CHEYENNE MEMORIES by JOHN STANDS IN TIMBER AND MARGOT LIBERTY - 1967

New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1967., 1967. First edition. First edition. 8vo. Cloth, decorations and titles stamped in red on front cover and spine, xv [blank], 330 pp., acknowledgments, introduction, illustrated from photographs, portraits, maps, bibliography, index. This oral history of the Cheyenne Indians from legendary times to the early reservation years is a collaborative effort by Cheyenne tribal historian John Stands In Timber and anthropologist Margot Liberty. "Stands in Timber was born in 1882, a few years after his grandfather was killed in the Custer battle. In this book he recounts tribal myths and sacred rituals, conflict with traditional enemies and whites, and eventual “civilization” and settlement on a reservation. The retelling of Cheyenne traditions formed an important part of Stands in Timber’s life from early childhood, and on his return from school in 1905 he became the primary keeper of the oral literature of his people, seeking out every elder who could contribute personal memories to Cheyenne lore. In 1956 he met Margot Liberty, then an Indian Affairs Bureau teacher, who helped him tape-record more than thirty hours of recollections. From these she compiled this unique and lively folk history, one based on a longtime inside view that can never be duplicated." Fine in dust jacket with minor wear to the extremities and evidence on the upper rear panel of the removal of a small label.