Medicine Man and Sundance Chief Thomas Yellowtail (1903-1993) was a pivotal figure in Crow tribal life and one of the most admired American Indian spiritual leaders of the last century. As a youth he lived in the presence of old warriors, hunters, and medicine men who knew the freedom and sacred ways of pre-reservation life. As the principal figure in the Crow-Shoshone Sun Dance religion during the last half of the 20th century, he was important in perpetuating the spiritual traditions of his Crow tribe. Yellowtail’s advice on following the ancient ways in the modern world has inspired many Indians, and many non-Indians as well.
Thomas Yellowtail and Frithjof Schuon first met in Europe, while Yellowtail was traveling there with other American Indians teaching Europeans about their culture and tradtions. These two men visited each other often over the almost fifty years of their friendship, each learning much from the other’s words and comportment. Thomas Yellowtail contributed the “Introduction” to Schuon’s book The Feathered Sun: Plains Indians in Art and Philosophy.
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