Award-winning Sicangu Oglala Lakota author and historian, Joseph M. Marshall III, PhD, is one of the most prolific Native writers in the United States. Raised by his maternal grandparents in a traditional Native household on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, he has written eighteen historical fiction and nonfiction books and narrated his own audio books. His work is informed by his background as a Lakota craftsman, who makes his own Native Lakota bows and arrows; a skilled archer; and specialist in wilderness survival. The accounts of real historical figures along with the events that he experienced on the reservation and heard as a child from his grandparents and their generation of oral storytellers also figure prominently in his books. His Native name, given to him at age five, is Ohitiya Otanin, which means "his courage is known." Marshall's accomplishments include co-founding Sinte Gleska University on the Rosebud Reservation; teaching; public speaking; mentoring of indigenous youth; and serving on the Board of Directors of Lakota Youth Development, Inc. He has been a teacher at the high school level and a professor at several colleges and universities, where he taught Native culture, Lakota language and history. He often lectures and speaks on Native issues and topics. In 2022 he received Crazy Horse Memorial(R) Foundation Educator of the Year Award for his lifelong leadership in education and the impact that he continues to make on Indigenous youth and communities. Marshall has served as a cultural and historical consultant and technical advisor on films, television series and documentaries. He appeared as an actor in the television mini-series "Return to Lonesome Dove" and "Into the West" as well in documentaries and film. In 2023, he received the Owen Wister Award by Western Writers of America for lifetime contributions to Western literature and was inducted into the Western Writers Hall of Fame. "Smokey River Suspense Series" marks his first foray into contemporary fiction and is based on current issues facing the Lakota people. He resided many years in Santa Fe. However, he has returned to the Native lands where he was born.
