A haunting dream that will not relent pulls author Kent Nerburn back into the hidden world of Native America, where dreams have meaning, animals are teachers, and the “old ones” still have powers beyond our understanding. In this moving narrative, we travel through the lands of the Lakota and the Ojibwe, where we encounter a strange little girl with an unnerving connection to the past, a forgotten asylum that history has tried to hide, and the complex, unforgettable characters we have come...

A note is left on a car windshield an old dog dies and Kent Nerburn finds himself back on the Lakota reservation where he traveled more than a decade before with a tribal elder named Dan. The touching funny and haunting journey that ensues goes deep into reservation boarding-school mysteries the dark confines of sweat lodges and isolated Native homesteads far back in the Dakota hills in search of ghosts that have haunted Dan since childhood. In this fictionalized account of actual events N...

A biography and history of the Native American chief, his people, and their forced exodus at the hands of the US government."Nerburn deftly records a dark chapter of forced diaspora and forgotten promises—as engrossing as a novel." — People"A remarkable job of research in telling the thus far untold story of Chief Joseph—the mythical hero, the real man. It is a poignant, touching tale." —Howard Zinn, author...

A tale of compassion and redemption from an award-winning author whose writing Louise Erdrich has praised as “storytelling with a greatness of heart”Winner of the 2026 Reading the West Book Award for FictionDuring the drought-stricken summer of 1950, two Lakota boys, ages eleven and six, huddle in a boxcar hurtling through the prairie night as they run from a government agent sent to take the younger boy to an Indian boarding school. But wh...

Ohiyesa, a Dakota Indian also known as Charles Alexander Eastman, is one of America's most fascinating and overlooked individuals. Born in Minnesota in 1858, he obtained postgraduate degrees and advised U.S. presidents before returning to traditional living in native forests. This reissue contains Ohiyesa's insights on spirit, the human experience, and white culture's impact on Native American culture.

How can individuals live a life of forgiveness in a world so full of injustice and indifference? This haunting question spurred author Kent Nerburn to write Calm Surrender. As he recounts the experiences of people who have suffered much and asked for little, he takes readers on a moving journey, urging them to remember that "forgiveness cannot be a disengaged, pastel emotion."

Seldom does a book come along that speaks to the core issues of life with such clarity and wisdom. This profound book is deeply informed by the spiritual traditions of the West, the Far East, and the Native Americans, with whom the author has worked. It is a small treasure of wisdom about life’s deepest issues.From the Book . . .ON EDUCATION & LEARNINGThe true measure of your education is not what you know, but how you share what you...

The teachings of the Native Americans provide a connection with the land, the environment, and the simple beauties of life. This collection of writings from revered Native Americans offers timeless, meaningful lessons on living and learning. Taken from writings, orations, and recorded observations of life, this book selects the best of Native American wisdom and distills it to its essence in short, digestible quotes — perhaps even more timely now than when they were first written. In addit...

In twenty elegant pieces writer sculptor and theologian Kent Nerburn celebrates the daily rituals that reveal our deeper truths. A companion piece to Kent Nerburn's book Simple Truths Small Graces is a journey into the sacred moments that illuminate our everyday lives. Through the exploration of simple acts he reminds us to chart a course each day that nourishes the soul honors the body and engages the mind. Small Graces asks us to observe life's quiet rhythms the subtle shifts in percepti...

At once spiritual and practical, Letters to My Son has been beloved by readers from all walks of life, including single mothers seeking guidance in raising a son, fathers looking to share a voice of clarity about life’s most important issues, and young men wanting an intelligent, sensitive, and streetwise companion on the journey toward a worthy manhood. In this twentieth anniversary edition, Kent Nerburn adds to his classic reflections on love, marriage, travel, money and wealth, tragedy ...

Joseph, Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, Black Elk, Ohiyesa, and many others share their insights on Native American ways of living, learning, and dying. There is something archetypal about the philosophy of the original Americans, especially to the sensibilities of modern European Americans. We recognize it as coming from the earth we walk on, from those who preceded us. As we read the wisdom of these peoples, it is possible to feel a reconnection with our land and ourselves. Taken from orations,...

What do we tell our children about forgiveness? There is a dilemma that faces us all when we walk the complex and difficult path of life. Everywhere we look, the world seems awash in unspeakable cruelties. The list is endless, and, with every revelation, the caring heart breaks a little more. What are we to do? How do we deal with cruelty and evil in this world when we are taught to turn the other cheek and to forgive not seven times, but seventy times seven? How do we acknowledge the dark...