Washaka the Bear Dreamer.

Washaka the Bear Dreamer

Jamie Lee

Many Kites Press

3907 Minnekahta Drive, Rapid City, SD 57702

0972900241 $12.95 226 pages 1-800-486-8940 www.manykites.com

"Washaka the Bear Dreamer: A Lakota Story Based On Leon Hale's Dreamr" is an engrossing new Lakota story based on a recurring series of dreams experienced by Leon Hale. He enlisted the help of Oglala Lakota College teacher Jamie Lee to commit the story of his dreams to novel form. The effort is so successful the reader cannot put the book down. The effort of communicating and sharing the story also helped Leon Hale to recover from life-threatening health crises. This is a beautiful story of cross cultural friendship and the necessity of the races learning to get along. It contains a heartfelt record of a collision of cultural values and the failure engendered even between dominant culture members by a loss of respect and esteem for one another. In the book, Little Chief rescues a white boy from torture and beating by his father because of a dream he had of finding a wounded white bear. Little Chief is surrounded by Lakota family who carefully teach him the sacred way to honor his dream with his life. He follows his dream even though it finally costs him his life at the hands of the Others, leaving behind his new wife and little daughter. "Washaka the Bear Dreamer" is a visionary work whose heart is the lesson of compassion. There is not a single flaw or false start in this book. It makes me very proud to be a part of the audience who will appreciate "Washaka the Bear Dreamer" by Jamie Lee.