I recently spent a few days at the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. It was truly refreshing to witness tribalism in action.

While giving an Indian friend a ride, he commented favorably on My Ishmael that was lying on the dashboard. He also told me that your books are several of his relatives’ favorites.

I was wondering how big is your Native American following and how much of your knowledge of tribalism come from Native Americans.

I know I have a Native American following, but there’s really no way to know how big it is. I know that Ishmael is or was used at one Native American university, but I can’t now find it on the “schools” list on the website (though it may be there).

Since tribalism in North America was effectively destroyed before the birth of modern cultural anthropology, most of my understanding of it has had to come from studies of aboriginal peoples in other parts of the world.

NOTE: The school is indeed on our schools list:  Sinte Gleska University, on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.

ID: 660
posted:
updated: 17 Oct 2003