Ghost Dancer

Ghost Dancer is an absorbing novel about values, choices, relationships, and tradtions as seen through the eyes of Charlie Red Cloud, a Lakota Sioux from South Dakota. In the book, Charlie and his brother Tom have been estranged for many years. When the tribe´s beloved healer and storyteller Star Flower (their blood Aunt) is murdered, Charlie and Tom have to make choices in their relationship as brothers. The murder of their Aunt must be solved. Charlie and Tom find themselves in the center of the gripping drama that overtakes their lives and overshadows the tribe. This book was written with respect for the oral history and stories of great storytellers whose stories go back far into time. But the oral history and stories must be told, fanciful and true, to allow cultures to not only project their stories but to come to an understanding between bands of brothers and sisters. The earth is one being and unless we see beyond our own turfs and communities, we will not understand each other.Writing this book has been a joy for me. For this, I thank my professors from Edgewood College-Madison Wisconsin who first introduced me to a variety of books written by Native Americans. The books and works by Native American have languished far too long in small libraries and obscure book stores. They deserved recognition much sooner.I have written a story, a fictional story. The characters are part of my imagination. But many of the places and people mentioned in this story do exist. The stories are as true to the cultures which developed them as any oral stories ought to be. The stories not only tell us of times gone by, but give us the gift of knowing who we are and who they are. If we don’t know where we have come from, we will have little to guide us in the future. The informaton and time shared with many Native Americans and writer friends was essential in my development as a writer of this book, Ghost Dancer.May my writings promote the exploration of the oral and written literature of Native Americans. The works of Native American writers represent only a portion of the excellent writing available about traditional and values found in stories and novels. Their symbolism, learnings, and beliefs are their strengths. I can only be a shadow in their spirits.Allene Joyce-August 2007