Native American Books

I speak as a supposed expert in European international relations (the USA included) between approximately 1500 and 1950 AD. My current project concerns the positions that the USA has occupied in the formerly European, now global, international system that has developed from its initial foundations in the late medieval European era. My thesis is that the USA both has mainly (in fact, overwhelmingly) benefited from the preceding achievements within this system, and has more or less systematically exploited its advantageous position within the system to its benefit.

I say this not as self-advertisement, as it must seem, but as truth in advertising. Having read Banner's work carefully, I think it fits
perfectly within my general thesis and supports it. But that is not why I am recommending it to the general reader. I do this because as a general educated lay reader in this field, I think it is a very good book--well written, sensible, careful in supporting his argument with evidence, allowing for other views, and above all fair with opposing views while at the same time coming out clearly with an important interpretation and thesis of his own.


Sincerely,

Paul W. Schroeder
Professor emeritus of History and Political Science
University of Illinois, Urbana-Chqampaign

Stuart Banner has taken a complex, 400+ year history of American Indian Land Acquisition and has abstracted the legal basis and the prevailing sociocultural worldviews of settlers, governments and aborigines to produce a work that we, today, can use to understand "How the Indians Lost Their Lands." This is a must read for anyone who has any official involvement with Native American Indians, or anyone who is interested in their, and our, history.

This is one of the few books I've found that really explores the issues of sovereignty and native women together. Maracle really explains the connection between women's integrity and wholeness and tribal self-determination. She also looks at issues of domestic violence, rape, and sexual assault from a uniquely native perspective. I would recommend this book to all women of native descent.

I read and re-read this book while in university studying native cultures throughtout Canada. I can honestly say, as a native male, that this is one of the most powerful books that I have ever read. Lee Maracle's story portrays that which everyone should know about - the struggles that native people, especially native women, have endured over the past centuries.

If I had only read one book while in university, it would have been this one.

This book is very informative and I really enjoyed reading the detailed descriptions of what the ledger drawings are believed to illustrate. There was one error (a typo?) regarding the year that Agent Charles Warner lost his position as agent (page 3 states 1881 and page 4 states 1882). Overall, this book gave me an appreciation for the perceptive eye that the Native chroniclers possessed. In a way, it helps give credence to their oral history.
Highly recommended.

For anyone who likes the history of Native American Culture or military history, this book is an interesting find. The pictures found in the "cash book" by Mr. Thompson in 1990 illustrate a hidden viewpoint of the Nez Perce War. An unknown Indian warrior who traveled with the Nez Perce during their flight from the U.S. Army recorded some brilliant pictures in full color. These pictures, preserved by Indian Agent Charles Warner, are first shown to the public in this book. The pictures are not only full of cultural symbolism, but also portray historical figures. If you have interest in what happened in America's wars with the Indians, Chief Joseph, or the Pacific Northwest this book is worth looking into. I think that it is interesting just to see the pictures. Although the book is an academic publication with footnotes and all, it is well written and reads easily.

This book is written in a way that presents understandable language to the avocational archaeologist, or man on the street. An in depth look at the ages of north american artifacts, and thus man's presence on the landmass. Also covers the evolution of mammals in NA, the effects of the glacial ice retreat, what the land was like in post glacial north america. From Clovis, Folsom, Cody, Goshen, Plainview, Agate Basin, Hell Gap...to the chip artifacts from sites such as the Burham site, Meadowcroft Rockshelter, Dent site, etc. The dates for human occupation seem to be pushing further back. This book will reawaken the curiosity and interest of the reader, that it is a wonderful time to be alive and pondering these new finds and their implications! I thank the many authors who contributed their writing into this workhorse of a book.

This book is an absolute must read for scientists and laymen interested in the peopling of North America. It contains up-to-date articles by the world's experts in ice age archeology and the complex conditions that lead to the early population of the Americas. The book is well illustrated and summarizes much of the most recent data available on this subject. The articles have been written clearly and concisely. If you are curious about the Paleo-Indians who first settled the Americas, how they got here, and why they came, then you must read this book. As a researcher interested in this subject, I find this book indispensible.

