The American Indian Mind in a Linear World: American Indian Studies and Traditional Knowledge [Paperback]

Donald Fixico (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415944570 | ISBN-13: 978-0415944571 | Publication Date: June 20, 2003 | Edition: 1

Currently, there are three approaches to studying American Indians: from how white Americans approach Indian studies; from the dynamics or exchange of Indian-white relations; from the Indian point of view. Donald Fixico, an American Indian, has been teaching and writing history for a quarter of a century. This book is the direct result of his experience as a scholar who 'thinks like an Indian' in an academic environment created predominantly by non-Indian thinkers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Donald Fixico, a leading historian of the indigenous experience, writes with a powerful voice from Indian Country. His provocative message about Indian ways of thought should be considered by anyone interested in Native American Studies.
–Peter Mancall, University of Southern California

This provocative and courageous work by a leading American Indian scholar makes an important contribution to American intellectual and cultural history. It provides a valuable synthesis of key ideas and insightful introductions to major individuals, programs, and institutions. Donald Fixico has written an honest, searching, and significant book.
–Peter Iverson, Arizona State University

Drawing on both personal experience and the abundant literature on Native Americans, Donald Fixico argues for the uniqueness of the American Indian mind, which he characterizes as representing a visual and circular philosophy based on relationship to the natural world. The book is a call for American Indian intellectual sovereignty and for the importance of perpetuating tradition to maintain identity in the modern world.
–Raymond J. DeMallie, Indiana University

Written from an American Indian point of view, The American Indian Mind in a Linear World is a searing critical multidisciplinary review and analysis of the differences existing between the Indian and Anglo-American mind..
–Leonard Bruguier, University of South Dakota

About the Author

Donald L. Fixico is the Thomas Bowlus Distinguished Professor of American Indian History, CLAS Scholar, director of the Indigenous Nations Studies Program and Center, and editor of Indigenous Nations Studies Journal at the University of Kansas. He is an American Indian (Shawnee, Sac and Fox, Muscogee Creek, Seminole).

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (June 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415944570
• ISBN-13: 978-0415944571
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #456,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The American Indian Mind in a linear World", February 6, 2007

By 

Jon C. Drolshagen "JDBlueOwl" (Turtle Island) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The American Indian Mind in a Linear World: American Indian Studies and Traditional Knowledge (Paperback)

The importance of this book may well be over looked by those who need the information most. Historians, Anthropoligists, and myriad teachers. Finally someone has set to print the causes of many misunderstandings twixt the European mindset and the thought patterns of the Original People (OP). Fixico has accomplished a task long time coming. The neuances that the OP take as givens are all but lost on those bound by linear thinking. The world view of The OP when compared with White European Males (WEMs) is such that one is compareing a handful of dirt (WEMs) while the other (OP) is thinking of the Universe.
WEMs have no problem destroying the earth not realizing, as the OP do, that the earth is not all forgiving. WEMs can not wrap their munds around spatial thinking and the OP choose not to do otherwise. The all inclusive universe is considered on all levels by the OP. WEMs do not approach many levels. I'm not quite sure if this can be changed as it takes a great deal of faith in something other than a dollar.
I watch in amazement and wonderment at times as people try to understand what I'm saying. Too me everything is connected with everything else.
Thanx Fixico and may he always Walk in Beauty. You too