Truth.History.Humanity.
"I Am a Man": Chief Standing Bear's Journey for Justice
The harrowing story of a Native American man's tragic loss of land and family, and his heroic journey to reclaim his humanity.
In 1877, Chief Standing Bear's Ponca Indian tribe was forcibly removed from their Nebraska homeland and marched to what was then known as Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), in what became the tribe's own Trail of Tears. One third of the tribe died on the grueling march, including Standing Bear's only son.
"I Am a Man" chronicles what happened when Standing Bear set off on a six-hundred-mile walk to return his son's body to the Ponca's traditional burial ground. It chronicles his efforts to reclaim his land and rights, culminating in his successful use of habeas corpus to gain access to the courts and secure his freedoms.
This is a story of survival that explores fundamental issues of citizenship, constitutional protection, and the nature of democracy. Joe Starita's well-researched and insightful account bring this vital piece of American history brilliantly to life.
A Warrior of the People: How Susan La Flesche Overcame Racial and Gender Inequality to Become America's First Indian Doctor
A Warrior of the People tells the inspiring story of Susan La Flesche Picotte, the first Native American doctor in U.S. history. In 1889—decades before women could vote or Native Americans were granted citizenship—she became the sole physician for over a thousand patients across 1,350 miles of Omaha land. Facing poverty, disease, and deep prejudice, she broke barriers of race and gender to serve her people with compassion and strength. Joe Starita’s biography honors her remarkable life and enduring legacy in public health.
The Dull Knifes of Pine Ridge: A Lakota Odyssey
Joe Starita tells the triumphant and moving story of a Lakota-Northern Cheyenne family. In 1878, the renowned Chief Dull Knife, who fought alongside Crazy Horse, escaped from forced relocation in Indian Territory and led followers on a desperate six-hundred-mile freedom flight back to their homeland. His son, George Dull Knife, survived the Wounded Knee Massacre and later toured in Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show. Guy Dull Knife Sr. fought in World War I and took part in the Siege of Wounded Knee in 1973. Guy Dull Knife Jr. fought in Vietnam and he became an accomplished artist.
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Starita updates the Dull Knife family history in his new afterword for this Bison Books edition.
SONG FOR THE BOOKS
SONG: “Voices of the Earth”
(Inspired by “I Am a Man,” “A Warrior of the People,” and “The Dull Knifes of Pine Ridge”)
Verse 1:
I heard the wind cry through Nebraska’s plains,
A father walks alone through the weight of pain.
Six hundred miles of silence and bone,
To lay his son down where spirits call home.
He said, “I am a man,” with tears in his eyes
Not asking for mercy, but for truth to rise.
A voice once silenced now breaks through stone
A nation must answer what it’s never owned.
Chorus:
These are the voices of the earth,
Rising from ashes, proving their worth.
From the Ponca fields to Pine Ridge skies,
They carried the truth where freedom lies.
Hear them whisper, hear them stand,
For every heart that says, “I am a man.”
Verse 2:
She healed the sick with trembling hands,
Crossed every border they said she can’t
.A woman, a warrior, a doctor of souls,
Breaking the chains they said were her role.
Through fever and fear, she found her way,
Teaching the world what love can say.
Her stethoscope was a symbol of peace,
A promise that pain would someday cease.
Chorus:
These are the voices of the earth,
Rising from ashes, proving their worth
.From Omaha hearts to London’s land,
They carry the truth in every hand.Hear them whisper, hear them stand,
For every soul that says, “I am a man.”
Bridge:
Through the Dull Knife blood and the tears that fell,
Through the echoes of Wounded Knee’s shell
They painted the sky with the color of fight,
Turning the darkness into light.
Final Chorus:
These are the voices the world must hear,
Of loss, of love, of courage clear.
From the prairie wind to the city stone,
They remind us we’re never alone.
The earth remembers, the heart understands —We rise as one and say, “I am a man.”
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By Sam Collins
Dull Knife Book Reviews
The Miami Herald
“No superfluous sentimentality impedes this saga: It moves across the pages with an immediacy that belies its century-plus timespan…The Dull Knifes of Pine Ridge is a story of raw endurance and of a passion for the honorable freedom of mind, heart, and body.”
The Boston Globe
“This is a living, heartbreaking account of four generations of a Lakota Sioux family…A truly fine book rich in historical and personal detail of a family and a people.”
I Am a Man: Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice Reviews
Ian Frazier
“The painful, moving, inspiring, and important story of Chief Standing Bear has found a worthy chronicler in Joe Starita. This excellent book is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of the West, or of America.”
Joseph Marshall
“I Am a Man,” Joe Starita’s account of Ponca Chief Standing Bar’s search for justice, is a compelling story that needed to be told, and one that all Americans should read. Standing Bear’s perseverance resulted in a legal shift in white America that was a far-reaching benefit for all native peoples, and Joe Starita has told the story with sensitivity and rare insight.”
A Warrior of the People Reviews
Irene Bedard
A Warrior of the People recounts the life of Susan La Flesche with the esteem and honor she deserves as America’s first Indian doctor. Joe Starita weaves an intricate, in-depth look into the mind, heart, and soul of this indomitable true medicine woman and I would recommend it to all for its integrity and delicate humanity.”
Suzan Shown
In a literary landscape awash in portraits of Native peoples from male perspectives – from Custer to Sitting Bull, from Comanche warriors to Buffalo Soldiers – this extraordinary story offers something else: What was it like to be an Omaha and Ponca woman in the late 1800s, navigating the collision between Manifest Destiny and Native nations and cultures? How do you become a doctor of Western medicine when white male America declares that the stress of college renders women infertile? How does it feel to be alone on the prairie, saving lives and wondering if you will die an old maid? If you’re looking for a taut, haunting, inspiring, honest narrative that answers these questions – and richly showcases a strong Native woman leaning in a century before the term existed – look no further.”