Customer Reviews

Stolen Continents: The Americas Through Indian Eyes Since 1492

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I can't speak for the history of all the five nations, but my wife is Cherokee. Her family predates the arrival of the white race. She has a big thick book documenting the family genealogy compiled by her father, a true researcher. The words of Dragging Canoe, a realitive, are comprehensive and exact. Some quotes are new to the family, so Mr. Wright really did his research.

Mr. Wright painted an eye opening view of the real American Indian history, not what I learned in school and saw on TV.

As a native American whose people came perilously close to being wiped out completely, I welcome and applaud the care, consideration and integrity with which Ronald Wright has addressed the history of five native nations in the Americas--the Aztecs, Maya, Inca, Iroquois and Cherokee. By selecting cultures from north, central and south America, he shows, unequivocally, how pervasive disease and the voracious appetite for gold, land and vassals were in the nearly total devastation of the peoples of this land.

This book should be a "must" read for high school and college students in every nation in the Americas. It is phenomenal in its exploration of past and current circumstances of native Americans.

My emotions, while reading this book, ranged from disbelief to outrage. Do not read this book on a full stomach.

For me, Ronald Wright exposed the faulty notion of America's 'virgin wilderness'. Before I read this I did not appreciate the size or sophistication the Native American nations he has profiled in 'Stolen Continents'.

Though this is a tragic history, it is one that should be told. The section on 'Rebirth' is encouraging, for some nations. For others it seems like the relentless attacks, that have deprived so many of so much, will never end.

I hope Mr. Wright profiles other aboriginal nations with this all too rare perspective.

Simply a "must" read for the Americans (talking about the whole continent for those who are geographically challenged LOL), the Europeans and anybody else interested in the "discovery" of America.

Well-researched and full of interesting facts concentrating on the 5 significant native cultures of the Americas: The Aztecs, the Mayas, the Incas, the Cherokees and the Iroquois. It is easy to read as well !!!

IMO it should be part of every high school history curriculum. Guaranteed to dispel many of the myths that are taught in schools today and reinforced by Hollywood.

Bravo Mr. Wright !!!!

Ronald Wright has always had a way of putting you right there, being a travel writer he's got a distintive and enjoyable way of giving you the facts.
Split into 3 parts and following the histories of the Aztec, Maya, Inca, Cherokee and Iroquois,
from the INVASION yes INVASION of the American continent by European conquerors, to present day

This book is a must for anyone who wants to read a GOOD book, and learn history at the same time.

Although the material in this book is probably covered in greater detail elsewhere, it is pretty unique that the experiences of indigenous groups as diverse as the Iroquois and Incas, are presented here with equal detail. One learns interesting facts about each of them. While I knew about Manco Inca's revolt and establishing a mini-Inca state in the jungle, I had no idea that this was followed by a sort of "Inca Renaissance," with plays, histories and poems written in Quechua. In addition, the five groups that Wright chose either had their own written language or quickly learned one after European contact (and the Cherokee even had their own newspaper), so this history is genuinely "through Indian eyes." The unifying thread (in addition to the resilience of all 5 groups) is that the colonization of the New World by Europeans was not significantly different that of Africa and Asia- without the disease factor, the Americas might today be wholly governed by their original inhabitants.

This is the unique perspective on the discovery of the New World and its conquest by the Europeans. Wright has written a fantastic book based on years of research that dispels myths that are still taught in classrooms all over the western hemisphere. This is a definitive book for New World or Latin American history - and it's also a great story for the rest of us!.

Wright follows the stories of each major Native North and South American culture through each of three time periods that span from the landing of Columbus to the present day. Haven't we heard this before? No! The book is based on actual accounts from Spanish missionaries, Aztec kings, Iriquois documents and U.S. History.

What was the Cherokee role in the Civil War? What happened to all the books written by the Inca? What myths are still taught to children in our schools? Discover this and more in this book about how the Western Hemisphere discovered Europe

Wright's "Stolen Continents" is a seminal classic which replaces Eurocentric mythology with documented observations. The author spent many years tracing the original histories of North and South American natives as they themselves observed and recorded it. This is the material that the descendents of the conquering Europeans and their modern day American cousins were never supposed to see. The murderous adventures of the gold seeking and land grabbing cutthroats is documented. It serves as a shameful monument to men who called themselves Christians, and who violated every basic Christian principle for the sake of gold, land, and enslaving nations. These documents also make it clear why there is so much trouble today with native North and South Americans who resist the ongoing genocide that began five centuries ago. Wright is an indignant and angry writer; which in the context of his discoveries is appropriate. For those wishing to understand what happened in the Americas before Hollywood cowboy and indian movies reinforced all the negative stereotypes of native Americans, Wright's book must be read

If you are looking for a book to reinforce your beliefs that the "development" of the western hemisphere by Europeans was, ultimately and inevitably, of benefit to the native peoples, this is probably not a book for you. No, the subtitle of the book reads, "The `New World' Through Indian Eyes." And the author does not pull his punches.

