Native American Books

There's something about this book that goes to the core. The Indians aren't noble savages or anything, just people close to the earth, not much really to the book but it just leaves this untangible, poignant feeling, its a very special book. By the way, the other reviewer was incorrect in stating the book takes place in Big Sur, it takes place in Modoc County way up in the northeastern corner of California.

The deepest, most profoundly down-to-earth piece of literature ever written. Jaime's incredibly sensitive and funny accounts of wandering around the Big Sur mountains with the Pit River Indians. Worth killing trees.

Paul A. W. Wallace offers us an unbiased account of the history of the Native American people of Pennsylvania. Each chapter made me want to learn more about the individual tribe that was represented in its pages and inspired me to continue reading. Mr. Wallace does not ever compare the European settlers with the Indians and say that one was more savage than the other. He merely points out that the Native American people were more intelligent than what the history books would have us believe. Paul Wallace introduces us to an innocent culture and guides us through the necessary metamorphosis of a land besieged by "conquerors." If you're interested in the plight of Native Americans, or in the history of Pennsylvania, this book should become the keystone of your library!

I was really pleased with this book, all the more so since it was published in 1970, when attitudes towards Native Americans weren't as they are today in 2005.

The book is not too long, but thorough and well-documented. It's about right for someone who's really busy and just wants a good and thorough overview.

The book explains well the various tribes (including the Delaware, Iriquois, Eries, Susquehannocks, Shawnee, Conoy, Conestoga, Mohawk, Oneida, Tuscarora, and Wyandots), although it's focus is particularly on the Delaware and Iriquois, who were descendant and ascendant at the time. Wallace does a particularly good job explaining the impact of white settlers on the native tribes, particularly in terms of the impact on native economics, which drove local tribes to immediately abandon traditional weapons for guns, which they could only get from the settlers. In order to get guns, the only item the settlers wanted were furs, which were in demand in Europe, particularly beaver. Immediately the local animal populations were devastated, and in order to get more, the Native tribes had to go further and further west. All the tribes realized that their fates were precarious, as they dealt with the English in the East and the French to the North, and the Indian tribes weren't innocent, they worked politics and alliances as well as the English... although perhaps not as well as the French. The Iriquois in particular had a clear vision of what they had to do to survive, and jockeyed to become the middle-men between the other Indian tribes and the settlers.

There's much more than this, including primary source accounts from the 17th and 18th Century, well-balanced descriptions of culture, technology, religion, and ceremonies, maps and illustrations, and the final migration of the Indians out of Pennsylvania, based on a series of land purchases and the "extinguishment of Indian title." And of course much history about the wars and conflicts between tribes and the settlers.

History has been revised (as it has been before and will be before), and this book may have an older point of view that may not be what is conventional wisdom today regarding relations between the settlers and natives. But in some ways this point of view is new to me, and is worth considering. Rather than being entirely stolen, land in pennsylvania was purchased in fairly above-board manners that surprised me. When taken in context of how land had been won and lost between the tribes for centuries before, and how there was a vast uninhabited area in Western Pennsylvania due to the disappearnce of the Monongahelia tribe (due to plague or conquest is unknown), it puts things in a new perspective. That doesn't lessen by any means other tragic events (such as the forced relocation through the Trail of Tears, etc.) and what conventional wisdom says are hundreds of other broken treaties, but it is a different perspective.

I'd recommend this book for people with an interest in local history, and students in high school and perhaps junior high school.

I bought this book at a library sale 3 years ago and I'm so glad that I did. We just went to the annual TX State Pow Wow and this book is the perfect follow-up resource for school. We will continue to use it each year as a starting point for further study into the Native American culture. My additional resource will be the book 500 Nations.

With a subject as narrow as Native Americans in a single and specific state, this book was very thorough. Subjects ranged from individual tribe appearance and dress to the specific foods and dwellings used by each. There are detailed maps showing which region each of the ten chief tribes inhabited while in Texas and what caused the disappearance of most from this state.

As a research tool for children I rate this an A+!

