Born and raised on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, Albert White Hat Sr. has lived there his entire life, teaching in the Lakota Studies Department at Sinte Gleska University for more than 25 years. As the grandson of Chief Hollow Horn Bear and member of the Aske Glu wipi i tiospaye, he continues to promote education and awareness for his people in the 21st century while maintaining a traditional way of life. Life's Journey--Zuya is his second book, following Reading and Writing the Lakota Language (The University of Utah Press, 1999).

John Cunningham lives in Boulder, Colorado, with his wife, Cindy, and his daughter, Catherine. He is an avid hiker and is happiest outdoors.

"Significant . . . both as a religious study and a historical study. It is much more accessible than most other books on this topic."--Tom Grayson Colonnese, University of Washington

"Immeasurably valuable. Its narrative text is anecdotal in style and presentation, it puts you within the locale or setting very directly, and the sounds, sights, conversation, and activities are experienced ­intimately. I feel and sense Lakota people and others have been waiting for ages for this book. I personally have. With his ­talent and indigenous sense of scholarship, Albert has composed a book that will go a long way to setting the record straight on indigenous knowledge as a whole."--Simon J. Ortiz, Arizona State University

"Life's Journey is part history, part language instruction, and part biography, and through it all is the strong first-person narrative of story and tradition carefully crafted and preserved through the editing efforts of John Cunningham."
--North Dakota History

"An excellent writer whose keen understanding is brightened by his humility, [White Hat] shares the wisdom and beauty of the blended Lakota culture and spirituality: origin story, family system, gender roles, songs and music, ceremonies and medicine men. A valuable book for any spiritual seeker."
--Light of Consciousness