Customer Reviews

Wisconsin Indians

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I thought the book was well written, and would have been happy with more detail. There's not a lot on Indian culture here, but the author did provide context to help explain how events played out. Indian tribes were portrayed, not as naive two-dimensional victims, but as competent peoples who just didn't have the resources or knowledge they needed (at first). I'm unfamiliar with this subject and, while I can't speak for the accuracy, the book seemed balanced and covered a lot of ground--a great book to start learning about Wisconsin Indians.

This is a great compliment to, Indian Nations of Wisconsin: Histories of Endurance and Renewal by Patty Loew. It has more facts, figures and subjects that Loew may have left out or briefly mentioned it is still condensed enough were you don't feel over whelmed.

"Wisconsin Indians" by Nancy Oesterich Lurie is a book that features information on the history of Native Americans that are a part of this region predating the twentieth century. I admit that I was also intrigued to check out this book because I was curious to know more about my racial background (I am half Menominee Indian from my biological mother's side). "Wisconsin Indians" contains some details such as:

1) Chippewa Treaty Rights Controversy (starts on page 65): There is information on the fact that the Chippewa Indians created the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission.

2) Federal Indian Policy(starts on page 15): There is information on events that lead to the creation of the Menominee, Stockbridge-Munsee, Potawatomi and Chippewa reservations.

3) Menominee Termination and Restoration (starts on page 53): There are informative facts mentioned to how the Menominee Indians assisted the schools and utility companies on their reservation. There is also data discussed as to what led to Menominee Enterprises Inc. (MEI).

I am glad to have encountered this book. I say this because it covers various facets of Wisconsin Native American History were previously unknown to me. This book is best for anyone that is open to studying about the history of Wisconsin.