Book Description
Insightful, rarely told history of Indian courage in the face of White expansionism in the 19th century. Truth-telling tale of the ruthless brutality that forced the Native American population into resettlement camps and reservations, with a look at the few white Americans who fought to help them.
Customer Reviews:
A Masterpiece - A Must-Read.......2007-09-04
I am a descendant of some Southeastern Native American tribe: Creek, Choctaw, or Cherokee. The record is cloudy, and my exact lineage is hard to pinpoint.
So it is that I commenced learning about the Trail of Tears, and this is the first book that I picked up in that endeavor, (as I was driving through Oklahoma and made a stop at the Cherokee Trading Post).
The story effects me, not as horribly and directly as it did my ancestors - but it's effect on me was as personal and offensive. The Trail of Tears stole my ancestry from me.
The book was hard for me to read for many reasons. It clutches at our assumptions about American history. It gets us into the human side of that ugly chapter in our past, almost as though CNN were there covering it. It fomented within me terrible emotions regarding one of my American heroes: Andrew Jackson. I cannot think of another man I admire, Zachary Taylor, in quite the same way anymore!
Gloria Jahoda's The Trail of Tears started me down my own path, and helped me answer some of my most poignant questions: I think that my ancestors were most likely Creeks, for instance, and this helps. But I also now know how they were living in the early 19th Century - that they were likely settled farmers or craftspeople living at peace with their neighbors. I know that they were likely Christians, practicing the faith in ways the Europeans could only imagine. I know that somewhere there was a Scotch-Irish frontiersman who became my paternal ancestor.
The genealogist seeking answers about Native American roots will not be able to go back very many generations, before running into brick walls. This is sad and frustrating.
The answer is to be found in excellent histories like this.
But I have not said anything yet about the quality of writing, depth of research, and the way she ties many different plots together into one relentless narrative.
And so - I urge all readers to read this book. And even moreso, students of American Indian Policy, and genealogists like myself that are seeking answers about our Native American ancestry.
An Important Chapter in American History.......2007-06-25
Trail of tears works well as a companion to Dee Brown's more famous book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. It tells much the same story about the eradication of Native American culture, except it deals with an earlier period and with the removal of tribes from the eastern part of the United States. It is a fascinating and disturbing chapter of American history, covered in an accessible style that makes this chapter in history available to all. My only complaint is that the book tends to paint a very black and white picture of a very complex period in history. All white American were not evil and all Native Americans were not noble. However, the overall telling of history is fascinating and not commonly known. It is well worth reading, especially if the reader is aware of the prejudices expounded in the text.
A MUST READ!!.......2007-02-13
If there are only 2 books that you buy that relate to Native American history, they should be Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and THIS account of the Trail of Tears.
Two summers ago I decided to enter a t-shirt design for the Trail of Tears Commemorative Motorcycle Ride (which I won and I rode in). Before I could create a design for something so important, I decided that I should learn much more than I already knew about this HORRIBLE scar in our countries history.
As I talked to people, this book kept coming up, so I bought it. As soon as I opened it, I was pulled into the story- I couldn't put it down.
The title, while fitting, is a little misleading because the author doesn't just cover the journeys of the 5 nations that became known as the Trail of Tears - And that is definitely a great thing. The book begins well before the removal and covers many of the events that led up to it, thereby giving the reader a much better understanding of the how's and why's. It also covers the Cherokee political struggle in the US capital, trying to stop the removal from happening.
It's a sad story and has no happy ending, but it is something that everyone should read.
BTW- I'm not sure what "Eagles Soar" was reviewing...it didn't sound like it was this book though.
Trail of Tears Review.......2007-01-13
A great book. I wish everyone knew how the government treated the Cherokee.
