In the Hands of the Great Spirit: The 20,000-Year History of American Indians |
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In the Hands of the Great Spirit: The 20,000-Year History of American Indians
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by Jake Page
Sales Rank: 235952
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Discount: 25 %
List Price: $16.95
$12.71
At Amazon
on 4-16-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 480 pages
Published by: Free Press April 27, 2004
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0684855771
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0684855776
Book Dimensions:
8.2 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
Weighs: 15.2 ounces
From Publishers Weekly
This superlative popular History of American Indian peoples distills two generations of scholarship into a rare combination of readability and reliability. For former Smithsonian and Natural History editor Page, who is also a prolific mystery novelist and editor, it is a magnum opus. The early chapters establish, with compelling detail that draws on Indian oral history, that the origins of North America's first inhabitants were varied (including relatives of the Japanese Ainu), and that they were numerous, mostly agricultural, organized as civil societies, and living in mystical harmony neither with nature nor with one another. The book's second half details how European diseases, notably smallpox, arrived before most of the guns or large-scale colonies, with appalling consequences for the cohesion and survival of many tribes. What followed was fighting among tribes (such as the fate of the Pawnee at the hands of mounted rivals like the Sioux), deliberate genocide and sometimes well-intentioned but almost always badly executed government policies that left entire peoples in ruin. There are reprieves from tales of destruction: the Pueblo staged a successful revolt against the Spanish in 1680, while the Iroquois and Cherokee created synthetic cultures that tried to adapt to changing circumstances. The book ends with the discovery of Kennewick Man (Ainu kin), the Red Power movement and the profitable and controversial casino ownership by tribes like the Pequot. A smooth, engaged narrative a useful bibliographic essay, make this a book that fills an enormous gap in the popular historical literature, written with a great feel for the many contexts it addresses.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Sweeping across the lands that became the U.S., Page's historical survey of the Indian/European interface over the centuries strives to envelop every significant event and personality within a one-volume format. Page is, therefore, constrained from overly effusive recounting, favoring a methodical chronicle of the inexorable displacement of the native tribes from their lands, noting the epidemics, violence, and chicanery by which that was accomplished. A certain economy must ensue from this approach, characterizing this presentation as an introduction for readers new to the historical contours of Indian-settler relations. Page does well to inform his audience of controversies in the archaeology and historiography of the subject while incorporating his personal view of disputed matters, imbuing his narrative with a certain amount of editorializing. Such readers further benefit from two themes that warrant Page's more detailed treatment: the spiritual life of the Indians, and episodes of pan-Indian resistance, from Pontiac to Tecumseh to the 1970s American Indian movement. As a gateway to more specialized biographies and histories, Page's work will see heavy library use. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Reader Reviews
This review is from: In the Hands of the Great Spirit: The 20,000-Year History of American Indians (Hardcover)
Virtually any Indian group you are looking for is included here. It is certainly informative and has some interesting lines of argumentation about the origins of Indian arrivals in this hemisphere. I thought some of the commentary on modern Indian issues was well done too. Those interested in the land issues and casino controversies will be delighted. My reason for a middlish rating is that it does drone on, and tries to cover too much. It is certainly comprehensive but maybe tried to achieve too much in 400 pages, as it plods in areas and loses its readability. I do praise it for its balance, but feel it is more of a reference work than enjoyable prose.
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In the Hands of the Great Spirit: The 20,000-Year History of American Indians
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Updated on 4-16-2008.
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