Charles A. Eastman

Indian Boyhood (Dodo Press) Charles A. Eastman

Dr. Charles Alexander Eastman (Sioux: Ohiyesa) (1858-1939) was a Native American author, a physician and a reformer. He was active in politics and helped in founding the Boy Scouts of America. Between 1894-97, Eastman established 32 Indian groups of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). In 1899, he helped recruit students for the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. He served as a lobbyist for the Dakota between 1894 and 1897. He was also a member of the Committee of One Hundred, a reform panel examining federal institutions and activities dealing with Indian nations. He was the recipient of the first Indian Achievement Award in 1933. Eastman published the autobiographical Indian Boyhood in 1902, recounting his first fifteen years of life among the Sioux during the waning years of the nineteenth century. Amongst his other works are: The Soul of the Indian (1911) and From the Deep Woods to Civilization (1916).