Harka: Trail of the Rising Sun introduces English-speaking readers to the world of Liselotte Welskopf-Henrich's Die Söhne der Großen Bärin, known in English as Sons of the Great Bear.
The six-novel story follows Harka, an Oglala Lakota boy, as he grows up amid the struggle over Native lands on the Great Plains. The Harka project describes the story's setting as 1862 to 1877. Family, resistance, and the survival of the Lakota way of life shape his journey.
These are works of historical fiction. They should be read alongside histories and stories told by Native people themselves.
Sources: Harka project announcement; Interview with Rudolf Welskopf
Die Söhne der Großen Bärin first appeared in 1951. Welskopf-Henrich later expanded the work into the six-volume series. In an interview, her son Rudolf recalled how she developed the earlier part of Harka's life and read from the manuscript to him.
The original publication date and the later six-volume form are different stages in the history of the books.
Sources: Biography; Interview with Rudolf Welskopf; Deutsche Biographie
Liselotte Welskopf-Henrich was a German novelist and historian who lived from 1901 to 1979. Alongside her fiction, she worked in ancient history at Humboldt University in Berlin. Learn more about her life and writing on the author's website.
Liselotte Welskopf-Henrich: life and books
Sources: Biography; Academy archive
The Harka project is bringing the story into English through books, graphic novels, film, and television. This is the scope announced on the project homepage; it is not a release schedule.
Visit the homepage and sign up for project updates.
Sources: Harka project announcement