In this misadventure Iktomi the trickster of Plains Indian folklore is luring innocent ducks off the pond with this tricks in anticipation of a fine meal of roast duck. But if there is anything that the readers of Paul Goble's tales of Iktomi know by now, it is that things never go the way he plans. In previous tales Iktomi has been bested by a boulder and berries, and the pattern continues in "Iktomi and the Ducks: A Plains Indian Story." In his forward to the book Goble explains how these stories about the trickster are examples of what the Lakota called "ohunkaka," which are amusing stories that are not meant to be believed and which have moral lessons for those who hear them being told.

Iktomi is walking along one day trying to find his horse so he can ride it in a parade, but then he notices some ducks enjoying themselves on a pond. Iktomi comes up with a strange way of catching some ducks for his dinner, and the really surprising thing is that his track actually works! But then Iktomi is distracted by two trees scraping up against each other and things are back to normal, which menas Iktomi's plans go wrong once again, especially once a Coyote also decides that roasted duck would taste pretty good. As always, Goble's colorful artwork captures both the essence of the tale and the tradition of art by the Plains Indians.

This tale was originally told to Goble by Edgar Red Cloud, the great-grandson of the famous Chief Red Cloud who won the Powder River War of 1866-68, who first introduced the young artist to the tales of Iktomi. What makes "Iktomi and the Ducks" particularly interesting to Goble is that while this story is told in many tales of Native American people from across the continent, there are two seemingly unrelated elements that almost always appear: the killing the ducks while they dance with their eyes closed and the trees rubbing together. Goble can only speculate as to why these ancient elements have survived in all the retellings of this tell across the centuries. Young readers will no doubt take this bit of information as a minor speed bump in enjoying the story today, but it is interesting to think about what significance they might have had for the ancient peoples of this land.

... and sorrows, too, as your child gets too 'mature' to sit on your lap and let you read the Iktomi stories to him or her. My son and I have just been sorting through his childhood books (he's a junior in high school), planning to give most of them away. When we came to the dozen or so Paul Goble books, particularly the Iktomi stories, we both exclaimed that "No! these couldn't go to Goodwill." For one thing, they are all beautifully produced - durable, well-printed, etc. - good enough to save for another generation. But mainly the memories we share of laughing at the folly of the boastful trickster Iktomi are too precious to let go.
Goble's many books for children retell legends and histories of the Native Americans of the Great Plains with wry wit and respect, and without a trace of ethnographic condescension. His art as a story-teller, however, is secondary to his art as an illustrator. There is a subtle quality of "Indian design" to his pictorial style, but he surpasses any other children's book illustrator I've ever seen in craftsmanship. Every page would catch your eye even on the museum wall next to the most acclaimed modern artists. I mean it! Paul Goble is a thrilling painter! A picture is worth a thousand words? Perhaps, but a thousand words aren't always worth a picture, so you'll have to see for yourselves. Even if you don't have a child yet or any more, treat yourself to an Iktomi book and read it to your cat or your begonia. You'll be enthralled.

Every spring in the late 1700's canoes would leave from Quebec and head for upper Lake Superior. At the same time trappers from deep in the central and Rocky Mountain regions of Canada would head for the same location with the fruits of their trapping labors over the winter. They would meet for a couple of weeks of trading and partying. Then they would laboriously paddle back to where they had come from.

Howard Silvertson captures this time with short clear descriptions and beautiful watercolors that really make the history come alive. It is a part of history that is often forgotten. It's fascinating to imagine what it was like to live in those times. This book captures the feeling. This book should be in every school library.

This book should be in all school libraries. The excellent illustrations bring the accurate text to life in a compelling way. I give 2-3 hr presentations in French or English as a voyageur. This book certainly covers more than I can in such a way. I would recommend it whole-heartedly as background for anyone interested in the period and the characters.

The poems in this volume are a delight for all ages. Grizzly to Teddy, to poems "bearing" the soul- this book journeys through a rich landscape of language. In Case of Bears is a treasure!

