Book excerpt: This is the compelling biography of one of the greatest Indians in American history. Historian, author Anna Lewis, herself part Choctaw, not only provides a dramatic chronicle of the Choctaw’s struggle to survive aggression by both Europeans and Americans, but a revealing history of the Choctaws and their picturesque legends. “THE NAME OF THE CHOCTAW CHIEFTAIN Pushmataha heads the list of great chiefs in Choctaw history. This volume is an attempt to serve the double purpose of a biography of Pushmataha and a history of his people during their struggle to survive white aggression, both European and American. The position taken by Pushmataha in this transition period was to accept white civilization as much as possible, yet to remain Choctaw. For this reason, he aided the Americans in the War of 1812 and signed the Treaty of Doak’s Stand. By this treaty he agreed to exchange lands in Mississippi for a large tract of land west, in the present state of Oklahoma. He was a simple, primitive Indian, but he had to deal with land-hungry Americans, who were not simple in their knowledge of the power of flattery and bribery.”—Anna Lewis, Foreword