Vine Deloria, Jr.

Vine Deloria, Jr. (1933-2005) was a respected historian, theologian and American Indian author of more than twenty books regarding the Indian culture. Deloria served as the Executive Director of the National Congress of American Indians from 1964-1967.

Deloria was born near the Lakota reservation in South Dakota, the son of a theologian who went on to be an Episcopalian archdeacon. Deloria's grandfather, Philip Deloria, was an Episcopal priest. Philip Deloria was also the chief of the Yankton faction of the Nakota Nation.

Deloria's first experience with education took place on in a school on a nearby reservation.

Deloria intended to follow in his father's footsteps and in 1963, Deloria received a degree in theology from Lutheran School of Theology in Illinois before continuing on to get a law degree from the University of Colorado in 1970.

In 1969, while Deloria was still in college, he wrote "Custer Died for...