Replete with vivid landscapes, teeming with wildlife, charged with emotional power, IN CASE OF BEARS is the first collection by Peggy C. Hall, who transforms her transcontinental travels, roadside revelations, and encounters with wild animals (and wilder folks) into poetry. Her cross-country trek blazes a trail through Rockies, Bitterroots, Badlands, and Black Hills, to her summer home on Big Cedar Road - her own private Idaho - with its attendant dangers and delights. Hall faces the bears of her psyche, explores the philosophical dilemmas of the American West, and heralds the return of hero Gus Greenbear to the written page with all-new adventures! She cordially invites you to join her poetic wagon-train West!

This is an excellent historical account of a very dramatic event in the settling of the great plains. As I read this book, I was struck at the cultural differences and how there was no resolution other than violence.

It appears to be very accurate based on good research. I recommend this book to anyone that has an interest in the plains Indians or the Cheyenne breakout.

The collaborative effort of Vernon R. Maddux and Albert Glenn Maddux, and set just after the defeat of Custer at Little Bighorn, In Dull Knife's Wake: The True Story Of The Northern Cheyenne Exodus Of 1878 is the true story of 350 Cheyenne who, under the leadership of Chiefs Dull Knife and Little Wolf, escaped from the Oklahoma reservation to which the U.S. Government had forced them to move. The Cheyenne were fleeing starvation and disease, and striving to return to their traditional homelands. They frustrated the U.S. Army and brought terror to civilians caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. All sides of this harsh story of the American West are portrayed with evenhanded accuracy in this absorbing and compelling account. In Dull Knife's Wake is a seminal and strongly recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library Native American Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

I just began reading Reck's book and it seems to me that it will be very informative and enjoyable. I suppose I have no buisness writing a review when I haven't even completed the book, but I can recommend that Reck's voice be heard by all interested in the effects of globalization on independent cultures through the anthropological scope. I am in one of Reck's classes now, so I can put my word behind this novel. I know what he says is not only out of great knowledge of what he's talking about, but also of tremendous compassion for his subjects. Read this book.

I had the benefit of taking some of Dr. Reck's anthropology courses and reading this book. From what he tells me, there were many who were reluctant to call it anthropology at the time it was written because it was written as a story rather than a positivist ethnography written with a "voice from nowhere." One might criticize the book for not going far enough and demonstrating reflexivity by including himself within the text, but this is a minor point. This book conveys something about the culture in a readable way, which is the essence of a good ethnography in my opinion.

Hooray for Gordon McEwan and his fine book, "The Incas!" He tells us about the Inca and their cultural heritage in down-to-earth, easy-to-read language. McEwan covers the subject in 201 concise pages that provide a level of depth and breadth that should appeal to scholars, but contain enough background to orient someone new to the topic.

McEwan's extensive glossary is a terrific reference piece, and the index is very complete. Probably what I like the most about "The Incas," however, it its careful, scientific approach; the information is dependably well researched and devoid of speculation.

I would recommend "The Inca" to anyone interested in the Inca Empire, arm-chair travellers, and persons planning to travel to any part of the former Inca Empire, including Machu Picchu. The book will double your understanding, and consequently, your enjoyment, of the Inca culture.

Review of Gordon F. McEwan, The Incas, New Perspectives (ABC-CLIO, Inc, Santa Barbara 2006).

By Justice Greg Hobbs, Colorado Supreme Court, Denver.

