North American Indians: A Comprehensive Account

The book came super fast which I was very glad of because my class was going to start in a week. Also it is in very good condition. What I don't like about the actual book is that it is very preachy about how the Natives were wronged, which while true I enjoyed more the information about the pasts in early AD times of Native nations.

Recently I took an class on Native American history which used this as the textbook. Its a decent book for getting an introduction to the Nations of North America though it doesn't always go into as much detail as it could, and it tends to only focus on major events. So its nice for getting a broad picture, but not for focusing in on the finer details. As with most books on the subject, things are arranged by "culture groups" or "regions" though the opening chapter is focused on the early history, archaeology, paleo-Indians and a history of anthropology in the Americas.From there it goes on to the Nation-states of Mexico, the Greater Southwest, the Southeast, the Northeast, the Prarie-Plains, California and the Rockies, the Pacific Northwest and the Arctic/Subarctic. Each region opens with a timeline, showing major events and focuses in on history from the archaeic periods to the modern era with a look at specific Nations thrown in. These are peppered with photographs, illustrations, maps and accounts from Native peoples themselves or looks at specific topics like Sequoyah, the Ghost Dance or peace treaties. Obviously some of these chapters are a little pressed, such as the Southwest which focuses on the ancient Hohokam, Mogollan and Anasazi civilizations alongside the Pueblos, Yumans, Yaqui, Tohono O'odham and Athapaskans (Navajo and Apache); all greatly different from one another despite living in the same "cultural area". Conversely, the chapter on the Southeast flowed more or less seemlessly through the archaeic period to the Mound Builder civilizations to the Five Civilized Nations and the Powhatan Confederacy of historic times. Closing out each chapter is a list of recommended further readings on the subject, going into further depth. I recognized some of the titles and must admit that the list is quite good.After that it focuses in on the modern American Indian community in the United States and Canada, covering basically the whole 20th century. This is a really nice chapter, but the fact that its so small and has so much to cover really kind of irked me. Yes, I do think it was important of them to stress the pan-Indian awareness that has arisen recently, and yes the First Nations face many similar situations everywhere from the Black Hills to Nunavat to the Navajo Nation, but still each part of this continent is different and there is so much diversity that its hard to really make any general blanket statements. Even about the last 100 years. It then closes out with a short chapter on anthropology and the American Indian. This is an interesting chapter, examining things such as the languages of North America, but again a bit too short. All in all though I would have to say this was an excellent introductary text and certainly worthwhile for understanding North Americn history. Just not the best thing for particular Nations.

This is an extremely thorough account of different American Indian tribes. This is a must have for anyone interested or studying anthropology or Native American studies. Every chapter centers on a different geographical location and the different tribes in those areas. I recommend this highly.