In Defense of Sovereignty by
In Defense of Sovereignty recounts the history of the Oneida Nation and its struggles for self-determination. Since the nation's removal from New York in the 1820s to what would become the state of Wisconsin, it has been engaged in legal conflicts with US actors to retain its sovereignty and its lands. Legal scholar and former Oneida Nation senior staff attorney Rebecca M. Webster traces this history, including the nation's treaties with the US but focusing especially on its relationship with the village of Hobart, Wisconsin. Since 2003 there have been six disputes that have led to litigation between the local government and the nation. Central to these disputes are the local government's attempts to regulate the nation and relegate its government to the position of a common landowner, subject to municipal authority. As in so many conflicts between Indigenous nations and local municipalities, the media narrative about the Oneida Nation's battle for sovereignty has been dominated by the local government's standpoint. In Defense of Sovereignty offers another perspective, that of a nation citizen directly involved in the litigation, augmented by contributions from historians, attorneys, and a retired nation employee. It makes an important contribution to public debates about the inherent right of Indigenous nations to continue to exist and exercise self-governance within their territories without being challenged at every turn.
American Indian Sovereignty by
Since the arrival of European settlers, Native American cultural sovereignty has been under attack. Self-determination is a tribal right of Native people, but colonial oppression banned their traditions and religion, purloined and misused sacred sites, and betrayed treaties when convenient. Over time, the settlers usurped Native American culture and lands, and these destructive behaviors continue today. Within the decimated Native American culture left after forced assimilation, American Indians still struggle to retain their rights. In this historical account of the despotism against Native American culture, the altercations of sovereignty, territory, and pluralistic democracy are analyzed in an effort to provide a path towards justice.
Religion and Ceremonies of the Lenape by
Contents: Pantheon; Minor Deities; Survival of the Soul; Visions and Guardian Spirits; Unami Annual Ceremony; Minsi Big House Ceremonies; The Misi'ng or Mask; Minor Ceremonies; Summary
The Indians' Book by
The Shelf2Life Native American Studies Collection is a unique set of pre-1923 materials that explore the characteristics and customs of North American Indians. From traditional songs and dance of the Apache and Navajo to the intricate patterns of Arapaho moccasins, these titles explore the symbolic meaning of Native American music and art. Complex relationships between tribal groups and government are also examined, highlighting the historic struggle for land rights, while the retelling of ancient myths and legends emphasize a belief in the interconnection of humans and nature and provide readers with significant insight into a culture deeply rooted in spirituality. The Shelf2Life Native American Studies Collection provides an invaluable perspective into Native American culture and politics during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Dark River by
Jacob Nashoba's journey has taken him from his Choctaw homeland in Mississippi to Vietnam and finally to a small reservation in the mountains of eastern Arizona. A tribal ranger, he lives among people far different from any he has known. Balanced precariously between isolation and community, he is drawn to both the fastness of a remote river canyon and the Apaches who have come to be the only family he has. Nashoba's world is peopled by, among others, a bright young man who sells vision quests to romantic tourists, a determined elder whose power makes her a force to be reckoned with on the reservation, a resident anthropologist more "native" than the natives, a corrupt tribal chairman, a former Hollywood extra who shouts at reservation women the scraps of Italian he learned from other "Indian" actors, and the ranger's estranged wife. Confusion and violence follow their encounter with a right-wing militia group training secretly on tribal land. The contrast between these Rambo types and the various Native American characters typifies the sardonic humor running throughout this novel of contemporary Indian identity.
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by
In this darkly comic short story collection, Sherman Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, brilliantly weaves memory, fantasy, and stark realism to paint a complex, grimly ironic portrait of life in and around the Spokane Indian Reservation. These twenty-two interlinked tales are narrated by characters raised on humiliation and government-issue cheese, and yet are filled with passion and affection, myth and dream. There is Victor, who as a nine-year-old crawled between his unconscious parents hoping that the alcohol seeping through their skins might help him sleep, Thomas Builds-the-Fire, who tells his stories long after people stop listening, and Jimmy Many Horses, dying of cancer, who writes letters on stationary that reads "From the Death Bed of Jimmy Many Horses III," even though he actually writes then on his kitchen table. Against a backdrop of alcohol, car accidents, laughter, and basketball, Alexie depicts the distances between Indians and whites, reservation Indians and urban Indians, men and women, and mostly poetically between modern Indians and the traditions of the past.