The format is interesting. Five groups are covered: Aztec, Maya, Inca, Cherokee and Iroquois. There are chapters on each, in that order, and in three separate sections, named: Invasion, Resistance and Rebirth.

This is a survey book, but it has details that will add historical knowledge, I would think, for any reader. The bias is clearly on the side of the indigenous people. At the same time, the point made repeatedly is that much of what happened would seem to be inevitable. The Europeans were what they were. And, if Columbus had not made it to America in 1492, someone else would soon have. But it is what the Europeans do to the indigenous people and their land once they arrive that is also the point. It sets a tone of ruthlessness and exploitation that we are still trying to put in balance and perspective. That, it would seem, is the thesis of the book.

Clearly, the Spanish did not come for cultural studies. The Caribbean Indians, for example, says the author, "were so thoroughly exterminated that they left not a single account (of who they were)." And the numbers of natives who die as the result of the "invasions" is mindboggling.

Disease, of course, is the culprit for most deaths. And most of the populations die before, not after or as a result, of the conquests. In return, Europe receives syphilis. But in as many as ten waves of disease in the New World, the native population is literally decimated. Less than a tenth of the original populations from Mexico south survives by the year 1600.

The Spanish came primarily for the riches of gold and/or silver or whatever the New World had to offer. They were relatively straightforward about their goals. Repeatedly, in their initial encounters with native people, they would read, in Spanish, what was called "The Requirement." It said that God created the earth and its people and that the Pope was in charge of all people. So, if they would be so kind as to agree to become Catholics and to be obedient to Spain, they would be just fine. But if they objected, they would be ruthlessly conquered and enslaved, and it would be their fault. How simple is that!

With this formality completed, the Spanish could be ruthless beyond belief, totally ignoring the commandment of "Thou Shall Not Kill." Per the author, Cortez' lieutenant, Pedro de Alvarado, was "a pathological killer." Sure, the Aztecs were capable of horrendous actions, as well, but burning live people to death in public was not one of them. The Spanish did this and more, repeatedly. At an Easter festival, for example, dancers who performed at the celebration were massacred, on orders from Alvarado, following their performance for, seemingly, no good reason. A large number of Indian nobles were also killed.

Moving south, the Mayan civilization had collapsed well before the Spanish arrived. Tikal, in Guatemala, for example, had been abandoned for 600 years. What remained were pockets of relatively small Mayan states. These groups could have united and recovered to their former heights, over time, had the Spanish not arrived. But Pedro de Alvarado would not allow that to be the case. He would become the ruthless conqueror of Guatemala and Central America.

The Inca empire, in contrast, was only about 100 years old when the Spanish arrived. The diseases introduced by Europeans set in place deterioration, so that when Francisco Pizarro arrives with 200 men and 70 horses, he was able to conquer the Inca people, despite their overwhelming numbers.

(Of note here is that while the Aztecs, initially, viewed Cortez and his men as gods, the Mayans and Incas did not. Also, more blending of the people occurs in Mexico than in other areas, the apparent reason being that the capital of Mexico remained the same, "forcing the two societies into close contract at the center." Also of note is that the Aztec capital held 250,000 people when Cortez arrived, four times the number living in London at the time.)

In North American, of course, it is more the English and French that arrive to settle and seek permanence, in this case at the expense of the native Indians. But there is a similar pattern: The number of natives greatly outnumbered the invaders, but disease decimates the people and their leadership. By hook or by crook, the invaders pull off the initial thrust and establish a foothold, if not a dominance. This is followed by waves and waves of more Europeans. And, with their increasing numbers, they ask for and/or demand more land and control.

As for the numbers, per the author, in 1600 there are but a "handful" of whites in Eastern North America, about 250,000 by 1700 and as many as five million by 1800. Also per the author, in New Spain, alone, there may have been as many as 20 million native people at the time of the arrival of Columbus. By the mid-1800's, that number would be less than three million.

But it was the clash of cultures that is also in play. Says the author, in talking about the Cherokee, "The problems were those which arise wherever a stable, collective system and one based on expansion and individual profit collide....To obtain respect in the native world, people had to redistribute wealth; for esteem in the white world, they had to hoard it. To a Cherokee, sufficient was enough; to a white, more was everything....By 1808, the United States began to push hard for removal of the entire Cherokee nation." Reportedly said by future president Andrew Jackson to Georgia congressmen: "Build a fire under them. When it gets hot enough, they'll move."

