Circle Walker

Description

The story of Luke Benson, otherwise known as Circle Walker, concerns the plight of Native Americans in general, but, in particular, the Lakota Sioux resident on the Pine Ridge Reservation of South Dakota. This novella draws attention to the conditions of abject socio- economic deprivation in which they are expected to subsist in the US. Conditions which have recently been to some limited extent observed in the media by the resentment felt by Native Americans for the government’s alleged neglect in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The history of Luke Benson raises further questions of current and universal interest concerning racial prejudice, the Black Lives Matter Movement, and the dangers inherent in the American establishment’s repeated attempts at ‘red-white’ assimilation. The essential issue being how to achieve complete and meaningful racial equality while at the same time preserving the integrity of ethnic cultural identity and authenticity.