Native-American Literature by
This is one of a series of brief anthologies designed for ethnic, multicultural and American literature courses. The series aims to introduce undergraduates to the rich but often neglected literary contributions of established and newer ethnic writers to American literature. Each text is organized chronlogically by genre and represents a wide range of literature. An introduction provides an historical overview and a celebration of the diversity within each ethnic group. It also addresses the general literary concerns students are likely to encounter in their readings. A seperate thematic table of contents provides the tutor with more flexibility in the classroom. All four anthologies include three bibliographies which suggest novels for further reading; aid students in their research and recommend films that would enhance the studies. Ishmael Reed, the general editor, is founder of the American Book Awards.
Nothing but the Truth by
This anthology includes some of the best works of Native American Literature -- with a good representation of major authors, geographic dispersion, gender balance, and a variety of genres. Its illustrative and popular material promote a deeper appreciation of different themes and approaches. Complete works that have become classics in the field, combined with ones from the modern era, make this collection rich in historical and theoretical context. Selections of non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and drama, include works by Paula Gunn Allen, Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, Carter Revard, Leslie Marmon Silko, Sherman Alexie, Kimberly Blaeser, Peter Blue Cloud, Louise Erdrich, Scott N. Momaday, Simon Ortiz, and many more. An effective introduction to Native American Literature for readers interested in this area of writing.
Reservation Blues by
"In 1931, Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the devil, receiving legendary blues skills in return. He went on to record only twenty-nine songs before being murdered on August 16, 1938. In 1992, however, Johnson suddenly appears on the Spokane Indian Reservation and meets Thomas Builds-the-Fire, the misfit storyteller of the Spokane Tribe." "So begins Reservation Blues, the mythic and musical tale of Coyote Springs, an all-Indian Catholic rock-and-roll band. With Thomas Builds-the-Fire as lead singer, Victor Joseph and Junior Polatkin on lead guitar and drums, and Chess and Checkers Warm Water on vocals, Coyote Springs takes their "four-and-a-half-chord rock and blues" to reservation bars, small town taverns, and the urban landscapes of Seattle and Manhattan." "Sherman Alexie brilliantly mixes narrative, newspaper excerpts, songs, journal entries, visions, radio interviews, and dreams to explore the effects of Christianity on Native Americans in the late twentieth century. More important, he examines cultural assimilation's impact on the relationship between Indian women and Indian men. Reservation Blues is a painful, humorous, and ultimately redemptive symphony about God and indifference, faith and alcoholism, family and hunger, sex and death."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Sharpest Sight by
"Louis Owens has the storyteller’s gift of cutting to the heart of human drama. Wonderfully rich, full of magic and people who are magically alive, The Sharpest Sight is a fine novel that should be read by all who seek to understand the American Indian search for identity."-James Welch, author of Indian Lawyer, and Winter in the Blood. "With The Sharpest Sight, Louis Owens emerges as a strong and distinctive voice in contemporary Native American fiction. He writes with conviction, heart, and insight, and his novel, populated with complicated, passionate men and women, provides an insider’s view into a rich fictional world."-Michael Dorris, author of A Yellow Raft in Blue Water, and The Crown of Columbus, with Louise Erdrich.
That Dream Shall Have a Name by
The founding idea of "America" has been based largely on the expected sweeping away of Native Americans to make room for EuroAmericans and their cultures. In this authoritative study, David L. Moore examines the works of five well-known Native American writers and their efforts, beginning in the colonial period, to redefine an "America" and "American identity" that includes Native Americans. That Dream Shall Have a Name focuses on the writing of Pequot Methodist minister William Apess in the 1830s; on Northern Paiute activist Sarah Winnemucca in the 1880s; on Salish/Métis novelist, historian, and activist D'Arcy McNickle in the 1930s; and on Laguna poet and novelist Leslie Marmon Silko and on Spokane poet, novelist, humorist, and filmmaker Sherman Alexie, both in the latter twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Moore studies these five writers' stories about the conflicted topics of sovereignty, community, identity, and authenticity--always tinged with irony and often with humor. He shows how Native Americans have tried from the beginning to shape an American narrative closer to its own ideals, one that does not include the death and destruction of their peoples. This compelling work offers keen insights into the relationships between Native and American identity and politics in a way that is both accessible to newcomers and compelling to those already familiar with these fields of study.
