Born March 26, 1933 in Martin, South Dakota, on the border of the Pine Ridge Reservation, Vine Deloria Jr. died November 13, 2005 due to heart complications. Deloria was a leader in Native American rights, writing over 20 books, including bestseller, "Custer Died for Your Sins: And Indian Manifesto," in 1969.
"His leadership [as executive director of the National Congress of American Indians] marked a major turning point in federal Indian policy that continues to benefit Indian tribes and communities today," an NCAI statement affirmed. A descendant of the Yankton Sioux prophet, Saswe, Deloria stood on the executive committee of the Episcopal Church, and was labeled as one of Time Magazine’s 10 most influential theologians. He was working on a book about the miraculous deeds of Indian medicine men, which will be issued by Fulcrum Publishing in the spring of 2006, titled "The World We Used to Live In."