Here's a book about the Incas written by a scholar who has spent twenty-six years working with Peruvian archeologists in the Cusco Valley to unearth the secrets of Pikillacta and Chokepukio.
The archeology of these two sites reveals a two-thousand year history of the Andean people's adaptation to a stunning and often harsh environment.
The Incas built their civilization on the cultural foundations of the Wari, Tiwanaku, and Pukara civilizations of the Lake Titcaca region, dating back as early as 200 B.C.
As McEwan documented in a 2002 National Geographic article, the Wari (500-1100 A.D.) operated Pikillacta as a ceremonial and administrative center. (Virginia Morell, "Empires Across The Andes," National Geographic at 123 (June 2002)).
At Pikillacta, you can see portions of the aqueduct the Wari built to convey water a great distance from the surrounding mountains. You can also see beehive-looking structures in which the Wari housed mummies of Andean ancestors. The nearby Chokepukio excavations have revealed a temple containing burials and artifacts documenting Inca religious rituals.
McEwan's important highly readable book about the Incas explains that the Andean people revered their ancestors. In life, the mummies had been political authorities. Their preservation was important to the continuation of land tenure and water rights in local communities. "Mummified ancestors were believed to bridge the gap between the natural and supernatural worlds . . . The mummy's most important function was to intervene in the spirit world in order to maintain the flow and abundance of water."
The Incas believed that springs and rivers harbored living spirits. They spread the ashes of fine-woven cloth and llamas upon the waters as a sacrifice. They built magnificent ceremonial and drinking water fountains at such places as Tipon (high above the Cusco Valley) and Machu Picchu (high above the Urubamba River). They harnessed stream and spring water for irrigation on ingeniously-constructed terraces that still hang in seemingly impossible ravines and mountain sides like Tipon, Moray, Pisac, and Machu Picchu.
The Incas built many granaries to feed the people in times of scarcity. These were carefully situated on slopes in dry areas with good drainage. They contained dried corn, quinoa, freeze-dried potatoes, beans, other vegetables, and seeds. The Incas also built large storehouses for holding cloth, tents, agricultural tools, and weapons. "The capacity of the storage system was staggering . . . Careful records were kept on the knotted cords of the quipu that could tell an Inca official at any time exactly how much of what commodity was stored in each of the storehouses."
When a new region was incorporated into the Inca empire, its lands were carefully surveyed and catalogued. The lands were divided into three sections, one part in service to the state religion, one part for the emperor, and the remaining part for sustenance of the local population. Herds of llamas and alpacas, and the pasturage for them, were also divided into thirds on the same basis.
The Incas exacted a labor tax for producing food and cloth and building the roads, agricultural terraces, water systems, palaces, temples, and administrative centers. Great care was taken to equally distribute the labor tax burden. Only a few men were taken out of each administrative unit for labor elsewhere. By keeping sufficient labor at home, the administrative units of the empire "could maintain agricultural output and not disrupt the economy. . . The underlying ideology was that of a reciprocal exchange. The state provided for the worker in exchange for the labor the worker gave the state."
McEwan explains that, when the ruling Inca died, his lands were reserved to him as a separate estate maintained by a cadre of attendants. This meant that the new Inca had to conquer more lands to obtain wealth for himself. As the empire expanded, those who were the greatest warriors among the ruling class became the Inca in succession. They often spent long periods of time on the frontier away from the capitol of Cusco. This led to unrest and rival factions that played directly into the Spanish conquest.
This book is highly readable because McEwan progresses from an overview of Inca civilization into chapters that deal with the environmental setting; historical setting; origins, growth and decline of Inca civilization; economic structure of the Inca state; social organization and structure; political structure; religion and ideology; material culture; and intellectual accomplishments.
The chapters contain many interesting subheadings, photographs, and illustrations. McEwan carefully cites the bibliography of Andean cultural research with endnotes to the chapters. He finishes the book with an assessment of major controversies and future directions in Inca studies.
McEwan knows from on-the-ground work what he writes about. In 2002, he was kind enough to lead me through the Pikillacta and Chokepukio sites. At the invitation of the Peruvian crew he hires from the local community, I witnessed a pago. On page 144 of his book, there's a photograph of a shaman preparing the about-to-be-burned offering to Pachamama (mother earth). The bundle I saw burned contained a lama fetus, an octopus tentacle, grain, candy, cookies, bits of yarn, coca leaves, and sea shells. I will never forget the sight and smell of smoke from this offering curling into the highlands.
As McEwan so aptly relates in this book, the Andean people still revere the earth, the mountains, the waters, and the sky.