The Voice of the Turtle by
An anthology of twentieth-century Native American literature (the first of 2 volumes), including fiction, essays, and autobiographies on such subjects as spiritual loss and displacement.
Warrior Spirit by
For decades, American schoolchildren have learned only a smattering of facts about Native American peoples, especially when it comes to service in the U.S. military. They might know that Navajos served as Code Talkers during World War II, but more often they learn that Native Americans were enemies of the United States, not allies or patriots. In Warrior Spirit, author Herman J. Viola sets the record straight by highlighting the military service--and major sacrifices--of Native American soldiers and veterans in the U.S. armed services. American Indians have fought in uniform in each of our nation's wars. Since 1775, despite a legacy of broken treaties, cultural suppression, and racial discrimination, indigenous Americans have continued to serve in numbers that far exceed their percentage of the general U.S. population. Warrior Spirit introduces readers to unsung heroes, from the first Native guides and soldiers during the Revolutionary War to those servicemen and -women who ventured to Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. This outstanding record of service begs a question: Why do American Indians willingly serve a country that has treated them so poorly? Native veterans invariably answer that they are a warrior people who have a sacred obligation to defend their homeland and their families. Written to be accessible to young adult readers, Warrior Spirit is a valuable resource for any reader interested in Native American military history.
I Have Spoken by
Speeches, addresses, etc. made by the indigenous people of North America.
American Indians at the Margins by
Since the earliest days of America, racist imagery has been used to create harmful stereotypes of the indigenous people. In this book, the conflict between invading European white settlers and the indigenous groups who occupied the land that became the United States is described through the context of race and racism. Using depictions from art, literature, radio, cinema and television, the origin and persistence of such stereotypes are explained, and their debilitating effects on the well-being of Indians are presented. This text also explores their accomplishments in attempts to maintain their sovereignty, dignity and respect.
Native American Women Leaders by
There is insufficient recognition given to Native American women, many of whom have made enormous contributions to their respective tribal nations and to the broader United States. The 14 women whose stories are recounted in this book are representative of the countless Native American women who have excelled as leaders, including Debra Haaland and her history-making role as Secretary of the Interior. They come from across the centuries and from a range of tribal nations. Discover a wide range of societal areas, including politics, the arts, health care, business, education, wellness, feminism, environmentalism, and social activism. Most of these women have made their mark in more than one area. Each chapter includes personal biographical information as well as information regarding that person's public life. Some of the individuals have given us much in writing, including memoirs, while others have left behind little or nothing in the way of written materials. Even in the absence of their own words, though, their actions still speak eloquently to us.
Cherokee Women in Charge by
Cherokee women wielded significant power, and history demonstrates that in what is now America, indigenous women often bore the greater workload, both inside and outside the home. During the French and Indian War, Cherokee women resisted a chief's authority, owned family households, were skilled artisans, produced plentiful crops, mastered trade negotiations, and prepared chiefs' feasts. Cherokee culture was lost when the Cherokee Nation began imitating the American form of governance to gain political favor, and white colonists reduced indigenous women's power. This book recounts long-standing Cherokee traditions and their rich histories. It demonstrates Cherokee and indigenous women as independent and strong individuals through feminist and historical perspectives. Readers will find that these women were far ahead of their time and held their own in many remarkable ways.
Conversations with Remarkable Native Americans by
Entertaining and enlightening interviews with some of today's most important Native Americans.In these lively and informative interviews, noted ethnohistorian and international consultant Joëlle Rostkowski brings to light major developments in the Native American experience over the last thirty years. Overcoming hardships they have experienced as the "forgotten" minority, often torn between two cultures, these prominent native writers, artists, journalists, activists, lawyers, and museum administrators each have made remarkable contributions towards the transformation of old stereotypes, the fight against discrimination, and the sharing of their heritage with mainstream society. Theirs is a story not so much of success but of resilience, of survivance, with each interview subject having marked their time and eventually becoming the change they wanted in the world. The conversations in this volume reveal that the assertion of ethnic identity does not lead to bitterness and isolation, but rather an enthusiasm and drive toward greater visibility and recognition that at the same time aims at a greater understanding between different cultures. Conversations with Remarkable Native Americans rewards the reader with a deeper understanding of the Native American Renaissance.Joëlle Rostkowski is an ethnohistorian who teaches at the School of Higher Studies in Social Sciences in Paris. She is also a consultant at the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Her books include The Incomplete Conversion: North American Indians and Christianity and Native American Renaissance: A Century of Reconquests, winner of the 2002 French Academy History Prize.
