An Indian in White America [Paperback]

Mark Monroe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 16, 1994

Narrated with intense honesty, this autobiography of Mark Monroe, a Lakota Sioux Indian, is a story of courage, faith, and determination, and a rare opportunity to witness the life of a contemporary American Indian. Despite lifelong confrontations with violence, racism, and personal hardship alcoholism, family deaths, illness, poverty, and unemployment Mark Monroe has worked to instill ethnic pride in his fellow Indians. After an early idyllic childhood at the Rosebud South Dakota reservation, Monroe moved with his parents off-reservation to Alliance, Nebraska. There he first felt the sting of white America's racism from signs outside local businesses that read "No Indians or dogs allowed."As a young man, Monroe enlisted in the military, for the first time experiencing outside acceptance and learning vocational skills. Upon his return to the United States, he worked as a baker. At the same time, however, he was being sucked into a life of alcoholism, begun years earlier with social drinking. Eventually he was unable to eat or to work. After rehabilitation, he ran for Police Magistrate. Monroe was the first Indian ever to have filed for public office in Alliance, and his candidacy divided the town. Though he lost the election, he gained community support and a growing sense of dignity from the campaign. From the misery and hopelessness he suffered as an alcoholic, and the pains of recovery, Monroe became aware of the cultural difference between Indian alcoholism and white alcoholism.This understanding led to his work with Indian alcoholics at the Panhandle Mental Health Center in Scottsbluff, Nebraska another first. No Indian had ever served on the Center's staff. Since his recovery, Monroe has been an active participant in his community and continues to fight for the legal rights of American Indians. In 1973, he founded the American Indian Council, which today offers a variety of health, educational, and social programs, including a nutrition program, a hospital busing program, and alcohol counseling.Mark Monroe is currently Director of the American Indian Council, Inc., in Alliance. He formerly served as Vice President of the Nebraska Indian Commission and as President of United Indians of Nebraska. He and Carolyn Reyer have been friends since 1982. Carolyn Reyer is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of English and Women's Studies at West Virginia University, where she developed the "Native American Visiting Professorship" series and the Native American Literature Program. She is also the author of "Cante Ohitika: Images of Lakota Women on Pine Ridge".

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

This glimpse inside the reality of life for current Native Americans will intrigue but also appall in its depiction of their plight. Monroe, a Lakota and Cheyenne, offers his autobiography with the help of Reyer (English and Women's Studies/West Virginia Univ.; Cante Ohitka, not reviewed). He shares childhood memories of his grandfather, who toured with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, and of his many other relations. Monroe was born on the reservation in South Dakota but raised off it, and educated in Catholic mission schools, as his father moved frequently to find work. In the early 1940s, Monroe enlisted in the Army to get away from the racism he experienced in Alliance, Nebr. In the service, he felt an acceptance he had never known before, and Monroe says that had he not been wounded in Korea, he probably would have made a career in the military. Instead, he wound up back in Alliance, where he couldn't even get a drink in the American Legion hall. Drinking, in fact, a problem that afflicted other members of his family as well, began to occupy much of his life. Later, a recovering alcoholic, Monroe worked with other Native alcoholics; he also fought back against racism, first by running for public office and later by founding the American Indian Council, an organization that provides a variety of social and professional services to the Native community. At a time when most Americans don't realize that over 66% of Indians live off the reservation, this book is a powerful witness. Written in simple, direct language and told at a sometimes slow, methodical, pace, it will reward patient readers with an illuminating look into what it means to be a member of America's Native minority. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"At time when most Americans don't realize that over 66 percent of Indians live off the reservation, this book is a powerful witness ... it will reward the reader with an illuminating look into what it means to be a member of America's Native minority."
—Kirkus Reviews

"[An] interesting representation of Lakota male experiences in the realities of present-day life in the Great Plains."
—Wicazo Sa Review

"Mark Monroe has broken out of society's cage and achieved outstanding things. We are all better off for it. His personality and stature—qualities of leadership, determination, and stamina—quickly override the poverty-stricken times and the tragic aspects that linger constantly at the edges of this Indian world, this seemingly desolate place. Compared with other Native American biographies, An Indian in White America stands near the top."
—Charles Ballard, Institute of Ethnic Studies, University of Nebraska

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Temple University Press (November 16, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566392357
• ISBN-13: 978-1566392358
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,041,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Truth, February 7, 2007

By 

BriLa (SD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Indian in White America (Paperback)

I had the pleasure of knowing Mr. Monroe for a long time. He was my sister-in-law's father.

The story he tells is one of heartbreak and joy. There were places in the book where I cried for him and his family. This story is just a glimpse of what one man had to do to survive.

This book is the epitome of what Mark Monroe was. He passed away in December 2004. When I go back to my hometown, it's hard to think of him not being there anymore. He had incredible strength and wit. We miss him.

4.0 out of 5 stars Mark Monroe's real experiences., April 8, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: An Indian in White America (Paperback)

Mr. Monroe does an excellent job of explaining how the Native Americans live in Nebraska. His examples are true to life, and are believable. I was also suprised that I know some of the people that Mr. Monroe wrote about, and the troubles that they have had in Alliance, Nebraska, because they were Lakota.