I found the narrator to be unreliable. He often contradicted himself, and he glossed over information that presented himself in a negative light. He would spend a chapter or more detailing a relationship or occurrence that he claimed had a great meaning and impact in his personality development (like his Japanese family, or his relationship with Kamook), and then gloss over MAJOR aspects that are very important signifiers of his characters with a few throwaway sentences assuring the reader that this is not a big deal.

For instance, he glosses over never returning or attempting to return to Japan and the family he abandoned there. He glosses over the fact that he was in his 30s and Kamook was 16 when they started their relationship, and she was pregnant by age 17. He glosses over the fact that Kamook was so disturbed by Banks and his actions that she eventually became an FBI informant.

I mean, he mentions that all these things happen ... in a sentence or two. He doesn't go into depth, he just basically says, "Oh, yeah, and this happened, but it's not a big deal, just ignore the impact of it," and then goes on to continue explaining what an awesome rebel he is.

And he contradicts himself in other ways, too -- he says, for instance, that at Wounded Knee the people they were keeping captive "wanted" to stay with them (though he doesn't expand on that or give names). Then, later, he mocks their testimony against him in the trial. So ... they were willing captives who testified against him? That doesn't make sense. Also, he quotes the trial transcripts from memory, rather than actually replicating the record.

His personal bias and self-perception as a hero is evident throughout the text. He ignores things like the fact that his foisting of one specific cultural religion as "the" Native tradition perpetuated the erasure of many local Native traditions. He may have saved the Lakota religion and language, but at what cost? How many smaller tribal language and traditions were steamrolled into obscurity by his quest to consolidate all Native Americans under one banner?

The history of the American Indian Movement probably isn't as sugarcoated as Bank's biography suggests it is. I'm still thankful for the work he and the other members of the movement put in to ensure that American Indians such as myself have at least a shot of making a future for themselves.

There's so much more that needs to be done, so let's get out there and change the world.

This is an amazing biography and story; one of the best that I've read. Not only is the tale told exceptional in and of itself, but it is beautifully told. The experience is enhanced by the various forms of documentation: direct quotes and pictures.

You feel for the cause of the American Indian Movement whether or not you are a member, whether or not you are and American Indian. This book is inspirational.