Cheyenne Daughter

The Sioux and their allies, the Cheyenne, call the 1800s Plains Wars The Circle of Fire. It proved to be a brutal era for the Cheyenne and the Sioux Nations as the United States Army fought to secure all Indians onto reservations, making room for government interests. Today, these memories continue to haunt the oral histories and the memories of the elders. Now as he travels to basic training, Alfred wears the uniform of his ancestors' former enemy, a member of the new warriors, the 163rd Regiment of the 41st Division, bound for the War in the Pacific. During jungle training in the Sand Hills near Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia, Alfred falls in love with Helene, the daughter of a South Sea Island couple who have horses for hire. The horses connect him to his great horse culture of the "Fighting Cheyenne." In a war torn world, love and horses are an island refuge. On Christmas Eve, 1942, the 163rd departs Queensland for the war in New Guinea. Their daughter, Evelyn Stella, is born while he is there.Because Evelyn Stella's skin is fairer than the skin of other Island children, the community vows never to tell her the name of the American Indian soldier who loved her mother; they are fearful that Evelyn may be whisked away by Australian authorities and placed in an institution to become part of the "Stolen Generation. " Evelyn Stella vows that one day, she will find him. Nearing the end of his life, only Evelyn's Uncle Ben remembers Evelyn's father's name, "His name is Little Sun and he is a Red Indian." The trail leading to Alfred Little Sun has not been easy, but the family never thought of surrendering. It has taken over 59 years for her to kneel at his grave in the Birney Cemetery on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. She is the only daughter of Alfred Little Sun, his Cheyenne Daughter. Theirs a story of secrecy, intrigue, bravery, and honor.