In 1976, along with other British youngsters of his generation, the author left home to embark on a university degree in French language and literature. Like most of his peers, he set off in search of life experiences, and wisdom gleaned from human interaction. He was just getting started. He was stepping into the light.

In the words of John Lennon, however, life is what happens to us while we are busy making other plans. A deep fascination with the indigenous peoples of North America, stemming from early childhood, developed into a passion, and one which in spite of his best-laid plans changed the course of his life forever.

Against a background of political struggles driven by extreme poverty, broken federal treaties, and deep corruption within the tribal government, Richard Green builds an enduring relationship with prominent Oglala Lakota elders who, in 1973, had invited American Indian Movement activists to Wounded Knee on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to protest against a legacy of state violence and unaddressed historical trauma.

Poignantly, the ensuing 71-day AIM occupation took place on the site of the brutal massacre of over 250 Lakota by the United States 7th Cavalry in December 1890.

Green's journey highlights the transformative power in our lives of the people we meet—inspirational figures like Chief Frank Fools Crow, John Trudell, and Russell Means.

Wisdom cannot be taught, and is not inherited from a parent, teacher or tutor. It is the result of a personal journey through our own mistakes. Acquiring an authentic vision of the world requires walking our own path, embracing our own unique scars and summits, and experiencing life for ourselves. It is the lives we encounter along the way that make life worth living, and we become the sum total of the people we have known.