Vine Deloria, Jr. (born 1933) is a Native American author and activist.

Biography

A member of the Standing Rock Sioux, Vine originally sought to be a minister like his father and received a degree from the Lutheran School of Theology after graduating from Iowa State University. Deciding that he could do more good for other native Americans as a lawyer, he went on to earn a law degree from the University of Colorado. From 1964 to 1967 Vine was executive director of the National Congress of American Indians . He is involved wih many Native American organizations, has been a board member of the National Museum of the American Indian since 1977 and has taught political science at several universities. His first and most famous book, Custer Died for Your Sins , first published in 1969, is an "Indian Manifesto" attacking treatment of Native Americans by the government and by anthropologists. His attacks against anthropologists were taken seriously enough that the American Anthropological Association sponsored a panel concerning his book and many sacred artifacts and human remains have been returned to tribes as a result of his raising the issue. Deloria has written and edited many subsequent books, focusing on many issues as they relate to Native Americans, such as education and religion.