Sat-Okh (c. 1920 – 3 July 2003), also known as Stanisław Supłatowicz, was a soldier in the Polish Resistance during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Purportedly born in

Northwest Territories, Canada The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

, he later published autobiographical children's books under the name ''Sat-Okh.'' These were translated into several European languages. He claimed to be Polish-

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

and to have grown up in Canada among

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

people. His mother was Polish and returned with him to Poland before World War II. In the postwar years, he became an important figure in the Polish "indianist" movement. There has been considerable controversy as to whether his accounts were a hoax, as his books reflect culture and customs not associated with the peoples of the Northwest Territories.

Early life

Stanisław Supłatowicz claimed to be born in Canada about 1922 as the a son of a Polish mother, Stanislawa Okulska, and a Shawnee father. Poland was within the sphere of the Russian Empire; after the Russian Revolution, Okulska was exiled to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

. She escaped to the east, making her way to Canada. There she was taken in by Native Americans, marrying a Shawnee man, and bringing up their three children among his people. The third child was Stanisław Supłatowicz. In the late 1930s Sat-Okh and his mother moved to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. 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 ancestry.

Military career

In 1939 Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Supłatowicz joined the Polish resistance movement. He was arrested by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

in 1940 and deported to

Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. He escaped from the train transport on the way to the

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

. Supłatowicz joined the

Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) esta ...

in Poland, where he gained a nickname ''Kozak'' because of his bravery and fighting style based on making traps. During

Supłatowicz earned several medals, including the Cross of Valour. After the war he was arrested and imprisoned by the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

for his participation in the Home Army. After his release, he 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. They were translated into several European languages including Russian and were very popular in the former USSR. The books describe a boy's childhood and coming of age among the Shawnee in the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

in the 1930s. Critics and reviewers of his work have noted that many of his descriptions are of First Nations life and customs associated with an earlier time period and with peoples of other geographical locations. Sat Okh died in

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

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)

Notes

References

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

External links

"Sat-Okh Museum in Poland""Sat Okh"
*
A documentary and an interview about the life of Sat-OkhLiterary heritage of Sat-OkhMuseum of Sat-OkhИндейцы армии Крайовой: Как Польша придумала красный вестерн
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sat Okh 2003 deaths Polish resistance members of World War II Polish male writers 20th-century Polish writers 21st-century Polish writers Polish children's writers Polish sailors Year of birth uncertain Western (genre) writers Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) People from Gdańsk Artists from Gdańsk Military personnel from Gdańsk Writers from Gdańsk People from Radom Home Army members