claim until after Eastman's death. It is likely,
however, that Elaine was her husband's typist; Eastman apparently did
not learn to type. He was reported to have lost his government
position because he could not type his required reports. Other
scholars debate the influence and role Elaine might have played in
shaping Charles’ prose.
Some of Eastman's books were translated into French, German, Czech and
other European languages. They sold well enough to undergo regular
reprints. In the early 21st century, a selection of his writings was
published as 'The Essential Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa)' (2007).
Youth organizations
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Inspired by his writings, Ernest Thompson Seton sought Eastman's
counsel in forming the Woodcraft Indians, which became a popular group
for boys. The New York YMCA asked both Seton and Eastman to help them
design YMCA Indian Scouts for urban boys, using rooftop gardens and
city parks for their activities. In 1910, Seton invited Eastman to
work with him and Daniel Carter Beard, of the Sons of Daniel Boone, to
found the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Luther Gulick also consulted
with Eastman to assist him and his wife Charlotte to develop the Camp
Fire Girls.
With his fame as an author and lecturer, Eastman promoted the
fledgling Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls. He advised them on how to
organize their summer camps, and directly managed one of the first Boy
Scout camps along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. His daughter,
Irene, worked as a counselor at a Camp Fire Girl camp in Pittsburgh.
In 1915, the Eastman family organized their own summer camp, Camp
Oáhe, at Granite Lake, New Hampshire, where the whole family worked
for years. Eastman served as a BSA national councilman for many years.
National spokesman
====================
Eastman was active in national politics, particularly in matters
dealing with Indian rights. He served as a lobbyist for the Santee
Sioux between 1894 and 1897.
In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt assigned Eastman to helping
Sioux (Dakota, Nakota, Lakota) tribal members to choose English legal
names, in order to prevent individuals and families from losing
allotted lands due to confusion over cultural naming conventions and
spellings. Eastman was one of the co-founders of the Society of
American Indians (SAI), which pushed for freedom and
self-determination for the American Indian.
In 1911, Eastman was chosen to represent the American Indian at the
Universal Races Congress in London. Throughout his speeches and
teachings, he emphasized the importance of seeking peace and living in
harmony with nature.
From 1923 to 1925, Eastman served as an appointed US Indian inspector
under President Calvin Coolidge. The Calvin Coolidge administration
(1923-1929) invited Eastman to the Committee of 100, a reform panel
examining federal institutions and activities dealing with Indian
nations. The committee recommended that the government conduct an
in-depth investigation into reservation life (health, education,
economics, justice, civil rights, etc.). This was commissioned through
the Department of Interior and conducted by the Brookings Institution,
resulting in the groundbreaking 1928 'Meriam Report'. The findings and
recommendations served as the basis of the Franklin D. Roosevelt
administration's New Deal for the Indian, including the 1934 Indian
Reorganization Act. This encouraged and supported tribes to establish
self-government according to constitutional models.
In 1925, the Office of Indian Affairs asked Eastman to investigate the
death and burial location of Sacagawea, the young woman who guided and
interpreted for the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805. He determined
that she died of old age at the Wind River Indian Reservation in
Wyoming on April 9, 1884. However, based on a recently discovered
journal of 1812-1813, modern historians believe that Sacagewea died in
1812 as a result of an illness following the birth of her daughter
Lisette at Fort Lisa (North Dakota).
Personal life
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In 1891, Eastman married the poet and Indian welfare activist Elaine
Goodale, who was serving as Superintendent of Indian Education for the
Two Dakotas. From New England, she had first taught at Hampton
Institute, which then had about 100 Native American students, in
addition to African Americans, and at an Indian day school in South
Dakota. She supported expanding day schools on reservations for
education, rather than sending Native American children away from
their families to boarding schools.
The Eastmans had six children together: five daughters and a son. The
marriage prospered at first, and Elaine was always interested in
Indian issues. Eastman's many jobs, failure to provide financially for
the family, and absences on the lecture circuit, put increasing strain
on the couple. In 1903, at Elaine's request, they returned to
Massachusetts, where the family was based in Amherst.
