![[picture of Emory]](../pix/edk.jpg)
RAPID CITY, S.D. – Emory Dean Keoke still remembers the day his uncle Francis Hairy Chin gave him a biography of Red Cloud over 20 years ago. After finishing it, he began reading as many books about American Indians as he could find. His quest for knowledge led him to write the Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World: 15,000 Years of Inventions and Innovations.
Published by Facts on File, Inc. in December, the one-volume encyclopedia contains over 400 entries; mentions 180 tribes and cultural groups in North, Meso-, and South America; and has 20 maps and 72 illustrations. Subject areas include science, technology, medicine, pharmacology, agriculture, environmental science, and metallurgy.
"Before I read the book my uncle gave me and then every book about Indians I could get my hands on, I had no idea of the enormous contributions Indian people had made. It wasn’t being taught in schools," he said.
For over 20 years, he copied facts about American Indian inventiveness into a three-ring binder. "I always asked myself why no one would write an accurate book about the inventions and achievements of Indian people. I finally came face-to-face with the saying, 'If you want something done right, do it yourself,'" he said.
Even though he knew little about the publishing world, he earned a degree in Indian Studies and was determined to write the book. Four years ago he met Kay Marie Porterfield, an author and former Psychology Instructor at Oglala Lakota college. The two teamed up to research and write the in-depth, 400 page A to Z reference marketed to libraries and schools.
Keoke, an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said that from the beginning he knew the book had to be written by an American Indian. "Many non-Indian writers have portrayed Indians either as a vanishing race or noble savages," he said. "American Indians are depicted as alcoholics or as mystical beings with magical powers. I wanted to show the humanity of our ancestors in a realistic light. Our ancestors were very intelligent. They did not spend all their time raiding wagon trains or sitting around campfires. What kept me going all those years was the pride I felt when I read the material I had collected and knowing there was a need for this book."
The book took over two years to complete. “We thought we would write 50,000 words, but the publisher wanted us to come up with three times that,” Porterfield said. “We went into shock because neither one of us had written that much before.”
After the two began working in earnest, the book grew even more. "Emory, who did most of the research, kept coming up with new entries," she said. "Our challenge became figuring out how to include everything we were learning. The material was out there, but it was scattered in hundreds of sources."
At the end of December when he held the finished copy of his book, Keoke, a Rapid City, SD resident, felt both pride and shock. "I felt proud for being able to come up with such a book," he said. "I felt shock because I thought I was not capable of doing something like this. When I started it, I was not a writer, but I had to learn."
When asked if he had any advice for American Indian young people who want to become writers, he said, "Stay in school and get as much education as you can. Many American Indians don’t realize that we all have tremendous potential and that we need to develop and use that potential. It is important to have a dream and not give up on trying to make our dreams come true."
He added, "I think the impact of accurate American Indian history will be long-lasting and far-reaching. My greatest hope is that American Indians, young and old, will get a positive boost to their self-esteem by reading it."
![[book cover]](../pix/aicttwcov.jpg)