Sundance by Robert Sundance: book review

Sundance: The Robert Sundance Story (1994) is the memoir of Native American Indian Robert Sundance (1927-1993).

Sundance describes his life of alcoholism – from the time it started, to the 25 years living with it, and to his rehabilitation.

He writes of his Sioux roots – he was Lakota Sioux with Irish heritage – and his parents Mary Mad Bear and Henry McLaughlin, and brother Roland. He writes of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.

He was 15 years old in 1942 when World War II started, and he lied about his age to enlist in the Navy, where alcohol was free or cheap. When the Korean war started in June 1950, he was transferred to Korea with the American Air Force.

He writes of the time after the war in Billings, Montana. This is not a pretty picture as he spirals down and describes homelessness, bars, and whorehouses, leading to aimless drifting and causal violence.

Robert speaks openly about the death of many of his friends and relatives from alcoholism, and his experiences with the DTs – delirium tremens– during alcohol withdrawal: the shaking, confusion, nightmares, seizures, and hallucinations. And his many arrests and beatings.

But his life turns around in a remarkable way. The Sundance court case leads to a change in the system, especially the processes of arrest and conviction for public alcoholism.

Simply told, honestly told, it is often uncomforable to read. It’s not well-told and it leaves the reader with questions due to the many gaps in the timeline, but it is a historical point of view that can’t be ignored – especially the court case and its monumental impact on improving a system of inequity and discrimination.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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