Customer Reviews

American Indian Tribal Governments (Civilization of the American Indian Series)

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There is much to say in favor of this book. Its main focus is the operation of tribal governments. Because there is so much variety, the author looks at five representative governments in some detail--the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois League), the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, the Teton Sioux, the Pueblos, and the Yakimas (who since the publication of this book have revised the official spelling, using the name that appears in the treaty of 1855, Yakama). O'Brien wrote this book with the cooperation and assistance of those she was writing about.

In addition to this focus, the book has the best brief overview of Federal Indian policy I've seen anywhere (about 70 pages). Unlike most books on the subject, the book is amply illustrated with photographs and other images, as well as maps, graphs, and abundant sidebars.

I always use one or more texts on Federal Indian law and policy in my American Indian history courses. Students often call these books dry. When I have used O'Brien's book, students have praised the book and said they enjoy reading it.

This book focuses on six tribes, the Mississippi Choctaw, Iroquois League (Haudenosaunee), Muscogee (Creek), Lakota (Teton Sioux), Pueblo, and the Yakima. This is a nice mix of tribes from all regions of the country except Alaska. These are all relatively large tribes, so the experiences of smaller tribes aren't really reflected here.

O'Brien emphasizes the history of all American Indians as well as the history of her six featured tribes. These histories are fine for a textbook, but many of these stories are better told elsewhere. It would be sad to rely on this book for a history of Wounded Knee, for example.

She emphasizes formal government structures of these tribes and not how politics really works on each reseravation. This would be like presenting the powers of the US presidency without giving examples of how Reagan, Clinton or Bush used these powers in recent years, and how these presidents struggled with Congress and other players to increase their powers. There are merits to O'Brien's purely structural approach but I would prefer more discussion of intratribal debates and politics. For a much more political book that also includes a discussion of formal government structures, I'd recommend Lopach et al, Tribal Government Today.

As you'd expect from a textbook, O'Brien emphasizes factual material. She writes well, so that this material is not dry. She is politically sympathetic to the tribes but does not have any ideological axe to grind. She wrote her study with the cooperation of the tribes she studied, and I would think that they would be happy with how they are treated in the book.

There are also extensive photographs, which help maintain reader interest. The margins include many quotations from other authors or from relevant statutes or treaties. While the pictures were a welcome feature, I found the textual marginalia distracting.

All in all, a perfectly fine textbook.

Sharon O'brian replaced the juicy radical language of most books written on American Indian-US government relations such as Custer Died For Your Sins with the text of acts of congress, Supreme Court decisions, and presidential administration policies. Included also is a chapter on European land claims and conflicts that arose between them and the Indians and amongst themselves. It is none of it controversial, all of it educational. It's an excellent guide for anyone claiming to be a U.S. historian.