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Native American Testimony: A Chronicle of Indian-White Relations from Prophecy to the Present

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Nabokov has done a superb job of collecting individual Native American memoirs from the last half millenium and weaving them together to paint the sad portrait of Indian-White relations. In between the tales from each successive time period in history is enlightening commentary, usually an historical overview of the period written by the editor. These commentaries help give a unity to this work. But this is not simply a bad guys vs. good guys book. Nabokov's stories reflect the complexity involved among Native Americans who frequently disagreed with each other about what would be the best path to trod for all concerned; and they also tell the stories of proud peoples who continued to survive and carry on. This book illuminates history in a way that most school textbooks do not.

This book is a collection of interviews with and stories from everyday people as they lived out their lives. I first read this book several years ago, yet I find that there are interviews and stories that I go back and reread again and again. If you are a Native or a student of Native American History, this is a good book to have on your shelf.

In this book, people who have read alot into Native American history will see the more famous Indian testimonials that have appeared in many other places, like those by heavily published persons like Black Elk, Tecumseh, and Charles Eastman (Sioux). You also get many anonymous accounts and the testimony from obscure persons who were only known to give their thoughts to a few white people. What sets this book above the rest, however, is that it doesn't just cover the time periods that are shown in most Native American histories, which would either be ancient pre-European times, or the famous era of the Indians' destruction and valiant efforts to maintain the old ways of life. This book also covers those areas, as it should, but continues into the modern reservation days, and even captures the thoughts of recent activists on the future of Native Americans. All people will be enlightened by the non-Western interpretations on history, religion, politics, and culture that are generously detailed in this book.