Customer Reviews

As Long As the Rivers Flow: The Stories of Nine Native Americans

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Gunn and Smith struggled valiantly to shape a collection of 9 biographies of Native American achievers, blending the historical and the personal in a somewhat old-fashioned style of narration that young people will find attractive. The biographical sketches review the life and achievements of Weetamoo, an Indian woman who figured in very early white-Indian skirmishes, Geronimo, Will Rogers, Jim Thorpe, Maria Tallchief, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Wilma Pearl Mankiller, Michael Naranjo (Vietnam War Veteran), and Louise Erdrich. Yet, this reviewer believes that most libraries will not want to purchase it this book. First of all, the title picks up an egregious lie that appeared in many treaties that were later broken. The authors admit knowing this but used it anyhow. The persons pictured, for the most part, became successful in the white world on white terms. In the story of Jim Thorpe, Gunn and Smith tell of a battle in which 300 Sac and Fox Indians were killed, and include parenthetically a comment by Lincoln that, during his war experience at this time, he "could not remember meeting any enemy except mosquitoes." The authors refer to the disparaging term "blanket Indians," which is very nearly as offensive as the n word to black Americans. They say that Quakers forced an Indian young person to do indoor chores but provide little context. They comment that Senator Campbell made jewelry but never got to the point of selling it for income; also, that he was married in a sleazy wedding chapel. The authors refer, directly or indirectly, to disparaging stereotypes this reviewer has not heard for half a long lifetime: laziness, drunkenness, and unwillingness to embrace reasonable white demands for education, private ownership of land, and relocation to urban areas. They may not have intended to offend, but they have a glaring lack of intuitive sense of what Native American culture is all about today. Add this to the unattractive packaging of the book--black and white portraits, large print, and narrow margins. Schools should reject this collection.

Did you know Will Rogers was American Indian? Want to know about Balancine's wife? Read this book. It's good