Indian Voices by
In Indian Voices, Alison Owings takes readers on a fresh journey across America, east to west, north to south, and around again. Owings's most recent oral history--engagingly written in a style that entertains and informs--documents what Native Americans say about themselves, their daily lives, and the world around them. Young and old from many tribal nations speak with candor, insight, and (unknown to many non-Natives) humor about what it is like to be a Native American in the twenty-first century. Through intimate interviews many also express their thoughts about the sometimes staggeringly ignorant, if often well-meaning, non-Natives they encounter--some who do not realize Native Americans still exist, much less that they speak English, have cell phones, use the Internet, and might attend powwows and power lunches. Indian Voices, an inspiring and important contribution to the literature about the original Americans, will make every reader rethink the past--and present--of the United States.
Unbroken by
NATIONAL BESTSELLER: A Globe and Mail and Toronto Star Bestseller A finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award and the Writers' Trust Hilary Weston Prize for Nonfiction. "A remarkable life story. . . Angela Sterritt is a formidable storyteller and a passionate advocate."--Cherie Dimaline, author of The Marrow Thieves "Sterritt's story is living proof of how courageous Indigenous women are."--Tanya Talaga, author of Seven Fallen Feathers and All Our Relations Unbroken is an extraordinary work of memoir and investigative journalism focusing on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, written by an award-winning Gitxsan journalist who survived life on the streets against all odds. As a Gitxsan teenager navigating life on the streets, Angela Sterritt wrote in her journal to help her survive and find her place in the world. Now an acclaimed journalist, she writes for major news outlets to push for justice and to light a path for Indigenous women, girls, and survivors. In her brilliant debut, Sterritt shares her memoir alongside investigative reporting into cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada, showing how colonialism and racism led to a society where Sterritt struggled to survive as a young person, and where the lives of Indigenous women and girls are ignored and devalued. Growing up, Sterritt was steeped in the stories of her ancestors: grandparents who carried bentwood boxes of berries, hunted and trapped, and later fought for rights and title to that land. But as a vulnerable young woman, kicked out of the family home and living on the street, Sterritt inhabited places that, today, are infamous for being communities where women have gone missing or been murdered: Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, and, later on, Northern BC's Highway of Tears. Sterritt faced darkness: she experienced violence from partners and strangers and saw friends and community members die or go missing. But she navigated the street, group homes, and SROs to finally find her place in journalism and academic excellence at university, relying entirely on her own strength, resilience, and creativity along with the support of her ancestors and community to find her way. "She could have been me," Sterritt acknowledges today, and her empathy for victims, survivors, and families drives her present-day investigations into the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women. In the end, Sterritt steps into a place of power, demanding accountability from the media and the public, exposing racism, and showing that there is much work to do on the path towards understanding the truth. But most importantly, she proves that the strength and brilliance of Indigenous women is unbroken, and that together, they can build lives of joy and abundance.
Speaking for the Generations by
Now it is my turn to stand. At Acoma Pueblo meetings, members rise and announce their intention to speak. In that moment they are recognized and heard. In Speaking for the Generations, Acoma Pueblo poet Simon Ortiz brings together contemporary Native American writers to take their turn. Each offers an evocation of herself or himself, describing the personal, social, and cultural influences on her or his development as a writer. Although each writer's viewpoint is personal and unique, together they reflect the rich tapestry of today's Native literature. Of varied backgrounds, the writers represent Indian heritages and cultures from the Pacific Northwest to the northern plains, from Canada to Guatemala. They are poets, novelists, and playwrights. And although their backgrounds are different and their statements intensely personal, they share common themes of their relationship to the land, to their ancestors, and to future generations of their people. From Gloria Bird's powerful recounting of personal and family history to Esther Belin's vibrant tale of her urban Native homeland in Los Angeles, these writers reveal the importance of place and politics in their lives. Leslie Marmon Silko calls upon the ancient tradition of Native American storytelling and its role in connecting the people to the land. Roberta J. Hill and Elizabeth Woody ponder some of the absurdities of contemporary Native life, while Guatemalan Victor Montejo takes readers to the Mayan world, where a native culture had writing and books long before Europeans came. Together these pieces offer an inspiring portrait of what it means to be a Native writer in the twentieth century. With passion and urgency, these writers are speaking for themselves, for their land, and for the generations.
