Everyday Life Among the American Indians: 1800 to 1900 (Writer's Guide to Everyday Life Series) [Paperback]

Candy Vyvey Moulton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2001

Writers will save hours of valuable research time and bring a richness and historical accuracy to their work as they reference the slice-of-life facts depicted for each of these major time periods. Each book contains descriptions of the period's food and clothes; customs and slang; occupations; common religious and political practices; and other historical details.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The Everyday Life series helps writers, students and researchers save valuable time and bring richness and historical accuracy to their work. Each guide describes the food, clothes, customs, slang, occupations, religions, politics and other historical details that are so often difficult to find.

About the Author

Candy Moulton is the author of Everyday Life in the Wild West and has had articles and photographs published in Time, Travel and Leisure, Southwestern Art and The Denver Post. She is the editor of the Western Writers of America's Roundup magazine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books (March 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898799961
• ISBN-13: 978-0898799965
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,443,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars huge range of information, December 12, 2001

By 

rhonva (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Everyday Life Among the American Indians: 1800 to 1900 (Writer's Guide to Everyday Life Series) (Paperback)

I am a fan of the "Everyday Life" series, and this is the most detailed of them that I have seen. I was impressed. It has more information over a wider variety of topics than I expected, especially considering that this is such a broad subject.

This, however, is also the book's weakness. The author was asked to cover such a massive range of information (the 'everyday life' of every American Indian tribe within a hundred-year period) that she would have needed three times the page count to do each tribe justice.

Most chapters (Family Life, Wars, Weapons and Treaties, Clothing and Accessories, etc.) are divided into geographical area, with information about the tribes in that area mixed within the section. For example, under Family Life, Great Basin, we find paragraphs on the birthing traditions of the Shoshane, puberty rituals of the Paiute, marriage among the Ute, and death rituals of the Shoshane. All detailed and engaging, making this an excellent overview, but you may be frustrated if you're hoping to learn in-depth about any specific tribe.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, March 20, 2011

By 

L. Alex "Dalaiwmn" (Foster City, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Everyday Life Among the American Indians 1800 to 1900 (Paperback)

I am in love with this book and plan to look at other volumes.Instead of skimming it, I read it cover to cover. Histrically and culturally accurate!!

4.0 out of 5 stars Everyday Life among the American Indians, November 16, 2011

By 

Sam Adams (Minnesota. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Everyday Life Among the American Indians 1800 to 1900 (Paperback)

This is an interesting reference work on American Indians during the 19th century. It's part of a Writer's Digest series (a reference for fiction writers) and not intended to be an academic resource. Each chapter ends with a list of suggested additional readings.

Chapter three is on "wars, weapons and treaties". The author avoids the politics of blame and simply reports without personal commentary. For example, of the Dakota uprising in Minnesota in 1862, she writes:

"Perhaps the most well-known of all Indian-military battles are those related to the tribes of the Sioux confederation (Lakota, Dakota, Nakota). One early conflict occurred in present-day Minnesota when Santees raided trading posts and settlements on 18 August 1862. About four hundred white settlers died in the initial fighting, and the region became a war zone for several weeks thereafter. In late September, Gen. Henry Hastings Sibley followed the Santees to Wood Lake forcing them to surrender under the barrage of firing by his soldiers using various pieces of artillery. Though some of the Santees fled to Canada, many were arrested. Subsequent trails led to the execution of thirty-eight Santees in Mankato, Minnesota, on 26 December 1962. The remaining Santees were then removed to a reservation in eastern Nebraska." (63-64)

Of Wounded Knee in 1890, she writes:

"Wounded Knee: 29 December 1890 the final Sioux battle - which like Sand Creek and the Battle of the Washita was truly a massacre - occurred at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, when federal troops opened fire on Big Foot and his followers, killing more than 150 Indians and wounding another fifty." (66)

= Contents =

Introduction

Part One: Government and War

1. Territories and Leadership
2. Trade
3. Wars, Weapons and Treaties

Part Two: Everyday Life

4. Family Life
5. Food
6. Clothing and Accessories
7. Shelter
8. Transporation, Tools and Equipment
9. Medicine

Part Three: American Indian Society

10. Entertainment
11. Language
12. Customs and Religion

Chronology
Glossary
Bibliograpy

Index