Does not represent the true facts as they really were!.......2007-01-07
This movie was influenced by the writings of the white people. The costuming was not correct, as they Indians progressed down The Trail of Tears, their clothes would have been torn, dirty and tattered. They did not have all the nice blankets that the movie protrayed! Many Indians froze to death because of lack of clothing and warm coverings. If it was really been written by the Indians that were on the Trail of Tears, it would have been protrayed all together different. It would have shown the REAL truth about what happened, like in the book called the "End of the Trail of Tears". This book shows the REAL truth, written by a real Native American, and all the hardships that they had to endure during their forced removal to Oklahoma.
Book Description
In her first book for the Dear America series, acclaimed historical fiction writer Ann Turner brings readers the deeply affecting story of a Navajo girl on the long walk.
Customer Reviews:
Great but sad story .......2006-06-24
I enjoyed the story greatly. It was fun learning about tbe Navajos. I liked Sarah a lot. The Long Walk was completely heart breaking.
The Book that Chased Away Sorrow.......2006-03-16
I loved this book. It is about a young Navajo Girl who travels on the Trail of Tears. This book is a great story showing a followable example of courage, optomisticity (Is that a word?), strength, integrity, and individual worth. It also gives a lot of interesting information. I enjoyed this book because it was easy reading but it was exciting the suspensive at the same time.
Whites vs. Navajos.......2006-03-08
This book is about Sarah Nita and her sister . It starts out In their home a normal day. After coming back from the forest, herding their sheep closer to home, the sisters find that their family has been taken by the white men. Sarah Nita tells Sister that they need to head to tseyi, that they have family there. They travel many days and nights then finally arrive in tseyi, met by a miracle, their fathers family. Sarah Nita endures trouble as the white men come to round up the Navajos again. Everyone in the canyon is moved out for the long walk to the white mans fort. Along the way the book tells of the troubles that Sarah Nita and her family encounter, also of love stirring between her and High Jumper. When they arrive at the white mens fort they are treated with very little food and harsh conditions. I won't give away the ending for you.
I liked the book because it showed what really happened to the Navajos and so many Native Americans like them. I also liked Sarah Nita's stories and her courage too.
Whites vs. Navajos.......2006-03-08
This book is about Sarah Nita and her sister . It starts out In their home a normal day. After coming back from the forest, herding their sheep closer to home, the sisters find that their family has been taken by the white men. Sarah Nita tells Sister that they need to head to tseyi, that they have family there. They travel many days and nights then finally arrive in tseyi, met by a miracle, their fathers family. Sarah Nita endures trouble as the white men come to round up the Navajos again. Everyone in the canyon is moved out for the long walk to the white mans fort. Along the way the book tells of the troubles that Sarah Nita and her family encounter, also of love stirring between her and High Jumper. When they arrive at the white mens fort they are treated with very little food and harsh conditions. I won't give away the ending for you.
I liked the book because it showed what really happened to the Navajos and so many Native Americans like them. I also liked Sarah Nita's stories and her courage too. by: Logan Vincent
Beeee Swazy.......2004-05-27
TheGirl Who Chased Away Sarrow is a change in emotions that switches throught the story. The begining started out very slow and borning so we did not have any interest in it.So it draged until the middle. My friends say the middle was getting intesting and we read more about when sara nita,kaibah,silver coat, and their fathers side of the clan family got captured and put through the intense feeling of sarrow. I did not inpreticular like the part of the story when the white soilders mistreated the Dine.While the Dine travled many miles to reach nothing.
Book Description
From White Shield to Washington DC, new Indian wars are being fought by Ivy League–trained lawyers called Coyote Warriors—among them a Mandan/Hidatsa named Raymond Cross. Coyote Warrior tells the epic story of the three tribes that saved Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery from starvation, their century-long battle to forge a new nation, and the extraordinary journey of one man to redeem a father’s dream—and the dignity of his people.
Cross graduated from law school, and following his father’s death, returned home to resurrect his father’s fight against the federal government. His mission would lead him to Congress, which his father had battled forty years before, and into the hallowed chambers of the U.S. Supreme Court. There the great-great-grandson of Chief Cherry Necklace would lay at the feet of the nation's highest court the case for the sanctity of the United States Constitution, treaty rights, and the legal survival of Indian Country.
