With surprising candor, Archie Fire Lame Deer describes the magic and power of the Native American spirit life. Archie's compelling narrative recaptures his boyhood years under the tutelage of his medicine-man grandfather on a South Dakota farm. We follow him from Catholic school runaway to Army misfit, from bartender to boozer, from Hollywood stuntman to chief rattlesnake catcher of the state of South Dakota. And we exult with him when he comes home to the world of spirit.

Archie's compelling narrative recaptures his boyhood years under the tutelage of his medicine-man grandfather on a South Dakota farm. We follow him from Catholic school runaway to Army misfit, from bartender to boozer, from Hollywood stuntman to chief rattlesnake catcher of the state of South Dakota. And we exult with him when he comes home to the world of spirit, which he describes with candor, magic and power.

"In Gift of Power, Archie Fire Lame Deer continues in the wonderful tradition of life-filled, wise, and humorous teachings established in Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions by his father, the Lakota medicine man John Fire, with the expert assistance of Richard Erdoes, who has also organized and edited the present volume."