The first book Fitzgerald recorded and edited was Yellowtail: Crow Medicine Man and Sun Dance Chief.
Choice Magazine wrote, “This book becomes the personal testament of a pivotal figure in recent Crow cultural history.
Fitzgerald examines the place of the Sun Dance, and of the sacred, in the life and future of the Crow… It is a serious work of anthropology and history.”[3] Fitzgerald first met Susie Yellowtail, who is now enshrined in the Montana Hall of Fame, when he was Joseph Epes Brown’s graduate teaching assistant at Indiana University, Bloomington, for “Religious Traditions of the North American Indians”.
Following Dr. Brown’s 1972 departure to Montana, Fitzgerald taught a course of the same name in the Indiana University (Bloomington) Continuing Studies Department for two years.
Fitzgerald is both a Director and the Secretary of the Trehero-Trosper Sun Dance Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the perpetuation of Shoshone traditional ceremonies and culture.
Fitzgerald holds an Honor’s Degree in Religious Studies from Indiana University, with Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude distinctions, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Indiana University Maurer School of Law - Bloomington with Cum Laude distinction.