Customer Reviews:
Effective Native American Self-Determination.......2007-03-04
Considering that very few people will witness Raymond Cross's dynamism in person or read his eloquent legal briefs and law review articles, Paul VanDevelder's "Coyote Warrior" provides a persuasive account of another Native community's fight for justice in America. The legal struggles of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara peoples for their land and sovereignty, as seen from their standpoint, provides valuable insights into the institutionalized bad faith of federal Indian policy. The author achieved his goal of making the compelling story of three tribe's contentious political relationship with the United States accessible to a wider audience.
Is atonement possible?.......2006-05-20
This book is an eminently readable account of the disasters which befell the Arikara,Hidatsa and Mandan tribes when they were displaced by the damning of the Missouri.
It is also a disturbing revelation of the shenanigans of government, producing a sense of shame in those of us who look for"justice for all" from our representatives in DC.
It falls to bold Coyote Warriors,Martin Cross and later his brilliant son Raymond to combat in court,the injustices perpetrated on Native peoples.
As a piece of reporting VanDevelder's work is carefully phrased,occasionally lyrical, avoiding heavily loaded language.
It is also supplemented with an exhaustive bibliography(of which the author says there is more),one bound to satisfy demanding researchers.
Coyote Warrier: One Man, Three Tribes, and the Trial That Forged a Nation.......2005-07-20
An extraordinary look at the forces that disenfrnchised an Indian Nation from its heritage and its land. An insightful look into the destructive forces that rend family and community ties when frderal policies that de-humanize Native people are allowed to be implemented behind one man's ego, and a government's indifference. It is an all too familiar story -- well told -- of disenfranchisement of Indian people and governments. And finally, a story of the courage and incredible intellect of one families battle against irresistible forces.
An exceptional introduction to Indian legal rights and more.......2005-04-08
I have published an award-winning law review article on Federal Indian Law, worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (until I couldn't hold my nose any longer), and had the great good luck to learn Indian Law from Prof. Raymond Cross at The University of Montana School of Law. But Paul VanDevelder taught me new things about all three.
Mr. VanDevelder deftly explains some of the more arcane aspects of Federal Indian Law in a way that, at least for me, filled in more of the puzzle pieces - but while also making it easily accessible to even the non-professional. Mr. VanDevelder taught me that the Corps of Engineers can be even more insidious and arrogant than even I had suspected. And, given the good professor's reluctance to blow his own horn, Mr. VanDevelder taught me that merely having known Raymond Cross was far more an honor than I could have ever guessed.
If you have any curiosity about Indian legal rights, or seek understanding about the grave damage government administrators can do when they embody the worst kinds of ignorance, arrogance, and egomania, or merely hope to be inspired by a ripping good yarn about the undeniable perseverance of the human spirit, Coyote Warrior is your book.
The Law of the West.......2004-11-03
At first glance this book would appear to be a rather standard documentary of the struggles faced by a particular Indian nation. That is true to a certain extent, as the book covers the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara), who until the 1950s were the most successful and self-sufficient Indians in the country, then saw their productive lands disappear under a Missouri River reservoir. After forced relocation and disenfranchisement, and political bullying from government agencies pushing through water reclamation projects that were probably a giant boondoggle, the tribes went instantly from success to destitution and dependence on the government. VanDevelder illustrates their long-term suffering through the decades-long travails and heartbreaks of the Cross family, whose father Martin led a valiant but hopeless struggle to save the tribes' livelihood and culture. The story continues through their traumatic uprooting and torn connections to their community, up to the current successes of son Raymond who has become one of the leading Indian attorneys in the nation.
