Review

General Books

Bruce E. Johansen's Shapers of the Great Debate on Native Americans represents the second volume in a series of titles that examine issues of contention in American history. Contrasting the views of the "winners" and the "losers," this series attempts to reflect the ways in which diversity (race, class, ethnicity, gender, and region) has played a role in shaping American political debate. In this contribution, Johansen focuses on the issue of land, arguing that land relations have shaped nearly every interaction between Native and immigrant cultures. Johansen has organized the book around eight themes within the larger ideological debate over land as a continent changed hands. These themes are presented in chronological order from contact up to the present, with each chapter focusing on two or more individuals representing the two sides of the issue. What emerges from this organizational principle is the story of Indian-white relations through individuals who helped shape the debate and the fate of Native peoples in America. This approach moves the history of Indian-white relations away from the abstract realm of governments into the domain of human relations. It creates a sense of human agency. At the same time, Johansen underscores the changing power relations on the continent as Indian tribes increasingly lost control of their land base and became dependent on trade goods and the military and political support of the European powers.	1
Partly because of the nature of his source materials, the early chapters appear unbalanced and focused on the European perceptions of the debate. Johansen is aware of this bias, often engaging in a discussion of the reliability of his sources. One of the more interesting of these monologues appears in a chapter entitled "Mother Earth or Mother Lode?" where Johansen addresses the reliability of the oft-cited speech by Chief Sea'thl and its role in the modern environmental debate. These discussions make for interesting reading and raise important questions about the writing of Native American history. Furthermore, they make Indian history relevant to the modern reader and place it at the center of American history. The inclusion of Vine Deloria, Jr., Oren Lyons, and Senator Slate Gordon increases this relevance to the modern reader and also points to the significance of history in understanding the present. Surprisingly, Johansen's sources for the modern period do not include oral histories. Overall, the inclusion of oral traditions about the even more historically distant leaders would have added another dimension to this volume.	2
The major problem with this volume is its title. It is long; it is confusing; and it is misleading. When I started reading the book, I expected a biographical dictionary – a concise listing of individuals and their contributions to the debate over land, spirit, and power. Instead, I found an account of Indian-white relations that focused on individuals. The appendix does include brief biographies of some 40 individuals, but I would not describe the book as a biographical dictionary. In addition, Johansen's focus is land. Spirit and power become tangential to his treatment of the topic. With these caveats in mind, the book provides a refreshing twist to the usual treatments of Indian-white relations. From my vantage point as a historian of the Native American experience in the United States and as a college professor, I find this volume most useful as a reference tool. It provides insight into how individuals have shaped history and includes a useful preliminary bibliography.	3
California State Polytechnic University   Päivi Hoikkala

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