A reviewer states the book is not relevant to TODAY's native peoples. This book is not about today. 2/3rds of the book deals with the Lakota people prior to white intrusion. Ruth Beebee lived with the Lakota for 20 years, wrote the original manuscript in the Lakota language and then rewote it in english. Native people today who condemn the book especally with its acceptance of homosexuality, and other contra-christain attitudes are looking at the book through White values. Maybe not a book for native people, but a book for whites to gain a greater understanding of something of the nonEuropean culture that dominated this land prior to European genocide. (Did the other reviewer actually read the book?)

When I first read this book in 1979 I lived inside its pages and saw the world from the viewpoint of the Mahto for the weeks it took to finish it - and then missed it so badly that I began it again! I live in Ireland but was born in America, and although I am of European extraction I love this book for the spirit of the natural America it evokes, and I want a copy I can pass down to my children. WHY IS THIS BOOK OUT OF PRINT???!!! It is indeed an American classic and one that deserves to be re-issued. It should be required reading in American lit courses.

Hanta Yo is one of the most important books of this century. In her masterpiece Ms Hill achieves no mean feat: she portrays the language, culture, customs, prejudices, fears and humour of a long gone society through the medium of an alien language... and makes them live again for the reader. I first read Hanta Yo almost 20 years ago. In that time I have owned, loaned and borrowed numerous books. The tattered remains of this old paperback on my bookshelf give eloquent testimony to the fact that this is the one book I have always asked to have back - however near and dear the borrower may have been to me. It is a book that should never be out of print!

Gotta love those '70s covers that make every novel look like trash. On the cover of my copy of "Hanta Yo," there's a handsome Native American man holding out a pipe, and over his shoulder stands an upright, proud, and cute woman. On the back cover, the book blurb highlights war and "sexual initiation rites," like it's some kind of North American "Clan of the Cave Bear."

Good news. "Hanta Yo" is not "Clan of the Cave Bears."

Instead, it's like some sort of Native American "Pilgrim's Progress": a book that defines a culture's values by embodying those values in a fictitious character by the name of Ahbleza, a Shirtwearer and symbolic embodiment of Lakota tradition and values. "Hanta Yo" is the story of his life and his band, the Mahto, and his nation's demise in a whiskey rampage at a whiteman's tradingpost.

The book feels like a very authentic depiction of Lakota life in the early 1800s. The level of detail is amazing, showing all aspects of life, from hunting, child-rearing, domestic chores, to correct social graces. But all told from the perspective of Lakota viewpoint, using Lakota expressions and judgement.

What seems most authentic about the book is that, while it obviously is trying to venerate the culture, it doesn't hide the negative aspects of Lakota life. Characters are violent, stubborn, vain, greedy, and full of hatred. Women are severely oppressed, sometimes passed from husband to husband, and have little or no say in tribal matters. Children and animals are roughly treated.

The final scenes of the beginning of the end of the traditional Lakota nation were especially wrenching. As the Lakota drank themselves into a frenzy at a tradingpost, they began to turn crazy, acting like fools and fighting among themselves, raping their own women, and murdering the traders. It was as if they threw away all of their traditions in one orgiastic moment of self-destruction. But more importantly, the book held the Lakota responsible for their own behavior, and, in the end, for their own downfall.

Just finished Hanta Yo, found that it interesting, informative. It provided insight into the thought process and way of life of the American Indian that few other books I have read have done. Will be well worth reading again. Should be required reading for all American Indian youth, especially those of Lakotah, Dakotah and related families. Provides insight into many customs and values worth re-establishing. Excellent book.