VanDevelder's extensive coverage of the careers of Martin and Raymond Cross is what makes this book unique, and much more than your typical respectful but depressing expose on current Indian affairs. VanDevelder unveils the extremely complicated nature of Indian law in general, with issues of sovereignty and broken treaties from centuries ago still mucking up court cases to this day. He also gives in-depth (though occasionally over-detailed) coverage of the particular legal maneuvers and challenges faced by the Three Affiliated Tribes and the Cross family, which thanks to the legal brilliance of Raymond and some powerful allies, finally resulted in partial justice after several decades of suffering and cultural ruination at the hands of the U.S. Government. VanDevelder writes of legal maneuvering and governmental shenanigans with a surprising amount of suspense, and somehow even makes a Supreme Court exploratory hearing seem dramatic. A bonus is VanDevelder's unique descriptions of legal precedents going back to medieval Europe in the thirteenth century, and the far-reaching historical development of Indian law in America to the present day. [~doomsdayer520~]
Average customer rating:
- This is a great book, "friends & brothers!"
- 19th Century Reality
- 19th Century Reality
- Best treatment of an oft-ignored topic
- Biography at its best
|
Andrew Jackson and His Indian Wars
Robert V. Remini
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Native American
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| 19th Century
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Colonial Period
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| United States
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| World
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Constitutions
| Government
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Cultural
| Anthropology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0670910252
Release Date: 2001-07-05 |
Amazon.com
Like many of his Scots-Irish contemporaries on the western frontier of the early United States, Andrew Jackson grew up despising and fearing his Indian neighbors. He proved to be a formidable enemy, campaigning against the Cherokee, Creeks, Chickasaws, and other peoples, some of them former allies against England in the Revolution and the War of 1812. In doing so, he established precedents that his compatriots would follow for the rest of the 19th century.
Robert Remini, the National Book Award-winning biographer of Jackson, here turns his attention to Jackson's relations with the Indian nations of the American South. Those relations, he writes, were tempered by the racism of the day, but, as both general and president, Jackson was also unusual in enforcing rights guaranteed to those nations by treaty, even in instances when he disagreed with the terms. Despite his sense of justice, Jackson kept to his conviction that "Indians had to be shunted to one side or removed to make the land safe for white people to cultivate and settle," and during his tenure as president he pursued a policy of forced removal through which the Indian nations were relocated to the so-called Indian territories west of the Mississippi River, which in turn would be overrun only a few years later.
Though critical of Jackson's policies and actions, Remini suggests that removal saved many of the eastern Indian nations from almost certain annihilation. That view, while capably argued, is controversial, and some scholars of American Indian history are sure to take issue with it. Still, this is a valuable addition to the historical literature, one of interest to general readers as well as Remini's fellow historians. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
The removal of Native Americans to the Indian Territory beyond the Mississippi River remains one of the most controversial events in U.S. history, and the man most responsible and widely blamed for this policy is Andrew Jackson. Hailed by The New York Times as "the foremost Jacksonian scholar of our time," Robert Remini now turns his attention to the single most controversial aspect of Jackson's long career. The first history to trace Jackson's involvement in decades of Indian conflicts, this book takes us through Jackson's entire life, from his early years as an Indian fighter in South Carolina and Tennessee to his victory in the Creek War in 1814, to his presidential years, when he set into motion the legislation that led to the Indian Removal Act, and, eventually, the Trail of Tears. Throughout, Remini demonstrates a masterful command of his subject and offers a thought-provoking and controversial defense of Jackson's strategy of removing the Indians. This book is sure to stimulate heated discussion among scholars and general readers alike.
An exuberant history in the great storytelling tradition, Andrew Jackson and His Indian Wars is also a sobering reminder of the violence and darkness at the heart of America's past.
Customer Reviews:
This is a great book, "friends & brothers!".......2007-07-15
Robert Remini is a fine historian. This has got to be amongst the best books in my American history collection. I use is as a reference often.
A couple or so readers complained that Robert Remini absolves Andrew Jackson of his inhumanity toward the Indians. I disagree. Remini writes that Jackson, like most Americans in his day, was a "racist." Jackson was convinced Native Americans were an inferior race.