The Woman Who Watches over the World by
"I Sat Down to write a book about pain and ended up writing about love", says award-winning Chickasaw poet and novelist Linda Hogan. In this book, she recounts her own difficult childhood as the daughter of an army sergeant, her love affair at age fifteen with an older man, the legacy of alcoholism, and the troubled history of the two daughters she adopted. She shows how historic and emotional pain are passed down through generations while revealing her own struggles with physical pain, and she blends personal history with stories of important Indian figures of the past such as Lozen, the woman who was the military strategist for Geronimo, and Ohiyesha, the Santee Sioux medical doctor who witnessed the massacre at Wounded Knee. Ultimately, Hogan sees herself and her people whole again and gives us an illuminating story of personal spiritual triumph.
The Spirit and the Flesh by
An extraordinary perceptive study of the berdache and the most comprehensive treatment of this controversial topic to date."--American Historical Review
Dancing Colors by
"Plains Indians held the family circle sacred: it represented creation, respect, tradition, and harmony. At the center of that circle, walking in beauty, were women. From early childhood girls prepared for their role by playing with miniature tipis and dolls dressed in tribal clothing. They practiced the arts of sewing, beading, tanning buffalo hides, and decorating with porcupine quills. The clothes they wore and the implements they used were objects of art in themselves." "To the Indian, there is no distinction between art and life or between what is beautiful and what is functional. Here, in stunning photographs, are the clothing and objects that were a part of daily life for Native American women. From moccasins, buckskin dresses, and jewelry, to blankets, tipis, and household tools, these objects are intricate works of art. Woven into the pictorial display are four intriguing legends illustrating the variety of women's roles in Native American life." "Forty of the pieces are from the magnificent David T. Vernon Collection permanently on display at the Colter Bay Indian Arts Museum in Grand Teton National Park. Sixty additional works are from the San Diego Museum of Man. C.J. Brafford, curator at the Colter Bay Indian Arts Museum, has provided lyrical introductions connecting the legends with life and art. Another specialist in Native American art, Laine Thom, provides fascinating details and background information in the captions that accompany each photograph. The legends, photographs, and excellent commentary blend into a beautiful and informative book about the harmony of life and art in Native American culture."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Food Sovereignty the Navajo Way by
Around the world, indigenous peoples are returning to traditional foods and cooking methods to reestablish healthy lifeways to combat contemporary diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Food Sovereignty the Navajo Way is the first book to focus on the dietary practices of the Navajos from the earliest known times into the present and relate them to the Navajo Nation's participation in the Food Sovereignty movement. Charlotte J. Frisbie documents the traditional foods and recipes of a Navajo woman and her family over almost a century. She uses fieldwork as well as historical research to trace the transition from the days when Navajos first gathered and hunted for most of their sustenance, through times when dry farming and livestock-mainly sheep and goats-became dominant, and on to a time when their diet was dominated by highly processed foods. Frisbie not only provides a historical overview of the Navajo diet and reflections on the current international Food Sovereignty movement but also explores Tall Woman's own story, including many of her traditional Navajo recipes.
