A Boy Called Slon-Ha

He was the only son born to his Hunkpapa Sioux parents and the source of considerable pride for them. It was an honor for his parents to have been blessed by the birth of a son and he would continue to bring honor to his parents and himself in later years as well. He would become a mighty hunter, a great warrior, respected holy man and a revered leader of his people.

It was the year 1831, the Winter-when-Yellow-Eyes-Played-in-the Snow, in March, the Moon-of-the-Popping-Trees, that the boy came quietly into this world. The lodge, where he was born, was on the south bank of the Ree River at a...