Jackson, whether rightly or wrongly, came to believe the two peoples -- White Europeans and Native Americans -- could not co-exist in the same land. Thus Jackson got his 1830 Indian Removal Act through Congress which in time was responsible for the cruel and unmerciful expulsion of the Indians west of the Mississippi. Many died in the infamous Trail of Tears. Many were pillaged and ransacked prior to and during the expulsions by greedy White American predators.
Whites, according to Remini simply coveted Indian lands. "The urgency to bring about removal as quickly as possible increased with the discovery of gold in northeastern Georgia in the summer of 1829, bringing with it an avalanche of white squatters into Cherokee territory.
Remini catalogues treaty after treaty that the U.S. government consummated with the Indians and then treacherously violated.
Not only was the U.S. government racist but it was treacherous as were the American people in Jackson's day. Let's not forget, Jackson was elected twice and a very popular president indeed. Isn't his image and visage on our twenty dollar bill?
Thus, I do not understand the complaints by these couple or so readers.
19th Century Reality.......2007-05-26
This book provides a broad overview of the Indian problem that faced the young United States during the early 19th century. It provides an excellent qualitative overview that is easy to grasp. It does not bog down in excessive detail (an important feature for novice history buffs such as myself). This book demonstrates the harsh realities of early 19th century america. It demonstrates the difficult choices that needed to be made during the unrelenting westward expansion of white settlers. It provides an easy to understand explanation of the issues of national security related to the relationship between the British and Indian tribes (although I think this was underemphasized).
For those US citizens of the 21st century that reflect upon this period of history with a moralistic and politically correct attitude, try to remember that modern day americans do not have to live with the daily threat of invasion by a foreign power or the murder and scalping of friends and neighbors.
The formative years of our country were a difficult time that required difficult decisions and strong leadership. This book demonstrates how lucky we were to have Andrew Jackson take charge of the situation, take the required steps and create the foundation for a prosperous and safe 21st century america.
19th Century Reality.......2007-05-26
This book provides a broad overview of the Indian problem that faced the young United States during the early 19th century. It provides an excellent qualitative overview that is easy to grasp. It does not bog down in excessive detail (an important feature for novice history buffs such as myself). This book demonstrates the harsh realities of early 19th century america. It demonstrates the difficult choices that needed to be made during the unrelenting westward expansion of white settlers. It provides an easy to understand explanation of the issues of national security related to the relationship between the British and Indian tribes (although I think this was underemphasized).
For those US citizens of the 21st century that reflect upon this period of history with a moralistic and politically correct attitude, try to remember that modern day americans do not have to live with the daily threat of invasion by a foreign power or the murder and scalping of friends and neighbors.
The formative years of our country were a difficult time that required difficult decisions and strong leadership. This book demonstrates how lucky we were to have Andrew Jackson take charge of the situation, take the required steps and create the foundation for a prosperous and safe 21st century america.
Best treatment of an oft-ignored topic.......2006-11-13
This is one of the best studies of any of the American Indian wars in itself but also provides a unique glimpse at the complex character of Andrew Jackson. His faults and failures are not ignored but placed in the proper context of time and circumstances. Included is a fascinating study of his relationship with and great admiration for several Indian leaders. Biographies can become one-sided at times and tend to avoid contradictory behaviour in the individual. Not so in this book where Jackson is one moment compassionate and forgiving and the next cruel and vengeful. All the while, the author is careful to manage the apparent inconsistencies as different aspects of the same inner firey character.
It is, at the same time, a bit of obscure American history - perhaps because we would prefer to forget our own inconsistent behaviour as a people with respect to the Native Americans. This book provides a balanced view of two peoples locked in what seems an inevitable cultural war and ignoring the avenues of escape that seem now, in hindsight, all to open to them. It is a sobering story of some great American heroes, Andrew Jackson in particular but others as well from both sides of those wars. Very well done, easy to read, thorough in coverage, addictive in reading.
