HE DANCE HOUSE is a combination of essays and short stories based on incidents or events which took place on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The essays discuss mystic experiences, Native American cultures, Indian ranchers, and the hard scrabble life on the high plains. Joe Marshall tells personal stories of the often frustrating, adversarial and sometimes laughable relationship of Indian tribes to the federal government. Many stories draw from Lakota tales.

The stort stories, some semi-autobiographical in nature, are intertwined with Lakota oral tradition.

Joseph Marshall III was born on the Rosebud (Sicangu Lakota) Indian Reservation in what is now south-central South Dakota. Raised by his maternal grandparents, his first language is Lakota. A free-lance writer, Marshall has published numerous articles and two previous books with Red Crane. He has been a technical advisor and actor in television movies, including "Return to Lonesome Dove."