American Indian Culture by
This invaluable resource provides a comprehensive historical and demographic overview of American Indians along with more than 100 cross-referenced entries on American Indian culture, exploring everything from arts, literature, music, and dance to food, family, housing, and spirituality. American Indian Culture: From Counting Coup to Wampum is organized by cultural form (Arts; Family, Education, and Community; Food; Language and Literature; Media and Popular Culture; Music and Dance; Spirituality; and Transportation and Housing). Examples of topics covered include icons of Native culture, such as pow wows, Indian dancing, and tipi dwellings; Native art forms such as pottery, rock art, sandpainting, silverwork, tattooing, and totem poles; foods such as corn, frybread, and wild rice; and Native Americans in popular culture. The extensive introductory section, breadth of topics, accessibly written text, and range of perspectives from the many contributors make this work a must-have resource for high school and undergraduate audiences. * Serves to document how many attributes of Native cultures derive from a rich tapestry of American Indian cultural forms, such as very well-known foods like corn, potatoes, turkey, peanuts, and chocolate * Includes numerous spotlights that highlight interesting topics such as the Indigenous Language Institute, the kiva, counting coup, buffalo hunt customs and protocols, and Dakota language in rap music * Offers further readings and additional sources with the entries to guide students or interested readers in their research
Assembled for Use by
A wide-ranging, multidisciplinary look at Native American literature through non-narrative texts like lists, albums, recipes, and scrapbooks Kelly Wisecup offers a sweeping account of Native American literatures by examining what she calls Indigenous compilations: intentionally assembled texts that Native people made by juxtaposing and recontextualizing textual excerpts into new relations and meanings. Experiments in reading and recirculation, Indigenous compilations include Mohegan minister Samson Occom's medicinal recipes, the Ojibwe woman Charlotte Johnston's poetry scrapbooks, and Abenaki leader Joseph Laurent's vocabulary lists. Indigenous compilations proliferated in a period of colonial archive making, and Native writers used compilations to remake the very forms that defined their bodies, belongings, and words as ethnographic evidence. This study enables new understandings of canonical Native writers like William Apess, prominent collectors like Thomas Jefferson and Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, and Native people who contributed to compilations but remain absent from literary histories. Indigenous compilations dramatically expand studies of Native American literatures by illuminating histories of making, reading, and using texts in Indigenous communities and colonial archives.
Lenape Women, Matriliny and the Colonial Encounter - Resistance and Erosion of Power (c. 1600-1876) by
"Lenape gender relations are being analyzed during 300 years of colonization- a process of resistance as well as adaption. The transformation of a matrilineal kinship organization organization and egalitarian gender relations into a male-dominated agricultural society is linked to the subjugation of the female gender. The erosion of female power is the result of colonial warfare, land loss, the attempts of traders, missionaries and government officials to create native male leaders and a male-centered society and ideology, and of changes in gender relations of production and reproduction" (back cover)
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by
Doumented account of the decimation of Native Americans in the last half of the 19th century, told from the Indian viewpoint.
Seminole Warrior vs US Soldier by
This engrossing study investigates the tactics, weapons, and combat record of the Seminole warriors and US soldiers who fought three key battles during the epic struggle for control of Florida. During the 19th century, US forces confronted the Seminole people in a series of bitter wars over the fate of Florida. After the refusal of the Seminoles to move west to the Creek Reservation in Mississippi, the US government sent troops to bring Florida under federal control, marking the beginning of the Second Seminole War. On December 28, 1835, troops led by Major Francis Langhorne Dade were ambushed and massacred en route to Fort King. Two years of guerrilla warfare ensued, as the Seminoles evaded the US forces sent to defeat them. Ordered to hunt down the Seminoles, a US force led by Colonel Zachary Taylor incurred heavy losses at the battle of Lake Okeechobee (December 25, 1837), but the Seminoles were forced to withdraw. At the battle of the Loxahatchee River (January 24, 1838), forces led by Major General Thomas S. Jesup encountered a large group of Seminoles and met them with overwhelming numbers and greater firepower. Despite their stubborn efforts to resist the US military, the Seminoles were defeated and Florida became a state of the Union in 1845. This fully illustrated study assesses the forces fighting on both sides, casting light on the tactics, weaponry, and combat record of the Seminole warriors and their US opponents during the Second Seminole War.
Unworthy Republic by
In May 1830, the United States launched an unprecedented campaign to expel 80,000 Native Americans from their eastern homelands to territories west of the Mississippi River. In a firestorm of fraud and violence, thousands of Native Americans lost their lives, and thousands more lost their farms and possessions. The operation soon devolved into an unofficial policy of extermination, enabled by US officials, southern planters, and northern speculators. Hailed for its searing insight, Unworthy Republic transforms our understanding of this pivotal period in American history.