Biography at its best.......2004-02-27
This is a magnificent look at Andrew Jackson's war with the Native Americans. So many biographers bury their subject and forget that most readers what to know who their subject *was*, not merely what they *did.* Remini doesn't fall into this trap. He gives the reader a well-grounded and detailed look at Andrew Jackson as a man: his foibles, passions and prejudices, as well as his extreme ambition and vacillating brilliance.
Remini strikes a beautiful balance when examining Jackson's private life and military/political life. His examination of the Trail of Tears is absolutely riveting, and he weaves Jackson in and out of the narrative with rare poise and skill. The reader can actually picture Jackson in the midst of this conflict, feel his emotions and understand the decisions he made. When a biographer can paint such a vivid picture, the reader will always be rewarded.
This is an excellent book for the entire spectrum of people interested in Jackson. Whether you are a neophyte or an established Jacksonian historian, there is much to enjoy, as well as new material. The footnotes and bibliography are excellent resources and lead to additional sources for the reader. The minute I finished this, I bought the second volume, "Andrew Jackson: The Course of American Freedom, 1822-1832," also available here. This volume is truly an outstanding book
Book Description
The Hill and Wang Critical Issues Series: concise, affordable works on pivotal topics in American history, society, and politics.
This account of Congress's Indian Removal Act of 1830 focuses on the plight of the Indians of the Southeast--Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles--who were forced to leave their ancestral lands and relocate to what is now the state of Oklahoma. Revealing Andrew Jackson's central role in the government's policies, Wallace examines the racist attitudes toward Native Americans that led to their removal and, ultimately, their tragic fate.
Customer Reviews:
Best first step to learn about Indians........2007-05-06
I cannot say enough about the value of this book to me. I just finished it today and wish it had been MY first book in the subject. My topic of interest is 1832 and the settlement of West Tennessee. I have had scant real knowledge of the era or the place, but long harbored a yearning to know the actual facts as well as sentiment, national and local, of the early days of my home in Alabama and my adult home in West Tennessee. I have skirted the topic of the "Old Southwest," land grants, what effect statehood in Tennessee (1796)--the sixteenth state--had on anything, how were roads built and mail transferred. Now I'm getting closer to the subject and am very glad to know that time better...and be justly grateful.
I kinda sorta knew some of this story of settlement, so selected the topic of West Tennessee settlement for a creative writing project. And was it a winning subject!
Wallace is an accomplished writer with scores of books. It seems he has dedicated himself to the Indian topic; he is also an anthropologist. His short book portrays the essential characteristics of the colonial presidents and the Indians, then brings us up through Jackson's two administrations and the Indian Removal Act of Congress, 1830. The final chapter dips into all the other eastern tribal history and includes briefly 20th century changes with the Indians.
Other fine books of research have more recently been brought forward, specifically my other favorite, Waselkov, Gregory A., "A Conquering Spirit: Fort Mims and the Redstick War of 1813-1814." But Wallace's book, had I read it first, would have plugged me into the era from the start of my research and oriented my knowledge of history, inadequate though it has been. His mastery of style allowed me to read fluently and fast, and touched my heart, too, even to Old Hickory, whom we see by his actions as a compassionate man (sometimes) who had some really tough assignments, to say the least.
I look forward to reading other of Mr. Wallace's volumes. I also wholeheartedly recommend the book to good juvenile readers.
Robin S. Davis
Memphis, Tennessee
Perceptive examination of Jacksonian Indian policy.......2005-02-28
Few events in American history are as shameful as the removal of the Indians from the American Southeast in the 1830s. Despite prior treaties and remarkable success in assimilating American culture, the tribes in the region - Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles - were driven west by the voracious demand of Americans for land. In this book, Anthony Wallace provides a survey of the development of federal policy towards the tribes in the early 19th century and its impact upon them.
