Red Cloud: A Lakota Story of War and Surrender

by S D Nelson (Author)

Red Cloud: A Lakota Story of War and Surrender
Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

An illuminating picture book biography of the Lakota warrior and chief Red Cloud, from award-winning author and illustrator S. D. Nelson

Red Cloud (1822-1909) was a great warrior and chief of the Lakota. Told from his perspective, Red Cloud: A Lakota Story of War and Surrender describes the events that brought him to prominence as a leader of his people and how he came to surrender them to the wasichus (White Man), ending their way of life on the Great Plains.

From the intrusion of white settlers into Lakota territory, to the treaties signed with the U.S. government, and to the many subsequent battles, Red Cloud explains how the Lakota became the only nation to win a war against the U.S. Army on American soil. However, unlike fellow warriors Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, Red Cloud eventually came to accept the inevitable advance of white civilization. He submitted to change and moved his followers onto a reservation. The story concludes with Red Cloud's trip to the East Coast, where he visited New York City and met President Ulysses S. Grant.

Award-winning author and member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe S. D. Nelson reinterprets the nineteenth-century Lakota ledger-art style to give authenticity to the story as he brings to light one of the most controversial members of the Lakota tribe, Red Cloud. Backmatter includes a timeline.

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Hardcover
$19.95

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School Library Journal

Starred Review

Gr 4-6--Chief Red Cloud (1822-1909) is known as an Oglala Lakota leader who acquiesced to the demands of United States and entered into a treaty despite opposition from other Lakota leaders. The treaty forever changed the lifestyle of the Lakota and forced them to relinquish their freedom, homelands, and indigenous ways of being to live on a reservation. The story is told in the first person from Chief Red Cloud's perspective. The text successfully explains what happened on both sides and why Red Cloud took a controversial stance in opposition to other leaders such as Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. Nelson, author of numerous award-winning books, including Sitting Bull: Warrior and Defender of His People, has once again carefully researched, documented, and crafted a nuanced and valuable work of history. Though Red Cloud's story has been told many times before, students will not want to miss out on Nelson's take. The graphics are a combination of 19th-century Lakota ledger art and digitally enhanced sepia-toned period photos. VERDICT Readers will appreciate this complex look at Chief Red Cloud, who under duress, unimaginable trauma, and starvation made a difficult choice. A first purchase for school and public libraries.--Naomi Caldwell, Alabama State University, Montgomery

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

**STARRED REVIEW**
"The story, at once inspiring and sad, is expanded and enriched by Nelson's beautiful ink, watercolor, and colored-pencil illustrations executed in the nineteenth-century Lakota ledger-book style...The result is an excellent volume for both independent reading and classroom use."
— "Booklist"
S D Nelson

S.D. Nelson collaborated with Joseph Bruchac as illustrator of Crazy Horse's Vision and Jim Thorpe's Bright Path. He is also the author and illustrator of many picture book stories inspired by the traditions of his Lakota heritage--including Gift Horse, winner of the Parents' Choice Award, and The Star People, an Oppenheim Gold Award winner. A former middle school art teacher, Nelson is now a full-time artist whose artwork appears on book jackets, greeting cards, and CD covers, and whose paintings are held in both private and public collections. He is of Lakota (Sioux) descent and lives with his wife in Chandler, Arizona. Visit him online at sdnelson.net.

S.D. Nelson is an award-winning illustrator, whose work includes Lee & Low's Crazy Horse's Vision, Jim Thorpe's Bright Path, and Quiet Hero. He is also the author and illustrator of many picture book stories inspired by the traditions of his Lakota heritage--including Gift Horse, winner of the Parents' Choice Award, and The Star People, an Oppenheim Gold Award winner. A former middle school art teacher, Nelson is now a full-time artist whose paintings are held in both private and public collections. He is of Lakota (Sioux) descent and lives with his wife in Chandler, Arizona. Visit him online at sdnelson.net.

Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781419723131
Lexile Measure
880
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Harry N. Abrams
Publication date
March 20, 2017
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF007050 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Cultural Heritage
JNF025200 - Juvenile Nonfiction | History | United States/19th Century
JNF018040 - Juvenile Nonfiction | People & Places | United States - Native American
Library of Congress categories
History
Kings and rulers
Oglala Indians
Red Cloud
Red Cloud's War, 1866-1867
Lakota Indians

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