On Savage Shores by
A landmark work of narrative history that shatters our previous Eurocentric understanding of the Age of Discovery by telling the story of the Indigenous Americans who journeyed across the Atlantic to Europe after 1492 We have long been taught to presume that modern global history began when the "Old World" encountered the "New", when Christopher Columbus "discovered" America in 1492. But, as Caroline Dodds Pennock conclusively shows in this groundbreaking book, for tens of thousands of Aztecs, Maya, Totonacs, Inuit and others--enslaved people, diplomats, explorers, servants, traders--the reverse was true: they discovered Europe. For them, Europe comprised savage shores, a land of riches and marvels, yet perplexing for its brutal disparities of wealth and quality of life, and its baffling beliefs. The story of these Indigenous Americans abroad is a story of abduction, loss, cultural appropriation, and, as they saw it, of apocalypse--a story that has largely been absent from our collective imagination of the times. From the Brazilian king who met Henry VIII to the Aztecs who mocked up human sacrifice at the court of Charles V; from the Inuk baby who was put on show in a London pub to the mestizo children of Spaniards who returned "home" with their fathers; from the Inuit who harpooned ducks on the Avon river to the many servants employed by Europeans of every rank: here are a people who were rendered exotic, demeaned, and marginalized, but whose worldviews and cultures had a profound impact on European civilization. Drawing on their surviving literature and poetry and subtly layering European eyewitness accounts against the grain, Pennock gives us a sweeping account of the Indigenous American presence in, and impact on, early modern Europe.
Separate Paths by
Separate Paths: Lenapes and Colonists in West New Jersey is the first cross-cultural study of European colonization in the region south of the Falls of the Delaware River (now Trenton). Lenape men and women welcomed their allies, the Swedes and Finns, to escape more rigid English regimes on the west bank of the Delaware, offering land to establish farms, share resources, and trade. In the 1670s, Quaker men and women challenged this model with strategies to acquire all Lenape territory for their own use and to sell as real estate to new immigrants. Though the Lenapes remained sovereign and "old settlers" retained their Swedish Lutheran religion and ethnic autonomy, the West Jersey proprietors had considerable success in excluding Lenapes from their land. The Friends believed God favored their endeavor with epidemics of smallpox and other European diseases that destroyed Lenape families and communities. Affluent Quakers also introduced enslavement of imported Africans and Natives--and the violence that sustained it--to a colony they had promoted with the liberal West New Jersey Concessions of 1676-77. Thus, they defied their prior experience of religious persecution and their principles of peaceful resolution of conflict, equality of everyone before God, and the golden rule to treat others as you wish to be treated. Despite mutual commitment to peace by Lenapes, old settlers, and Friends, Quaker colonization had similar results to military conquests of Natives by English in Virginia and New England, and Dutch in the Hudson Valley and northern New Jersey. Still, in alliance with old settlers, Lenape communities survived in areas outside the focus of English colonization, in the Pine Barrens, upper reaches of streams, and Atlantic shore.
Born of Lakes and Plains by
Often overlooked, there is mixed blood at the heart of America. And at the heart of Native life for centuries there were complex households using intermarriage to link disparate communities and create protective circles of kin. Beginning in the seventeenth century, Native peoples--Ojibwes, Otoes, Cheyennes, Chinooks, and others--formed new families with young French, English, Canadian, and American fur traders who spent months in smoky winter lodges or at boisterous summer rendezvous. These families built cosmopolitan trade centers from Michilimackinac on the Great Lakes to Bellevue on the Missouri River, Bent's Fort in the southern Plains, and Fort Vancouver in the Pacific Northwest. Their family names are often imprinted on the landscape, but their voices have long been muted in our histories. Anne F. Hyde's pathbreaking history restores them in full. Vividly combining the panoramic and the particular, Born of Lakes and Plains follows five mixed-descent families whose lives intertwined major events: imperial battles over the fur trade; the first extensions of American authority west of the Appalachians; the ravages of imported disease; the violence of Indian removal; encroaching American settlement; and, following the Civil War, the disasters of Indian war, reservations policy, and allotment. During the pivotal nineteenth century, mixed-descent people who had once occupied a middle ground became a racial problem drawing hostility from all sides. Their identities were challenged by the pseudo-science of blood quantum--the instrument of allotment policy--and their traditions by the Indian schools established to erase Native ways. As Anne F. Hyde shows, they navigated the hard choices they faced as they had for centuries: by relying on the rich resources of family and kin. Here is an indelible western history with a new human face.
Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes by
This fully updated reference explores more than 200 North American tribes, prehistoric peoples, and civilizations. Arranged alphabetically by tribe or group, this comprehensive work offers 60 new entries on tribes not covered in the previous editions. The accessible text summarizes the historical record and includes present-day tribal affairs and issues. The book also covers diet, housing, tools, clothing, art, rituals, and more.