Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve (pronounced S-navy) (b. February 21, 1933) is a celebrated Lakota writer, educator, and historian, renowned for her significant contributions to Native American literature and cultural preservation. An enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, she was raised on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.
Sneve attended Bureau of Indian Affairs day schools and graduated in 1950 from St. Mary's Episcopal High School for Indian Girls in Springfield, South Dakota. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from South Dakota State University in 1954 and began her career as an English and music teacher in White and later Pierre, South Dakota.
After a period devoted to raising her three children, she returned to teaching in 1965 at Flandreau Indian School, where she taught English, speech, and drama, eventually becoming a guidance counselor. In 1969, she earned a Master of Education degree from South Dakota State University.
Her literary career was launched in 1971 when her manuscript Jimmy Yellow Hawk won a competition held by the Council on Interracial Books. This led to a publishing contract with Holiday House, which released Jimmy Yellow Hawk and High Elk's Treasure in 1972. Expanding into nonfiction, Sneve edited South Dakota Geographic Names and authored The Dakota's Heritage in 1973. Her body of work has grown to include a history of the Episcopal Church in South Dakota, Completing the Circle (1995), and The First Americans Series, a historical series about Native American tribes.
Sneve's work has garnered numerous honors, including the South Dakota Governor's Award in the Arts for Distinction in Creative Achievement and the South Dakota Humanities Council's Distinguished Achievement in the Humanities Award. She has also received honorary doctorates from South Dakota State University and Dakota Wesleyan University. In 1996, she was awarded the National Education Association's Author/Illustrator Award, and in 2000, she became the first South Dakotan to receive the National Humanities Medal, presented by President Bill Clinton.
Throughout her career, Sneve has been a respected voice at literary festivals and educational forums, including the International Reading Association, the National Book Festival (2002), and the Native Writers Series at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (2005). With a prolific career spanning decades, she has authored fiction, nonfiction, short stories, articles, editorials, and book introductions solidifying her legacy as a leading figure in Native American literature.