American Indians and National Parks [Paperback]

Robert H. Keller (Author), Michael F. Turek (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1999

Many national parks and monuments tell unique stories of the struggle between the rights of native peoples and the wants of the dominant society. These stories involve our greatest parks—Yosemite, Yellowstone, Mesa Verde, Glacier, the Grand Canyon, Olympic, Everglades—as well as less celebrated parks elsewhere. In American Indians and National Parks, authors Robert Keller and Michael Turek relate these untold tales of conflict and collaboration. American Indians and National Parks details specific relationships between native peoples and national parks, including land claims, hunting rights, craft sales, cultural interpretation, sacred sites, disposition of cultural artifacts, entrance fees, dams, tourism promotion, water rights, and assistance to tribal parks. Beginning with a historical account of Yosemite and Yellowstone, American Indians and National Parks reveals how the creation of the two oldest parks affected native peoples and set a pattern for the century to follow. Keller and Turek examine the evolution of federal policies toward land preservation and explore provocative issues surrounding park/Indian relations. When has the National Park Service changed its policies and attitudes toward Indian tribes, and why? How have environmental organizations reacted when native demands, such as those of the Havasupai over land claims in the Grand Canyon, seem to threaten a national park? How has the Park Service dealt with native claims to hunting and fishing rights in Glacier, Olympic, and the Everglades? While investigating such questions, the authors traveled extensively in national parks and conducted over 200 interviews with Native Americans, environmentalists, park rangers, and politicians. They meticulously researched materials in archives and libraries, assembling a rich collection of case studies ranging from the 19th century to the present. In American Indians and National Parks, Keller and Turek tackle a significant and complicated subject for the first time, presenting a balanced and detailed account of the Native-American/national-park drama. This book will prove to be an invaluable resource for policymakers, conservationists, historians, park visitors, and others who are concerned about preserving both cultural and natural resources.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Selected as one of the best environmental books for 2001 by planeta.com" "One of the best overall views of this subject yet se7en. . . . A well-researched and fascinating history detailing the often-tense relationship between American Indian tribal communities and the massive bureaucracy of the National Park Service." —The Public Historian "Former National Parks Director Russell Dickinson once said that he didn't know of 'a single major national park or monument . . . in the western part of the United States that doesn't have some sort of Indian sacred area.' . . . This study by two scholars of Indian cultures argues against 'the stereotypes of Indian-as-ecologist/Indian-as-victim.' " —Washington Post Book World "Almost every chapter was a surprise and an education. . . . This book causes us to reexamine present-day stereotypes, but it is not so much about Indian stereotypes as it is about the National Park Service and environmental stereotypes. We have long held certain values about wildlands in high esteem, sometimes to the exclusion of the rights of native peoples. Fortunately, this is a trend that is reversing, and American Indians & National Parks also seeks to encourage the progress that is being made. . . . It is the accurate appreciation of these histories and optimism for future successes that make this book a must for any professional working on wilderness preservation issues." —Environmental Practice

From the Inside Flap

Many national parks and monuments tell unique stories of the struggle between the rights of native peoples and the wants of the dominant society. These stories involve our greatest parks—Yosemite, Yellowstone, Mesa Verde, Glacier, the Grand Canyon, Olympic, Everglades—as well as less celebrated parks elsewhere. In American Indians and National Parks, authors Robert Keller and Michael Turek relate these untold tales of conflict and collaboration. American Indians and National Parks details specific relationships between native peoples and national parks, including land claims, hunting rights, craft sales, cultural interpretation, sacred sites, disposition of cultural artifacts, entrance fees, dams, tourism promotion, water rights, and assistance to tribal parks. Beginning with a historical account of Yosemite and Yellowstone, American Indians and National Parks reveals how the creation of the two oldest parks affected native peoples and set a pattern for the century to follow. Keller and Turek examine the evolution of federal policies toward land preservation and explore provocative issues surrounding park/Indian relations. When has the National Park Service changed its policies and attitudes toward Indian tribes, and why? How have environmental organizations reacted when native demands, such as those of the Havasupai over land claims in the Grand Canyon, seem to threaten a national park? How has the Park Service dealt with native claims to hunting and fishing rights in Glacier, Olympic, and the Everglades? While investigating such questions, the authors traveled extensively in national parks and conducted over 200 interviews with Native Americans, environmentalists, park rangers, and politicians. They meticulously researched materials in archives and libraries, assembling a rich collection of case studies ranging from the 19th century to the present. In American Indians and National Parks, Keller and Turek tackle a significant and complicated subject for the first time, presenting a balanced and detailed account of the Native-American/national-park drama. This book will prove to be an invaluable resource for policymakers, conservationists, historians, park visitors, and others who are concerned about preserving both cultural and natural resources. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 319 pages
• Publisher: University of Arizona Press (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816520143
• ISBN-13: 978-0816520145
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #616,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended contribution to Native American studies., April 6, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Indians and National Parks (Paperback)

