The Smallpox Genocide of the Odawa Tribe at L'Arbre Croche, 1763: The History of a Native American People [Hardcover]

Constance Cappel (Author), Simon Otto (Foreword)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 173 pages
• Publisher: Edwin Mellen Pr (October 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0773452206
• ISBN-13: 978-0773452206
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,767,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

From writing a biography on Ernest Hemingway in my twenties until now in my seventies, I have been fascinated with the American Indians in northern Michigan. Many of my books have been about them including The Smallpox Genocide of the Odawa Tribe at L'Arbre Croche, 1763: The History of a Native American People (2007), Odawa Language and Legends (2006), Sweetgrass and Smoke (2004), and Hemingway in Michigan (1966,1977,1999).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Important Addition to Native American History, March 8, 2008

By 

M. L. Kazmierski - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Smallpox Genocide of the Odawa Tribe at L'Arbre Croche, 1763: The History of a Native American People (Hardcover)

For anyone who would like to learn more about the under-reported history of the United States and its Native Americans, this book regarding Michigan's Odawa tribe is a good place to start. Dr. Cappel's well-researched report sheds excellent background and light on an alleged attempt by the British during the French and Indian War to eliminate the Odawa people by deliberately infesting them with smallpox. I recommend this book for the scholar as well as the general reader.

Mary L. Kazmierski,

Michigan resident

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New historical and scientific information, November 17, 2008

By 

Mountain man "history buff" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Smallpox Genocide of the Odawa Tribe at L'Arbre Croche, 1763: The History of a Native American People (Hardcover)

This book contains new historical and scientific information about the smallpox genocide of the Odawa indians in 1763. Very readable.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars An Important Topic and a Disappointing Book, September 10, 2011

By 

Mark W. Miller - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Smallpox Genocide of the Odawa Tribe at L'Arbre Croche, 1763: The History of a Native American People (Hardcover)

The First chapter is a bit of a bizarre presenting of theories concerning the origin of the earth and prehistory that had me embarrassed to think I had spent money for this book.

Having read the 2 other reviews I wondered if those people were more interested in promoting how great Indians are and how bad the rest of us are rather than objectively looking at the information as I've seen on reviews on so many book reviews about Indians. Say something derogatory about Indians in a book, it gets the worst reviews, usually by people who never read the book but want to support the idea. Indians & their cultures are great to me too. I just don't let it cloud my judgment of the facts either way.

I couldn't believe my eyes when it became clear in the first chapter the author was actually supporting some of Devine's later over the top & bizarre angry tirades that science is corrupt, evolution never happened, giant humans had once inhabited the earth, etc. No doubt early anthropologists did have racial prejudices involved in the way they viewed history. But prejudices exist in non-scientists also which is clearly evident in this book. That doesn't mean the rest of science should be thrown out because of it though. What shocked me was the author was clearly supporting this doctrine above the others. Yeah I know, evolution is just a theory--kinda like gravity is just a theory. Why is it always the ones without an education in Science are the ones who struggle so hard to discredit it? I guess I just answered my own question.

Retelling old stories wasn't what I was hoping for. Instead it quotes much of what Blackbird wrote and other authors wrote which she then discusses. After the uneasy beginning of the book, the rest is more of a discussion of what was already written rather than new information being presented.

I.E. page 128 "Recorded observations and documents now exist about Fort Pitt and in the Ohio territory, where the deliberate planting of smallpox on blankets occurred. The physical evidence has been lost..." No source, footnote? Its documented but you have no source? Kinda important info. there. Later she quotes a webpage concerning this often told story (with an invalid address I might add), but with further searching I found it. It also had no apparent author or sources to validate it. It is extremely unprofessional to quote anonymous sources from the internet and rely on that as a legitimate source for your own book. No doubt there is some truth to the story which has been retold at many Pow Wows and I had hoped that was where this book was going to go. It didn't. The history of the Odawa was intriguing to me but the author's other misguided meanderings left me wondering how much of that was true also. It probably is but... for $100 I had hoped for more! Read Blackbird's account, it is freely available online. At least you won't get sucked up into a pseudo-science debate concerning giant human's that inhabited the earth. OMG.