"He was one of those wise sages who had the respect of people regardless of race or religion." Thus was Vine Deloria, Sr. described by Bishop Craig Anderson of South Dakota at Deloria's death in 1990. Deloria ministered to Indians and non-Indians, and he was at ease in both worlds.

Vine Deloria, of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, followed his family's tradition of leadership. His grandfather, Francis Deloria, was a chief and medicine man of the Yankton Sioux Tribe. Philip, Vine's father, converted to Christianity and was ordained a priest of the Episcopal Church. He was the founder of the Brotherhood of Christian Unity, an ecumenical movement among the newly converted Sioux men. Vine was an active member of the organization.

Vine, born in 1901, was sent to the Kearney Military Academy, Kearney, Neb., in 1913. There he learned to use English as well as he did Dakota. He also excelled in sports. After his graduation in 1921, he enrolled at St. Stephen's College, Annandale, N.Y., where he earned an honorable mention on the 1922 All-America football team. His athletic interests continued all of his life. As a skilled bilingual orator, he often used sport analogies in his sermons.

After graduation in 1926, Deloria worked as boys' athletic adviser at the government boarding school in Fort Sill, Okla. He entered General Theological Seminary in New York in 1928 and was ordained deacon in 1931. He completed seminary and was ordained priest in 1932. In the same year he married Barbara Stoat Eastburn, whom he met in New York.

The couple moved to Martin, S.D., where Vine was in charge of All Saints' Church. There the Delorias' three children were born: Vine, Jr., Barbara and Philip.

In addition to his pastoral duties, Vine was the first football coach at the high school, and he played on Martin's baseball team. He was active in many social and professional organizations and was a 32-degree Mason state chaplain for many years. While in Martin, Vine, a forceful baritone, organized a 67-member boys' choir.

Martin was on the east side of the Pine Ridge reservation, and many Indians lived in the small town. Deloria ministered to them and the non-Indians in the congregation with equal care.

In 1943, the Delorias transferred to the Sisseton-Wahpeton Reservation in northeast South Dakota. Vine, as superintending presbyter, guided the reservation's Indian and non-Indian clergy. Three years later he held the same position in the Corn Creek District of the Pine Ridge Reservation. In 1951, he moved easily from the Indian work into serving as rector of a non-Indian congregation in Denison, Iowa.

The Episcopal Church recognized Deloria's leadership skills and, in 1954, appointed him executive secretary for Indian work. He was responsible for all programs of the Episcopal Indian missions in the United States. In that position, he was an outspoken opponent of the federal government's termination policy which sought to eliminate reservation identity. He resigned in 1958 to work again in the non-Indian world as rector of St. Paul's Church, Durant, Iowa.

In 1961, he was appointed Archdeacon of South Dakota and moved to Pierre to oversee the missionary work of the diocese. He retired in 1967, but continued to promote racial unity by teaching American Indian culture and religion at Huron College in South Dakota.

As an athlete, choir director, teacher and priest, Vine Deloria always urged cooperation and understanding between the Indians and non-Indians. South Dakota historian Herbert Hoover said of him, "he committed his life to teaching both sides." This was true no matter where he served. o

Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve is the author of That They May Have Life, the history of the Episcopal Church in South Dakota, and many other books. She lives in Rapid City, S.D.