I am torn how I feel about this book. As a story it is incredible- well written, interesting characters, and a great story. My unease comes from factors outside of the book.
When I purchased the book, I didn't know it was the third part to a trilogy, that the author was a white guy, and that it was fiction. I had also purchased Vine Deloria Jr's Custer Died for Your Sins, which I was reading at the same time. In Vine's book, one of the points he continually makes is about how white folks continue to see Indians only as they want to see them- mystical, wise, etc and how white folks write most Indian books.
In the midst of Nerburn's book, one scene involves the scamming of a Indian shop owner who is selling sacred plants. I won't spoil the book, but a scene a few sections later Nerburn is lectured about how white folks are constantly trying to steal the Indian's story to make a profit and how nothing is sacred, but is open season for white folks.
This is where I became torn- Nerburn, a white guy, is writing a fictional, albeit historical book, on a mystical figure in Dan surrounded by mystical happenings throughout the book to make a profit. So, how is he different than the shop owner he describes? How is he not yet another white guy painting a picture of how Indians ought to be in order to sell more books?
This is where I was torn as a half Cherokee who also happens to be reading a book by an Indian criticizing how whites often treat Indians and Indian cultures.
Again, the book was so good that I purchased the first one, but I did struggle throughout simply because it was a fictional book taken from real moments. It was still fiction though. ( )

An excellent story told from a non-Native American about the need to respect the similarities and differences between cultures and how those diverse cultures intersect in mystifying ways. ( )

A very beautifully written and thought provoking book - centered around a search for information regarding the young sister of a tribal elder. The young sister was placed in the Hiawatha Asylum for Insane Indians (a real facility in Canton, South Dakota. "Yellow Bird" never left. Contained in this story are sections with very moving environmental messages.. The tone of this book varied from depressing, humorous, historical, and infuriating. ( )

Thought provoking. Will have to reread later after I have thought about it for awhile. ( )

Not since Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux by John G. Neihardt have I read a book that touched my heart in this way. Many years ago, why my children were young, I brought home a copy of Black Elk Speaks that I had found in a second hand books store and it wouldn't let me leave without it. Since that days, so long ago we have probably purchased six other copies, one for each of my children, and two or more for lending.. one to stay home. I have lost count. This will join the battered copy of that book on my shelf, the one where the books live that will always stay with me. This book, The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo: A Child, an Elder, and the Light from an Ancient Sky by Kent Nerburn is a life changer, a spirit toucher, a heartbreaker. This is a story, and it is a truth.

Why do these books touch me is so strong a way? I don't know, as in this lifetime, I have not walked in the shoes of any but a white woman, but somewhere in the past, in a lifetime long ago, I think I knew. For this reason, I think I can also hear the ring of truth in words spoken, or written. I found this book waiting patiently for me on a list of Vine books, and I knew it had to be mine.

You will read the story of Yellow Bird, her family and her her ancestors, and her gifts. This is a story of how gifts are passed, how elders remember and why. This is a story of the world the way it was meant to be, not what we have twisted it into.

Recommended. ( )