Customer Reviews

A History of the Indians of the United States (Civilization of the American Indian Series)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I sought a panoramic view of Native American history and found it in this volume. Dr. Debo's writing is lucid and captivating. She is expert in the history of the Five Civilized Tribes but demonstrates her passion for all of Native American history in her superb coverage of other tribes.

Though written in 1970 as a major contribution to the revisionist history of native tribes in the U.S., it has been updated at late as 1983 and remains a very thorough history and distrurbing but nonetheless fascinating book to read.

This book is so typical of Angie Debo, well written, factual, and so full of feeling for the subject, that one often feels you are taking part in the events descibed in the book.

A very useful "general history" of Native Americans

Excellent survey of North American Indians, locations, and anecdotes. Wonderful binding from Folio Books. Nearly 500 pages of Indian history, stories, anecdotes, and two great plate sections of original photos and drawings. This is a major work, and it seems to be the single best one volume history of the native peoples of the 50 states. It is written from the perspective of the American Indians. The book builds on a lifetime of scholarship by DeBo, who wrote this when she was 80. It reads like a person telling a story, not as a great scholarly work, though it does fit that bill. This is the last of Debo's works. Previously she wrote a number of books on related topics of native Americans. Not everyone will like everything in this book, just as is true of all contemporary history books. However, it is the very best overview and insight into the Indians of the United States we currently have. I wish that someday a native American could publish a similar work, telling this story, but right now that has not happened. I can't imagine how many years of information collection and writing it took to create this book. It is truly a lifetime achievement. Debo never had a college or university tenured position, she wrote in her off hours and spare time! The book is even more remarkable in this light. When I read some of the other reviews, I wonder if they have even read the book!! Of course one can always criticize a history as everyone writes from a particular viewpoint, and that may not match current worldviews. Reject all that garbage thinking, and read the book for what it is, a masterwork from one person's viewpoint. This deserves a place in every library.

I was really looking forward to reading this based on reviews and descriptions of it. I had just read other books like _Bury_My_Heart_at_Wounded_Knee, _The_Invasion_of_America, and _American_Holocaust. But i was pretty disappointed by this book.
I hope her other books are better, but i'd would suggest you not spend your money on this one.

I didn't like the way the narrative of the book was written. I was looking for something a little more structured. But if that was my only complaint then i would have given it more stars.

At various points in the book she makes really bizarre generalizations that i read and thought, "what is she talking about?" i wouldn't have been be surprised if the book had been written in the 1930s, but it was written in 1970. Reading those those sentences, I can't but help picture her as a (possibly) sympathetic liberal white lady who hasn't recognized her unconscious racism towards Native Americans. Since she started with these un-scholarly statements early on, it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Here's a sample:
"Out of all this grew the feeling for beauty that makes the modern Indian superbly gifted in the various art forms." (4)

"This enforced obedience did incalculable harm to the Indian spirit." (287)

It may not seem like much, but who is she to talk about what the "modern Indian" is like? Is there one singular "modern Indian"? Steroetypes, whether positive or negative, are still stereotypes, and they take away from the reality and complexity of any group's existence. I would have expected more from a Ph.D.

Ms. Debo, while doing a wonderful job in compiling documents, paints a philosophical interpretation of Indians and their great "way of life" that is entirely unwarranted by the facts, which she compiles nothing on. While there is justification in condemning governments and individuals who flagrantly broke the law and violated the individual rights of Indians (a concept they didn't come up with during their 50,000 unmolested years on the continent) her admiration for a mystical primitive group of cultures is rather disturbing in the modern age.