Brave Wolf and the Thunderbird is based on a story recounted by Joe Medicine Crow in All Roads Are Good: Native Voices on Life and Culture (Smithsonian Institution Press and NMAI). Grandson of a scout who rode with Custer, Mr. Medicine Crow was a highly respected elder, storyteller, and historian of the Crow people. The first member of his tribe to graduate from college, he earned an M.A. in anthropology. Mr. Medicine Crow was a World War II combat veteran, teacher, writer, and lecturer, who lived most of his life in his native Montana.