Preface

Summary

I fell under the spell of American Indian autobiographies some thirty years ago. I found hundreds of them, and I read them all. But it was the early as- told- to autobiographies that I found most intriguing, the autobiographies of non- literate tribesmen and women: Black Elk, Two Leggings, Black Hawk, Yellow Wolf, Pretty- Shield and many, many others. They tell remarkable stories: Yellow Wolf 's role in the Nez Perce War of 1877, Two Leggings’ raids, Pretty- Shield's stories of moving camp, Wolf Chief 's suffering for spirit powers, Plenty Coups’ rise to chiefdom, Apache raids into Mexico, stories of torture and enslavement, Geronimo's vengeance, Maxidiwiac's careful tending of her crops. There are stories of Kwakiutl and Arikara raids that recognize no boundary between the real and the spirit world.

Then I discovered street- gang autobiographies. Many of these, too, are as- told- to autobiographies, and I began to see that they were in many other ways like the early American Indian autobiographies. And then it occurred to me to see what autobiographies have been collected from tribes outside of North America. There are far fewer of these. One day I would like to find out why this is so. But for the moment, let me say that the chapters that follow are based on my reading of all the oral tribal autobiographies, all the North American Indian autobiographies and all the street- gang autobiographies— all, that is, that considerable effort has discovered to me.

I can only hope that these autobiographers, and the warrior cultures that produced them, will prove as fascinating to others as they are to me.

I would like to thank first of all the long list of amanuenses— anthropologists, sociologists and other enthusiasts— who have taken down these all narratives and edited them for later generations. They have built up a treasure trove.

I would also like to offer thanks to those who have helped me with this work more personally: the late Donald Bahr, Kathy Blee, Chris Boettcher, Chris Donnorummo, Russel Durst, Robert L. Gale, John Hagedorn, Norm Hummon, Arnold Krupat, Oommen Mammen, Josephine Metcalf, Eithne Quinn, Ravinder Reddy, James B. Richardson, Rich Scaglion, Eric C. Schneider, Michael West and Paul Zolbrod commented helpfully on all or part of this work in its various stages. Dan Everett has been especially helpful, as a prop, a guide and an inspiration.