Customer Reviews

The State of Native America: Genocide, Colonization, and Resistance (Race & Resistance Series)

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This book is the cornerstone of my library on contemporary Native America. As a Quinault-Cowlitz woman who has struggled with maintaining her identity in a world hungry for John Wayne's Indians with feathers, I found this work a profound relief from most of what is available. Jaimes is the editor of Ward Churchill's best book to date: Fantasies of the Master Race. Here she shows an even greater expertise in bringing together some of the most profound and prominent feminist voices in the contemporary pro-Indian movement.

I've recommended this elsewhere to people who innocently consume fake Native American texts (e.g., Castaneda's): this is the real thing. Its leanings are pretty radical, and some of its statistics are -- well, those citing them obviously have a vested interest in maximizing the numbers. But it's got some great arguments in it, some descriptions of events that I'm sure weren't in your middle school history texts, and some beautiful prose as a bonus. Check it out.

My only wish is that there were a 2nd edition of this book with an update of how the landscape has changed since it was first published in 1992.

This book captured me and held me and while it filled me with sorrow, the fact of its existence, that these writers are so passionate about getting the truth out there, fills me with a profound hope.

This collection of important essays examines many of the issues confronting modern Native American tribes in their search for self-determination, religious freedom, water rights, land rights and freedom from 'radioactive colonization.' While there is much here of substance there could also be less extreme ranting and more thoughtful explanations what the actual state of native America is in the 21st century. The fact that the books sub-title is 'genocide' and it begins with a chapter about Sand Creek 'the morning after' the massacre seems to indicate that this text is mostly aiming to anger the reader. But there is much that is positive and forward thinking in native America, much that is visionary and not simply reactive, and this book could have used a little more about this and a little less about the 'struggle'.

Seth J. Frantzman

Many of the essays in this collection appear to be a forceful attack on the sovereignty of Indian tribes, spun as a bizarre imitation form of radical Indian rights activism. A common theme is the angry defiance of Indian tribes' right to decide who their memers are. Jaimes makes this argument most directly in an essay called "Federal Indian Identification Policy," in which she claims that Indian tribes copied their enrollment methods from a congressional statute, the 1887 General Allotment Act. However, contrary to Jaimes's assertions, the General Allotment Act in fact never contained the "blood quantum" standard that Jaimes accuses Indian tribes of imitating. Ultimately, the false information about Indian tribes spread by Jaimes and other contributors to this volume amounts to a meritless attack on Indian tribes and a concentrated effort to confuse the public about Indian issues generally. Unfortunately, since most readers know so little about Indian political issues, many will unwittingly take this propaganda as gospel truth. The predictable result will be greater oppression for Indian tribes and Indian people.