14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Montana's Indians: Yesterday and Today, March 20, 2007
This review is from: Montana's Indians: Yesterday and Today (Montana Geographic Series) (Paperback)
This book lists only a single author. However, it reads more like a book written by committee and edited by someone who was either lackadaisical or unwilling to supercede the product of the original writers. At the end of thirty pages I was willing to give it a top score and urge that every American should read it. Soon, the unevenness of the material and some noticeable flaws wore down my confidence in the writer.
In states with significant Native American populations, most non-Indians have an interest, and at least a rudimentary understanding, concerning their Indian neighbors. We share American citizenship and much that dictates our way of life. Unfortunately, the limited knowledge of people living east of the plains states often includes more mistaken information than accurate facts about Indians. All of us, including those just mentioned, are responsible through our representation in the United States government for numerous financial, legal, and boundary dealings with Indian tribes and individuals. The first thirty pages of this book is a good overview of the history and past dealings between the United States government and the tribes. It is general information applicable to all tribes, not just those in Montana. Every American; whether Indian or non-Indian, native born or immigrant; should know at least this much. It is American history, maybe more so than such things as Lewis & Clark or America's participation in the World Wars.
The book's copyright is 1996. Thus it is dated, although I know of nothing that is similar and more recent. After opening with the general history, this book provides a section for each of Montana's seven reservations, and a section on the Little Shell tribe, often called Montana's landless Indians. The breakdown in this book is proper. Most of America's reservations are home to more than one tribe, usually with some sort of combined government (but not necessarily a single treaty). The tribes are too unique in character, government, history, and locality to be lumped together as some authors have done. The basis for the closing section of the book is an interview with Bill Yellowtail, a prominent Crow.
Nearly every page of the book contains at least one picture, although text predominates. About half of the pages contain sidebars, sometimes a page or two long. Some of the sidebars discuss events or other topics pertinent to the main text, often covering a topic involving more than just one tribe. Over half of the sidebars are short biographies of individuals, mostly contemporary Native Americans.
The writing of the main text is typically good. In contrast, the sidebar biographies generally read like the biographies used when introducing speakers at large meetings. They are choppy and overly praise the individuals.
This is a "feel good" book. The author introduces the Bill Yellowtail interview by saying that a thread running through the book traces the indomitable, inspiring courage of people who remain forward-looking and hopeful. This is in contrast to Bill Yellowtail himself who is quoted as urging Indians to take stock of where they are in a brutally honest way. I agree with Yellowtail.
This book ignores or glosses over problems confronting the tribes. Reservation government is troubled by friction between tribes, or even clans within a tribe. There is discord between tribal members living off the reservation and those living on it (typically 40-60 percent live off the reservation). The population on most reservations includes many non-Indians and they frequently own some of the most productive land. Laws and the responsibilities for law enforcement on reservations are confusing and often dysfunctional to the point that some jails are literally held together with duct tape. There isn't any mention in the book of how the U.S. Government has mismanaged trust funds that it holds for the tribes. The list of issues is long and varied.
If a reader were to take this book as an accurate portrayal of conditions on Montana's reservations in 1996, and then read the news coming from the reservations today, the reader would conclude that conditions are worsening. That is totally inaccurate. Native Americans have made great strides in Montana over the past ten years. Unemployment, alcohol problems, and drug addiction are still high but have improved. All of the tribes have improved internal leadership, educational opportunities on the reservations, retention of culture, skill in dealing with the non-Indian world, entrepreneurship, and living conditions on the reservations.
One error in the book is so egregious that it must be addressed. On page 78, the author says, "In 1806, members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Captain Clark spent more than a month in Crow Indian country and developed excellent relationships with Crow people." This is totally false. Clark and his group never saw a Crow in Montana. They believed - probably correctly - that the Crow stole all their horses. Clark wrote a vinegary speech reprimanding the Crow but never found a single Crow to whom he could deliver the speech. Such errors destroy a reader's confidence in the book and its author.
During what books often call the "Indian wars," the Indians' losses were varied and unbelievably severe. These same books imply that the "wars" ended with the defeat of Sitting Bull or the massacre at Wounded Knee. That is not exactly true. Armed conflict may have ended, but the assault on Indians continued and will continue. The U.S. Government chips away at Indian land, water, financial entitlements owed the tribes, and treaty rights. People who do not understand governmental relationships with the tribes, or are deliberately hostile to the tribes, frequently dominate the administrative and legislative branches of our government. The judicial branch has often been a final resort for Indian people, and there are numerous examples where even that defense failed. These problems continue to tear at our nation's fabric and all Americans need to be better informed. Unfortunately, there are few sources that are comprehensive, accurate, and readable. This book qualifies only in being readable.
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