Indigenous American Women: Decolonization, Empowerment, Activism by Devon Abbott Mihesuah (Professor of Applied Indigenous Studies and History, North Arizona University) studies how Native American women have been perceived by non-Natives, scholars, and themselves. Professor Mihesuah sets forth guidelines as to how Native American women can empower themselves tribally, nationally, and academically, while emphasizing the importance of getting involved in all facets of the Native American community. Indigenous American Women is very highly recommended for Contemporary Native American Studies and Women's Studies collections and reading lists.

The author has put forth a fine compilation of subjects which will challenge both those outside of Native America and within it's ranks to open their eyes to some harsh realities and true strengths of American Indian women. Highly recommend.

The book is clear and concise. It always scholars and just plain readers to access the subject through compelling arguments and infromation.

Maybury-Lewis's newest work is incredibly clear and informative and offers non-anthroplogist and scholars alike a perceptive and important work

I really liked this book and when my son was studying native americans in his 2nd grade class, they used this book. It describes how the indians worked the sugar bush and how it was part of the balance of nature. Also,it explored how they created something that others wanted so that they could trade. This book has lots of colored pictures and has a glossary. It is a great intro to doing research. I'd recommend this book for 2-5th grade students who want to know more about how diverse indian culture can be.

This is a great book. It is an authentic source children's book teaching the harvesting of maple syrup and sugar. Porky White, who the book features, is an elder sho has passed away. This book captures his story of sugar making. No romantic Indian images here. Real people participating in the traditional way of life. I think this is a great book for kids and adults. Would be good in the classroom.

Barley writes about his experiences studying hill people near Poli, Cameroon - mainly about the local culture and the misfortunes that befell him. I have been through some of the same places and the stories may be a bit exaggerated, but all seem plausible. Quite funny, in a gentle way

I am an anthropology buff, not an anthropologist. But I am a scientist, and this book marvelously pokes fun at how scientists become introduced to field work and the ramification of their naivete. Of course, doing field work in another culture and in the third world only enhances the comedy of it all. Wonderfully easy and quick to read, the book leaves one wishing for more

This is a great book as it captures what life was like in the early 1980's in Canada's north. I happened to meet this very intersting lady when she spent a few days in Holman NWT in 1980, and have been able to get a copy of the book recently from Amazon.

I know a lot of the people in the book because of my time spent living in the north, and also traveling in the north.

It's worth getting!

This is a beautiful book filled with scores of stunning black and white photographs chronicaling Ulli Steltzer's travels through the Canadian Arctic. The photographs capture the everyday lives of the Inuit, showing us how past and present are at work in their lives, how these people who just decades before had lived in varying degrees of independence from "modern civilization" are struggling to adapt while retaining a sense of their traditions. While to book consists largely of photographs, included are numerous first-person statements (not exclusively by Inuit) discussing the losses, triumphs and struggles that the Inuit have endured.

Luana Ross demonstrates superb scholarship by weaving a rich variety of sources, including written documents and oral interviews. The result is a work which provides voice for the women prisoners, in particular Native American women prisoners. This ground breaking book provides an analytical portrayal of the experiences of these women. She sets it within the framework of realities of life in Montana, as well as, larger concepts of racism and colonization. Inventing the Savage is a must read book in the field.

This book is a model of what research on Native communities should look like. Ross allows Native women in prison to tell their stories, and then she brilliantly contextualizes these stories within the larger context of racism, sexism, and colonialism. Unlike so many other books on Native communities, she does not portray Native peoples as tragic characters, but demonstrates the ways they resist oppression. A must read

Author Doug George-Kanentiio writes from within the struggle, to shed light on the on-going struggles of the People of the Longhouse to save their sacred traditions and land from the contemporary seduction of money and political clout.

Recommended reading for those seeking the inside story on a quintessentially American saga. Not to be missed. A 21st century journalist reporting on the travails of the First People, Doug George's voice is raised and demands a hearing.

Douglas M. George-Kanentiio's writing is raw, bare-knuckled exposition pounded out, it seems at times, in his own blood. This is his third book. He knows how to use the language, he knows the history of the Six Nations and he pulls no punches in describing the schisms among the Iroquois that still haunt the people of the longhouse today. This book is a shot across the bow of Iroquois leaders and a reminder that only in unity did the Six Nations flourish. With an intimate forward by Vine Deloria, his last.