Raised by his grandmother as a Woodland Sioux until he was 15, Eastman was educated at Beloit College, Knox College, Dartmouth and the Boston University Medical School where he received his medical degree in 1890.He adopted the name Eastman as a young man after converting to Christianity. He began his medical career with the Office of Indian Affairs that year and served at the Pine Ridge Agency in South Dakota. In the aftermath of the Massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890, Eastman provided medical care to the wounded. He continued to work as a physician in various posts until 1903. His literary career began at the prompting of his wife who urged him to write down his stories for his children. His first published work, Indian Boyhood (1902), was of an autobiographical nature and was popular with adults as well as children. His other works included Red Hunters and the Animal People (1904), Old Indian Days (1907), Wigwam Evenings (1909), The Soul of the Indian (1911), Indian Child Life (1913), Indian Scout Talks (1914), The Indian Today (1915), From the Deep Woods to Civilization (1916) and Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains (1918). Eastman was very active as a lobbyist for Indian rights, a US Indian Inspector, an appointee to the Committee advising President Coolidge on Indian affairs and policy, and also took a role in organizing YMCA facilities on Indian reservations. Eastman also did much to help establish the Boy Scouts based on Indian principles. Eastman was awarded the Indian Achievement Award in 1933. |
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