It is good to point out that what adds to the book being a winner, in addition to its format and flow, is the occasional literary offering. Here is an example on the subject of the decimation of the people: "The plague that killed the kings of Mexico, Guatemala and Peru, and half their subjects...had struck equally hard in the unknown kingdoms of the North....(these became but) remnants of once-powerful states....America seemed a virgin land waiting for civilization. But Europe had made the wilderness it found; America was not a virgin, she was a widow."

The second section of the book, entitled, "Resistance," chronicles the period following the occupation or at least the permanence of settlement. Because the initial thrusts of Europeans has limited numbers, the period of conquest is to be followed by resistance, which is successful many times. What the book calls "without question the most successful Indian revolt in New World history" was the Great Caste War begun in 1874. This was a revolt by Mayans in the Yucatan. Whites were killed and land was retaken. Mayans retained control of the area for decades before being overrun by Mexican armies.

But, overall, the coming together of the cultures continued during this period of resistance. The word "syncretism" is used by the author. And in the generations that are to come, mixing of the blood is creating a mestizo people and a mixed culture. Many native people are adopting to European ways. Not all, for sure, but many. And, overall, there is no turning back, totally, to what it was before.

Says the author, "When the occupation is as long and irreversible as it had been in the Americas, resistance passes through many phases before it is either crushed conclusively or manages to achieve a partial solution to the dilemma of conquest and survival."

In North America, what happens to the Cherokee before and after the Civil War in the United States is as bad as it gets. "In the summer of 1838, the United States army rounded up all 16,000 Cherokees and confined them for months in disease-infested camps. " What followed was a forced trek west, called "The Trail of Tears." "By the time it was over, 4,000 Cherokee had died enroute to land in what would become the state of Oklahoma.

For those remaining behind, living on "Indian land," some of the Cherokee had slaves and plantations and were doing relatively well. More and more, they were adapting to European ways. But they chose to fight with The South in the war. And when the war was over, agreements and treaties meant little to the whites, who, in increasing numbers wanted to move west and to acquire land. And out west, land occupied by Indians would be divided and offered in 160 acre plots to all, reducing the total land initially granted to the Indians. Then, the railroad was built, running through their land, bringing more immigrants. And later, oil would be discovered in the area. Attempts by Indians to have a state of Indians, named "Sequoyah," within the United States, would be denied.

In what is perhaps a good summary of the position of the Indians of North America, an Iroquois leader says, "You now have become a great people, and we have scarcely a place to spread our blankets. You have got our country, but are not satisfied. You want to force your religion on us....You say there is one way to worship the great Spirit....(But) If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it?"

The third section of the book is entitled, "Rebirth." It talks about the various modern movements to recapture and retain native culture. In Latin America, of course, Spanish political control is gone by 1820, leaving behind the Spanish language and Catholic religion. In Guatemala, a "Ladino" class emerges to dominate. The successful introduction of coffee creates wealth for some, removal from native lands for others. In the Yucatan, Mayans number more than one million, about half the population of the peninsula. There, the Mayan language is spoken by many, and there are groups that continue dedicated to a separation from Mexico. In Peru, the small white majority have retained power over a people who have become 50 percent mestizo. One-third of the country lives in the city of Lima.

In North America, the Cherokee, despite all they have been through, number more than 100,000 in Oklahoma, with many speaking their native language. This Cherokee nation has its own government, with the mission to ensure that the nation continues to exit. Also surviving is a Navajo nation, with dreams of becoming the first native Indian state. But it can be a hustle. Says the author, "In 1982, the Reagan administration cut funding for reservations and encouraged Indians to milk the taxpayer through bingo halls instead."

Perhaps the thesis of the book comes near the end in the following statements, "The past cannot be changed, but what we make of it certainly can....They could start teaching the other side of history - the dark side - in their schools....(and) the intruders and their offspring can at least make room for the American peoples and their offspring who remain....They can offer true equality....The invaders can stop `conquering and discovering'.... (and) to begin to treat America as a home in which we live, not one to ransack...."

Said another way, "The Spanish soldier of fortune wanted gold and serfs, so he could live the idle, dominating life. The English peasant wanted land, and to get it he did again what his forefathers had done to the forebears of the Welsh. That history happened, it cannot be redone."

And from an earlier part of the book, "Euro-Americans do not like to be reminded that their presence in America was essentially parasitic until they grew strong enough to do without the host."

In conclusion, the format of the book is a good one. Historical details are there, and most of them come from the perspective of the native people. That in itself gives value to the book, which I highly recommend.