Beginning with Yosemite and Yellowstone, American Indians & National Parks explains how the creation of these two oldest national parks affected native peoples and set a pattern followed with the subsequent creations of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore; Canyon de Chelly; Chaco Culture National Historical Park; Death Valley National Monument; Everglades National Park; Glacier National Park; Glen Canyon; Grand Canyon National Park; Mesa Verde National Park; Monument Valley Tribal Park; Navajo National Monument; Olympic National Park; Pipe Spring National Monument; Rainbow Bridge National Monument; and Wupatiki National Monument. Robert Keller and Michael Turek collaborate to show how and why the National Park Service changed its policies and attitudes toward Native American tribes, the response of environmental organizations to native demands, and how the park service dealt with native claims to hunting and fishing rights in Glacier, Olympic, and Everglades National Parks. American Indians & National Parks is a carefully researched, ably presented reference that is highly recommended to students of Native American studies, environmentalists, and National Park Service operatives.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read, July 24, 2001

By 

Ron Mader "Planeta.com Founder" (Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Indians and National Parks (Paperback)

(Planeta.com Journal) - One of the most influential books this year, this work examines the relationship of parks and Indian cultures. Remarkably, this story has not been well told -- until now. The authors point out that "one can find thousands of books about American Indians, a considerable body of literature about natural parks, but almost nothing linking the two." The book draws on extensive research and more than 200 interviews with Native Americans, environmentalists, park rangers and politicians. It also asks important questions such as what are the obligations owed to those displaced by park creation and do aboriginal people have special rights to their homelands. This book is one of the year's must reads.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Further light on a subject previously ignored, November 4, 2004

By 

Ranger Reub (Cedar City, UT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Indians and National Parks (Paperback)

The National Park Service, throughout most of its history, has treated American Indians as museum pieces suspended in time - colorful, nostalgic versions of environmentalists (239-242). In books about national parks, even as late as 1989, Native Americans were seen as artifacts and scenery more than people. To correct this oversight, Robert Keller and Micheal Turek add a much-needed chapter to Native American history with their book American Indians and National Parks. Keller and Turek explain that the relationship between American Indians and the National Park Service has been one fraught with contradiction and exploitation.

Surprisingly, the official policy of Congress since the 19th century has been to promote American Indians and protect their welfare (18). As in nearly all areas of the United States, the contrary happened to Indians in national parks. Philetus Norris, the second superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, in his order for Indian expulsion, decreed that park land was not Indian country, that Indians feared geysers and that Yellowstone is "for the use and enjoyment of all Americans" (24). Early national park leaders felt pressure to conform to popular ideals of nature. Those perceptions excluded Native Americans, which fell decidedly against the notion that national parks were for the use and enjoyment of all Americans and official Congressional policy. How could national parks claim to be created for the enjoyment all Americans when they shunned the first Americans - American Indians?

Another way Congress's directive towards Native Americans became contradicted was in the National Park Service's presentation of Indian history through its interpretive programs. Mesa Verde National Park's programs exclude Ute history, largely because of ongoing disputes with the tribe over land issues. Interpretation of modern Indian life in national parks has been an afterthought (42). Early park directors and superintendents knew little about natives (28). Native American names abound in national parks, but many of their meanings are mute to visitors. Only in the last 15 years has the NPS increased its awareness and sensitivity towards American Indians, but bitterness still prevails as past wounds slowly heal.

Economic exploitation of national parks even affected Native Americans. Concessionaires used tribal images of the Blackfeet, whose ancestral land became Glacier National Park, in park promotion. Louis Hill, president of the Great Northern Railroad featured images of Blackfeet warriors to proliferate the Indian mystique on the railroad's advertisements, calendars and in lodge décor. Hill hired natives to perform for tourists by drumming, dancing and signing postcards. Hill directed the natives to be friendly, "have good costumes, put on a good show, and live in peace and harmony" (57). The Blackfeet became a living exhibit for park visitors when Hill directed a few tribal families to inhabit teepees on the lawn of the East Glacier Hotel. Even the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) protested such exploitation. Later the BIA compromised by requiring employers utilizing Indians for exhibition purposes to sign contracts and supply the natives with food, transportation and medical care. Once a noble tribe, at the dawn of the twentieth century the Blackfeet surrendered to the encroachments of capitalism and mythic images in what many Americans might consider the most unlikely of places - a National Park.

American Indians and National Parks tells essentially the same story in different locales - Native Americans being exploited and excluded at the hands of American bureaucracy and capitalism. Keller and Turek's narrative is engaging and makes it clear the two are passionate about their subject matter, even to the point of editorializing on occasion and encouraging any reader who so desires to add to the body of work on the natives' relationship with the NPS. The book does suffer from factual misrepresentation, such as identifying Heber J. Grant as a "Mormon bishop" when in actuality he was president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Despite its few shortcomings the volume adds needed depth to a subject previously ignored.