The Invented Indian: Cultural Fictions and Government Politics [Paperback]

James A. Clifton (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1990 | ISBN-10: 1560007451 | ISBN-13: 978-1560007456

This volume explores how cultural fictions promote divi- siveness and translate into policy. Throughout, it reveals a deep and abiding respect for Indians, their histories, and their cultures, saving its critique for jaundiced academics and callow politicians. Representing years of cooperative effort, The Invented Indian brings together a group of leading scholars of North American Indians, most of them heavily involved in service and applied work on behalf of Indian clients, communities, and organizations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 388 pages
• Publisher: Transaction Publishers (January 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560007451
• ISBN-13: 978-1560007456
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #804,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mythical Indians Who Never Were., June 15, 1999

By 

Pat Mason Jr.([e-mail] (Louisiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Invented Indian: Cultural Fictions and Government Politics (Paperback)

"The Invented Indian" is a brilliant dissection of the myths that have been so widely circulated by Indians and their apologists. Trading on their supposed past victimization, Indians--like other minorities--have used the power of guilt and smear to gain socio/political and economic spoils from brow-beaten whites. Veteran anthropologist James Clifton is to be congratulated for bravely stepping aside the unwritten rules on how to talk about minorities in general, and Indians in particular by exposing these myths.

7 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Over-reaction to so-called "Indian myths", December 8, 2005

By 

isaac "lawyer-surfer-christian" (middle of the pacific) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Invented Indian: Cultural Fictions and Government Politics (Paperback)

I picked this up looking for some even-handed, honest critique of the politics of Indian identity, but this book is a bit too overzealous. The editor Clifton spends so much effort denying he has an anti-Indian agenda and ridiculing the Indians and Indian "apologists" who will predictably protest this book, one cannot help wonder if he himself "protests too much." The book includes as an appendix a laundry list of anticipated insults (e.g., "you are anti-indian," "you are racist") in a preemptive attempt to denigrate the book's detractors, which is completely out of place in a supposedly neutral, academic work.

Clifton is so obsessed with debunking the "Indian myth" that, instead of showing all the complexities of Indian existence, he goes a long way in painting them as frauds. While the book contains some interesting insights, it is hard to pick these out when the book conveys the overall sense that the editor has some sort of ideological or personal ax to grind.

Even giving Clifton the generous benfit of the doubt, this book provides a ready weapon for others like the reviewer below, who don't attempt to hide their resentment towards Indians and "other minorities." The intentions behind this book may not be malicious, as Clifton insists, but they are at least reckless as far as academic works go.

5 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars anti-Indian politics disguised as the debunking of "myths", April 18, 2007

By 

J. Curtis - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Invented Indian: Cultural Fictions and Government Politics (Paperback)

Clifton's anthology is transparently racist and reactionary. I picked this book up at the library, thinking that it dealt with the politics of representation, a sort of "Orientalism" for Native Americans. Instead, I found white authors not only dismissing the rights and contributions of indigenous peoples, but having the gall to claim that non-Indians, because of their "critical distance," can understand natives better than natives can understand themselves. Upon further reading, I discovered that both Vine Deloria JR and Ward Churchill are extremely critical of this influential and racist collection. If one is genuinely interested in issues of representation, this is a much better collection:

Dressing in Feathers: The Construction

or, if one is concerned with the legal and political consequences of Indian stereotyping and misrepresentation, Robert Williams' "Like a Loaded Weapon" deals with these issues (although I recommend skipping the introduction and first chapter):

Like a Loaded Weapon: The Rehnquist Court, Indian Rights, and the Legal History of Racism in America (Indigenous Americas)