From the award-winning author of Children of the Dustbowl comes a sobering look at two of the most frequently romanticized events in American history. For the native peoples of California, the period from 1769, when the first Spanish Mission was founded, to the 1850s, when the Gold Rush was at its height, was one of terrible violence and destruction. First, Spanish priests and soldiers sought to convert the Indians to Christianity and a "civilized" way of life. Yet for the Indians the story of the missions was one of hunger, disease, rebellion, and death. Then, during the Gold Rush, Indians were frequently kidnapped, murdered, and sold into slavery by white settlers. By the end of the nineteenth century, the surviving California Indians had been forced onto reservations and their way of life had been largely destroyed. With maps, a timeline, and glossaries on California's Indian tribes and mission history, Jerry Stanley tells the story of modern California from the poignant perspective of the Native American.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up. This attempt to tell the story of California's Native people falls short of its goal. The text is divided into three parts: Indian life before white contact, the Mission period of Spanish colonization, and the Gold Rush when hordes of American adventurers overran the fledgling state. This book tells children what most school texts gloss over, that the Missions were essentially slave-labor camps and that the new state government tried to exterminate Native Californians by encouraging massacres of whole tribes. Quotes from contemporary writers express the violence and racism of the times, while the voices of those whites who objected give depth to this story of exploitation and genocide. Unfortunately, the section on traditional Indian life suffers from factual inaccuracies and condescending descriptions of what is a rich, varied, and highly structured Native culture. Tribes are misplaced geographically, generalizations abound, and Indian life is mischaracterized this way: "Mostly they ate, slept, gambled, played, and made love." Thoughts and feelings are attributed without basis in historical fact. The origin of the term "digger Indian" is explained, but not the fact that this is a highly offensive racial epithet. Even the cover is a stereotype, a scowling "Indian" face in red and black. These shortcomings may be explained by the bibliography and acknowledgments; the author failed to consult the people whose history he tried to write. Clifford Trafzer's California's Indians and the Gold Rush (Sierra Oaks, 1990) is far more limited in scope, but integrates cultural perspectives and shows Indians not as romanticized victims, but as people responding to profound social change.?Carolyn Lehman, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Inside Flap
From the award-winning author of Children of the Dustbowl comes a sobering look at two of the most frequently romanticized events in American history. For the native peoples of California, the period from 1769, when the first Spanish Mission was founded, to the 1850s, when the Gold Rush was at its height, was one of terrible violence and destruction. First, Spanish priests and soldiers sought to convert the Indians to Christianity and a "civilized" way of life. Yet for the Indians the story of the missions was one of hunger, disease, rebellion, and death. Then, during the Gold Rush, Indians were frequently kidnapped, murdered, and sold into slavery by white settlers. By the end of the nineteenth century, the surviving California Indians had been forced onto reservations and their way of life had been largely destroyed. With maps, a timeline, and glossaries on California's Indian tribes and mission history, Jerry Stanley tells the story of modern California from the poignant perspective of the Native American.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Digger is a definitive work on California Missions.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Digger: The Tragic Fate of the California Indians from the Missions to the Gold Rush (Hardcover)
Jerry Stanley has written a much needed book on the California Missions and the effect they had on the lives the Native Americans of California. Stanley conducts first-rate research and carefully documents his work. A "must read" book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Should be mandatory for CA grade school kids studying the Mission era,
By
This review is from: Digger: The Tragic Fate of the California Indians from the Missions to the Gold Rush (Hardcover)
I bought this book for my daughter's 4th grade class to supplement and challenge the standardized 'pablum' on the politically correct view of CA mission history. You'd be suprised how difficult it was to find an alternative history book with this perspective for grade schoolers. It's not perfect. We cherry picked relevant chapters.
It's about time more revisionist books for this time period and and grade level get published.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Carefully researched, thoroughly absorbing work,
By A Customer
This review is from: Digger: The Tragic Fate of the California Indians from the Missions to the Gold Rush (Hardcover)
Jerry Stanley has written another carefully researched, thoroughly absorbing work, this time concerning the fate of the California Indians, who had to contend with both the Mission Settlement and the Gold Rush. Opening with a description of their lifestyle and culture before the impact of the white man, the book is not only an invaluable resource for the student, but also a compelling read for anyone wishing more information about this sorry time in American history.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
