Red Cloud was an Oglala Lakota warrior and chief who led Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors in battles against wasichus, or white men, seeking to colonize the Plains. Written in Red Cloud’s fictionalized first-person voice, this book recounts the unfair treaties proposed by the U.S. government, the necessary development of battle strategies by the Plains Indians, and the Lakota victory against the U.S. Army at the Fetterman Battle/Massacre—a victory that halted the advance of the Army and led to the Indian Peace Commission and the establishment of reservations. Red Cloud disagreed with Native leaders who signed treaties, but after years of resistance he came to believe that surrendering to the U.S. government was the only way to prevent “the complete destruction” of the Lakota people and way of life. Not all Lakota agreed with him when he accepted the terms of the government’s treaty that saw the Lakota settled in the Black Hills (land that would later be taken from them). The illustrations that accompany this compelling account of a controversial chief imitate the Lakota ledger-art style. Photographs and well-chosen quotations are distributed throughout, and additional information is provided in an author’s note. The author is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. (Ages 8-12)

“Readers will appreciate this complex look at Chief Red Cloud, who under duress, unimaginable trauma, and starvation made a difficult choice.” —School Library Journal (starred review)

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.

“An impressive amount of information movingly and handsomely conveyed.” —Kirkus Reviews (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.” —Booklist (starred review)