My Life as an Indian

A fascinating memoir of a white man who gained access to the private lives of the Blackfeet Indians.First published in 1907, My Life as an Indian is the memoir of J. W. Schultz’s life as a young white man among the Piegan Blackfeet in the Montana Territory. Inspired by the journals of Lewis and Clark and George Catlin’s depictions of Indian life in his paintings, Schultz journeyed to the American West in search of adventure and became a trapper and trader. However he stumbled into a completely new and inspiring world when he met the Blackfoot tribe, and he soon settled into their lifestyle. During his time with the Blackfeet, Schultz married a Blackfoot woman named Natahki.In this firsthand account of a life and culture that many were not privy to at the time, Schultz paints a stunning portrait of a people he admired, revered, and came to live among. He exposes elements of everyday life in the tribe’s encampments such as child rearing, food preparation, war parties, and the tanning of buffalo hides. He illuminates religious and burial ceremonies, and takes readers on the thrill of buffalo hunts and into the heart of battle against neighboring tribes.Now prefaced with a new introduction, My Life as an Indian continues to hold unsurpassable insight that makes it still relevant today. It is a memorably honest and readable portrayal of one outsider’s view of Native Americans from a time when most still regarded these remarkable people as simple savages.Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

“A rip-roaring yarn and a dazzling glimpse into a vanished past.” —The New York Times“James Willard Schultz was a master of storytelling in the Indian manner.” —John C. Ewers, author of The Blackfeet: Raiders on the Northwestern Plains“A sensation-creating volume.” —St. Petersburg Times, “A rip-roaring yarn and a dazzling glimpse into a vanished past.” —The New York Times“James Willard Schultz was a master of storytelling in the Indian manner.” —John C. Ewers, author of The Blackfeet: Raiders on the Northwestern Plains“A sensation-creating volume.” —St. Petersburg Times

J. W. Schultz (1859–1947) was an author, explorer, and historian known for his historical writings of the Blackfoot Indians in the late 1800s, when he lived among them as a fur trader. In 1907, Schultz published My Life as an Indian, the first of many future writings about the Blackfeet that he would produce over the next thirty years. Schultz lived in Browning, Montana.