Sat-Okh

Sat-Okh (c. 1920 – July 3, 2003), also known as Stanisław Supłatowicz, was a soldier in the Polish Resistance during World War II and a celebrated children's author. He claimed to be Polish-Shawnee and to have grown up in Canada among Native Americans and was an important figure in the Polish "indianist" movement.

Early life

Stanisław Supłatowicz claimed to be a son of a Polish mother and Shawnee father, born in Canada and reared among his father's people.^[1] In late 1930's Sat-Okh and his mother moved to Poland. Because Supłatowicz, as a Native American, did not have a Canadian citizenship, he had to create a birth certificate to gain the Polish one. In order to do it his mother changed some of his data to hide his Native American origin.

Military career

Stanisław Supłatowicz joined the Polish resistance movement during the German occupation. He was arrested by Gestapo in 1940 and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, but he escaped from the train transport to the camp. Then Sat-Okh joined the Home Army, where he gained a nickname Kozak because of his bravery and fighting style based on making traps. During World War II Supłatowicz earned several medals, including the Cross of Valour. After the war he was arrested and imprisoned by communist regime for his affiliation to the Home Army. After his release Sat-Okh enlisted in the Polish Navy, where he served for six years.

Literary career

Under the name Sat Okh, Stanisław Supłatowicz published several autobiographical novels for children in Polish, which were translated into several European languages. The books describe a boy's childhood and coming of age among the Native American tribe in the Northwest Territories in the 1930s, but contain many descriptions of Native American life and customs more appropriate to an earlier time and other geographical locations.

Sat Okh died in Gdańsk on July 3, 2003.

Works

• Ziemia słonych skał (The Land of Salt Rocks) (1958)
• Biały mustang (White Mustang) (1959)
• Dorogi skhodyat'sya (Roads Merge) (in Russian with Antonina Rasulova) (1973)
• Powstanie człowieka (The Emergence of Man) (1981)
• Fort nad Athabaską (Fort over Athabaska) (with Yackta-Oya) (1985)
• Głos prerii (Sounds of the Prairie) (1990)
• Tajemnica Rzeki Bobrów (The Mystery of Beaver River) (1996)
• Serce Chippewaya (Chippewa's Heart) (1999)
• Walczący Lenapa (Fighting Lenapa) (2001)

See also

• Grey Owl
• The Education of Little Tree

Notes

1. http://www.iwoman.pl/podroze/piata-strona/czolnem;przeplynela;ciesnine;beringa;od;smierci;w;tajdze;uratowal;ja;wysoki;orzel;joanna;lamparska;odkrywa;najbardziej;romantyczna;historie;swiata,12,0,1312780.html

References

• Like A Hero Going Home, Sat Okh – A novel based on the true story of Sat Okh, the Shawnee of Black River, Stephen Glantz, Susanna Lea Associates.

External links

• "Sat-Okh Museum in Poland"
• "Sat Okh"
• Works by or about Sat-Okh in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• A docummentary and an interview about life of Sat-Okh
• Story of Sat-Okh's family (Polish)
• An internet research on life of Sat-Okh
• Literary heritage of Sat-Okh
• Biography of Sat-Okh
• Museum of Sat-Okh