For much of the early 19th century, Indian policy was mired in a conflict between people advocating Indian "reform" (who saw Indians as capable of being taught the ways of white civilization) and proponents of a policy of removing Indians from land slated for settlement. The election of Andrew Jackson to the presidency in 1828 decided this conflict. A westerner with a reputation as an Indian fighter, Jackson sided with removal advocates, endorsing a bill that made removal to lands west of the Mississippi River federal policy.
Though supporters of removal argued that the policy was necessary given the unredeemable savagery of the Indians, as Wallace points out, the success of the tribes in the region undermined this justification. More dependent on agriculture than other tribes, the Indians of the Southeast had an easier time adapting to American cultural standards than their counterparts in other regions, with some tribal members even owning slaves. This didn't save them from removal however, and the Cherokees discovered just how hollow the promise of assimilation was when Jackson ignored a Supreme Court ruling that rejected Georgia's claim of state sovereignty over the Indians, thus depriving the tribes of the only hope of protection from expulsion. The result was the "Trail of Tears," the forced migration to Indian Territory that resulted in the deaths of thousands of Indians.
Wallace provides a summary of Jackson's Indian policy that is both balanced and readable. His coverage of white attitudes, which runs across the spectrum from the hostility of settlers to the sympathy of white missionaries, is refreshingly nuanced. His coverage of the Indians is equally good, and he pulls no punches in demonstrating the extent to which the tribal leadership was complicit in removal. Readers seeking to learn more about the "Trail of Tears" and the policies that brought it about would do well to start with this book.
Excellent, excellent, excellent.......2001-10-19
Simply the best work available on Indian Removal, in my opinion. It is highly regarded among academic historians. Wallace did a tremendous job of writing clearly and making the plight of the Indians understandable to anyone. It is short, it is lucid, it is interesting reading. Plus, it is balanced. This is not a work that treats Indians as childlike, passive victims, but it does convey the injustice and unnecessary hardships to which they were subjected. It also does not portray the government and non-Indian Americans simply as aggressors. It's an important work for understanding what happened to the tribes. It won't take a lot of your time, so do yourself a favor and read it.
A Book for Anyone.......2000-05-11
An Indian activist or just an amature historian, everyone should read this book. Though short, it gives an excellent narrative of the removal of Indians and their trama from the East by the American government. This book is amazingly well written and is for both students (like myself who read it in a class) or for casual readers. Please concider this book to find out more about the emerging stories of what really happened to Native Americans.
Book Description
For five consecutive generations, from roughly 1880–1980, Native American children in the United States and Canada were forcibly taken from their families and relocated to residential schools. The stated goal of this government program was to "kill the Indian to save the man." Half of the children did not survive the experience, and those who did were left permanently scarred. The resulting alcoholism, suicide, and the transmission of trauma to their own children has led to a social disintegration with results that can only be described as genocidal.
Ward Churchill is the author of A Little Matter of Genocide, among other books. He is currently a Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Customer Reviews:
interesting subject-uninspiring author.......2006-01-13
This book covers a facinating and underexamined area of US history. I was very much looking forward to reading it. The author clearly is extremely well-educated on this subject. The problem is -- he's boring. Ward Churchill writes like your typical college professor who turned you off history forever by being pedantic and uninspiring. I've worked as a book editor in the past and I have found that often the more education a writer has the worse his or her books are. Churchill seems to be underlining his scholarship with tediousness and seems to be over his head in information with no way to convey it in an readable manner. His editor should be fired for not making this book comprehensible to a wider audience. It isn't a doctoral thesis, for crying out loud. It's a disappointing treatment of what should have been an enlightening and educating experience. I wish I'd saved my money and hope, considering all the books Churchill has listed on Amazon, that he has, or will, learn to write well.
