From first arrivals through present-day controversies, this text uses story telling and a powerful narrative to bring historical figures to life. - (ABC-CLIO)

From the earliest traces of first arrivals to the present, the Native peoples of North America represent a diverse and colorful array of cultures. From Central America to Canada, from recent archaeological discoveries to accounts of current controversies, this comprehensive study uses both traditional story telling and a powerful narrative to bring history to life. Johansen provides a critical narrative of European-American westward expansion through use of Native American voices, including compelling personal sketches of key figures such as: Tecumseh, alliance builder in the Ohio Valley; Chief Joseph the Younger, leader of the Nez Perce long march; and Susette LaFlesche, an Omaha Indian who reported on the Wounded Knee massacre for the Omaha-Herald.

This account provides an uncommonly rich description of the material and intellectual ways in which Native American cultures have influenced the life and institutions of people across the globe, from medicine such as aspirin to foods like corn and squash to democratic ideas. It utilizes portrayals of select incidents, such as the Wounded Knee massacre and the impact of small pox, to reveal deep layers of meaning about the frontier experience in American history. A wide array of contemporary controversies, such as gambling interests, sports mascots, and sovereignty issues, are also included.

From the earliest traces of first arrivals to the present, the Native peoples of North America represent a diverse and colorful array of cultures. From Central America to Canada, from recent archaeological discoveries to accounts of current controversies, this comprehensive study uses both traditional story telling and a powerful narrative to bring history to life. Johansen provides a critical narrative of European-American westward expansion through use of Native American voices, including compelling personal sketches of key figures such as: Tecumseh, alliance builder in the Ohio Valley; Chief Joseph the Younger, leader of the Nez Perce long march; and Susette LaFlesche, an Omaha Indian who reported on the Wounded Knee massacre for the Omaha-Herald.

This account provides an uncommonly rich description of the material and intellectual ways in which Native American cultures have influenced the life and institutions of people across the globe, from medicine such as aspirin to foods like corn and squash to democratic ideas. It utilizes portrayals of select incidents, such as the Wounded Knee massacre and the impact of small pox, to reveal deep layers of meaning about the frontier experience in American history. A wide array of contemporary controversies, such as gambling interests, sports mascots, and sovereignty issues, are also included.

From the earliest traces of first arrivals to the present, the Native peoples of North America represent a diverse and colorful array of cultures. From Central America to Canada, from recent archaeological discoveries to accounts of current controversies, this comprehensive study uses both traditional story telling and a powerful narrative to bring history to life. Johansen provides a critical narrative of European-American westward expansion through use of Native American voices, including compelling personal sketches of key figures such as: Tecumseh, alliance builder in the Ohio Valley; Chief Joseph the Younger, leader of the Nez Perce "long march"; and Susette LaFlesche, an Omaha Indian who reported on the Wounded Knee massacre for the Omaha-Herald. - (ABC-CLIO)

Johansen (communications, Native American studies, U. of Nebraska, Omaha) has done an admirable job in producing a thoughtful, though often wrenching, history of the Native peoples of North America from earliest times to the present in an accessible 2v. set designed for high school and university-level Native American studies courses. Drawing on archaeology, native texts and oral records, and current media and scholarship, Johansen chronicles the earliest civilizations in what is now the U.S., Mexico, and Mesoamerica; the initial contact with Europeans; Native American contributions to general society; the politics, people, and events of the westward expansion and American Indian policies; Native American adaptations to assimilation; and Native self-determination since the 1960s. The volumes conclude with a chapter describing the cultural borrowings from Native American people and culture and another on contemporary issues, including gambling, alcoholism, language revival, repatriation, land claims, environmental issues, and sports mascots. Some b&w images are included. Both volumes contain a bibliography and comprehensive index. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) - (Book News)

Bruce E. Johansen is Professor of Communications and Native American Studies at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. He is the author or editor of twenty books, the most recent being Enduring Legacies: Native American Treaties and Contemporary Controversies (Praeger, 2004), Indigenous Peoples and Environmental Issues: An Encyclopedia (Greenwood, 2003), The Dirty Dozen: Toxic Chemicals and the Earth's Future (Praeger, 2003), and The Global Warming Desk Reference (Greenwood, 2001).

Booklist Reviews

Johansen's two extensively documented volumes brilliantly succeed in portraying cultures indigenous to North America from their earliest origins to the present. Volume 1 tackles the various theories that date their first probable appearance, now agreed to be 30,000 years before Columbus' arrival. Johansen proceeds to early instances of Native confrontations with Europeans, including the Iroquois Confederacy, whose governing was admired by Jefferson. This volume concludes with the explosion of westward expansion and includes personal sketches of some of those famous for Native resistance, notably Tecumseh's famous six-tribe alliance. In volume 2, Johansen moves on to the twentieth century to tell what he calls a story of recovery. He documents a new wave of Native American activism beginning in the 1960s, evidenced by the renewal of Native fishing rights and the occupation of Wounded Knee by the American Indian Movement. He explores reservation life today, the repatriation of artifacts, and the current and widespread revival of Native language studies. Encompassing not only traditional historical records but also oral histories and biographical sketches, these two volumes will undoubtedly become an integral part of Native American history, an increasingly popular field. ((Reviewed August 2005)) Copyright 2005 Booklist Reviews.