Griffis, Joseph

Griffis was born to a white father, a famous scout, and a mother who was half Osage (there is some dispute about this, but Griffis apparently believed he was a Native American, always identified himself as one, and registered his son as a Native American on his birth certificate).

When he was four he was captured by Kiowas, who killed his mother, and was then raised by a Kiowa stepfather and Cheyenne stepmother. In 1868 he and his stepmother were captured by white soldiers, part of General Custer's troops, for whom his own father had acted as scout.

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Griffis was classified as a white captive and consequently separated from his stepmother to be fostered by a white family of ranchers. He soon escaped, however, and embarked on a life as a member of an outlaw Indian gang, scout, hobo and thief.

He eventually made his way to Canada, converted to Christianity and married a white woman. He was a Presbyterian minister, then moved to Oklahoma, left the ministry and became a lecturer.

He wrote an autobiography and a book of Oklahoma Native American tales.

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