A core contribution to Native American Studies .......2005-03-10
From 1880 to 1980 the families of Native Americans were cruelly disrupted by the United States and Canadian governments who forcibly removed children from their homes and relocated them in residential schools. The stated goal of this intrusive and brutal governmental program was to "kill the Indian to save the man". Half of the children died in this process of cultural remodeling refashioning aboriginal children into the clothing, hairstyles, attitdudes, and langauges of the larger white culture, and those who survived were often left permanently scarred resulting in alcoholism, suicide, and the transmission of trauma to succeeding generations down to the present day. A core contribution to Native American Studies curriculums and academic library reference collections, Ward Churchill (a Keetowah Cherokee and Professor of American Indian Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder) clearly lays out this unhappy chapter in Native American history with considerable detail and expertise in Kill The Indian, Save The Man: The Genocidal Impact Of American Indian Residential Schools.
Book Description
In 1838, Nellie Starr, a young Cherokee girl, is caught in the political upheaval of America's westward expansion. Forced by U.S. soldiers to leave their home in Tennessee, Nellie, her family, and thousands of other Cherokees travel the long, dangerous "Trail of Tears" to a new home in the Indian Territory of modern-day Oklahoma. Using actual historical events as a backdrop, this brand-new children's novel teaches lessons of American history and the Christian faith. Can Nellie learn to forgive the people who've turned her world upside down? Nellie the Brave is a compelling read for girls ages eight to twelve.
Book Description
The updated and revised second edition of American Encounters features new essays from the vibrant field of Native American studies and the classic essays on early Native American history from the first edition. Over the past thirty years, historians, anthropologists, and other scholars have transformed our understanding of the history of North America's native people between first contact with Europeans in 1492 and the era of Indian removal in the early 19th century. This essential anthology offers comprehensive yet focused coverage on a wide range of topics, including contact, exchange, disease, religion, and warfare.
Customer Reviews:
A Deeper Understanding.......2003-12-30
A dispassionate, scholarly look at what happened in North America to its native peoples when the Europeans arrived. The book spans 1500 to 1850, the latter being essentially before the American Civil War. It concentrates on events inside the present day United States. You should be aware that there is little coverage of Mexico and the Canadas. Lest you think this restrictive, remember that we are still referring to a span of 350 years and the US. Given this vast field in time and space, the book does not claim comprehensiveness. What it does have are chapters on numerous aspects of the encounters. Intermarriage, religion, trading, disease and, of course, war and the forced relocation of the few survivors.
There is coverage not just of the eastern seaboard, with the well known incidents at Plymouth and the selling of Manhattan. Also presented are chapters on the Spanish incursions and settlements in the South West. The chapters strive to go beyond the stereotypical, marginal roles played by the natives in standard histories. You can get some understanding of the intricacies of their societies and the range of their dealings with the Europeans. There is, though, a continual frustration; which is not the fault of the authors. The written records we have are overwhelmingly those left by the settlers. We can only wonder now at what was never recorded directly by the natives, and which has been irretrievably forsaken to the nameless dust of history.
Books:
- Unburnable: A Novel
- What Life Was Like in the Lands of the Prophet: Islamic World, Ad 570-1405 (What Life Was Like)
- When, Where, Why, and How It Happened (Readers Digest)
- World History in Brief: Major Patterns of Change and Continuity, Volume I (to 1450) (Book Alone) (5th Edition)
- A History of World Societies: Since 1500
- A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
- A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962 (New York Review Books Classics)
- Afro-American History: Primary Sources (History)
- After Fidel: Raul Castro and the Future of Cuba's Revolution
- After the Fact, with Primary Source Investigator CD
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind
- Twentieth-Century Russian and East European Painting: The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection
- Tax Progressivity and Income Inequality
- The Inclusion of the Other: Studies in Political Theory
- The Heroic Symphony
- We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live: Collected Nonfiction
- The View from Bald Hill: Thirty Years in an Arizona Grassland
- Trends in the Hotel Industry: USA Edition 2001
- Real-Time Embedded Multithreading: Using ThreadX and ARM
- Non-Renewable Resources Extraction Programs and Markets
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation
Voices from the Trail of Tears (Real Voices, Real History Series)
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse
Lakota Woman