Eastman was traveling extensively, and Elaine took over managing his
public appearances. He lectured about twenty-five times a year across
the country. These were productive years for their literary
collaboration; he published eight books and she published three. She
and Charles separated around 1921, following the death of their
daughter Irene in 1918 from influenza during the 1918 flu pandemic.
They never divorced or publicly acknowledged the separation.
Others have suggested their differing views on assimilation led to
strain. Alexander said the catalyst was a rumor that Eastman had an
affair with Henrietta Martindale, a visitor at their camp in 1921. He
allegedly got her pregnant, after which he and Goodale separated.
Although the paternity of this child, named Bonno by her mother, was
never proven, letters from Henrietta and from Elaine strongly point to
Charles Eastman as the father. The controversies over this child added
to the Eastmans' decision to separate.
Later life
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Charles Eastman built a cabin on the eastern shore of Lake Huron,
where he spent his later-year summers. He wintered in Detroit,
Michigan with his only son Charles, Jr., also called 'Ohiyesa.' On
January 8, 1939, the senior Eastman died from a heart attack in
Detroit at age eighty. His interment was at Evergreen Cemetery in
Detroit. In 1984, the Dartmouth Alumni Club and Eastman biographer
Raymond Wilson donated a grave marker.
Elaine Goodale Eastman spent the remainder of her life living with two
of her daughters and their families in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Goodale Eastman died in 1953 and her ashes were scattered in the
Spring Grove Cemetery in Northampton.
Legacy and honors
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* As a child, Ohiyesa had learned about herbal medicine from his
grandmother. His education in Western-style medicine from medical
school might have enabled him to draw from both sides of his heritage
in practicing as a doctor, but he consistently refused to offer up
fake "Indian potions" or other so-called cures as were often
advertised in the newspapers of the day.
* He was the only Native American person invited to speak at the First
Universal Races Congress in London in 1911.
* His several books document Sioux Dakota culture at the end of the
nineteenth century.
* In 1933, Eastman was the first person to receive the Indian
Achievement Award.
* A crater on Mercury was named for him.
Film portrayal
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*In the HBO film 'Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee' (2007), Eastman was
portrayed at different ages by the actors Adam Beach and Chevez
Ezaneh.
*The Vision Maker Media documentary
[
https://www.visionmakermedia.org/films/ohiyesa 'OHIYESA The Soul of
an Indian'] (2018), follows Kate Beane, a young Dakota woman, as she
traces the life of her celebrated relative, Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa).
Non-fiction
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*
*
* (retitled 'Indian Scout Craft and Lore', Dover Publications). A
1914 reviewer writes, "If one should follow this guide, one would soon
begin to doubt he is a white man".
*
* Also
[
https://web.archive.org/web/20021116110147/http://www.webroots.org/library/usanativ/ihagc000.html
Online at Webroots].
See also
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*Black Elk
*Bone Wars
*Chief Joseph
*Crazy Horse
*Geronimo
*Red Cloud
*Sitting Bull
* List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas
* Native American Studies
* 'I Remain Alive: the Sioux Literary Renaissance'
Further reading
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* Nerburn, Kent, ed. (1999), 'The Wisdom of the Native Americans:
Including the Soul of the Indian and Other Writings of Ohiyesa and the
Great Speeches of Chief Red Jacket, Chief Joseph, and Chief Seattle',
New York: MJF Books
External links
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*
*
*
* [
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/eastman.htm Charles Eastman
(Ohiyesa): links, bibliography]
* [
http://www.worldwisdom.com/public/authors/Charles-Eastman.aspx
Charles Eastman Resource page (bio, photos, bibliography, slideshows,
excerpts, links, etc)]
* [
https://findingaids.smith.edu/repositories/2/resources/916
Eastman-Goodale-Dayton Family Papers],
[
https://www.smith.edu/libraries/special-collections/about/sophia-smith-collection-womens-history
Sophia Smith Collection], Smith College Special Collections.
*
[
https://archives-manuscripts.dartmouth.edu/repositories/2/resources/1839
Charles Eastman papers], MS-829, Dartmouth College Archives and
Manuscripts
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=========
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Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Eastman
