Review

General Books

This brief book is part of the long-established Anvil Series, and as such is designed to offer "a concise treatment" or serve "as supplementary material for college history courses." Meredith has written a brief Prologue, five narrative chapters, and an Epilogue, which trace some of the experiences of Native Americans within the United States. Because of the series format, the prose text has only seventy-four pages to guide the reader through the era from 1450 to the present. In addition to the narrative chapters, the author presents eighty pages of historical documents related to Native American history and tradition, federal Indian policy, Native American statements of purpose, and non-Indian reflections about Native Americans. Within these categories he presents twenty-nine documents ranging in length from one to five pages. A modest-length bibliography includes ten to twelve books related to the major themes in each narrative chapter.	1
In this compact book the material varies widely. Some deals with central issues, some with less important topics or at least items considered that way by many scholars. The series format makes it difficult for the author to focus effectively. For example, the prose chapters include both historical narrative and ethnological discussions about tribal practices and beliefs. Both are important, but there is little chance to integrate them with any effectiveness. Chapter One, "Many Nations, 1450-1784," gives Iroquois accounts of how they developed their League of Peace in present New York State. Then it switches to Caddo confederacies on the Southern plains and their dealings with the Spanish and French there. Next the author adds material about the Turkey Dance and the Drum Dance the tribe practices, but has no connection to their dealings with the Europeans. From there the narrative moves to Alaska, the East, and the West.	2
The later chapters are similar as they try to blend ethnology with historical narrative. Chapter Two, "New Orientations, 1783-1853," begins with Muscogee or Creek history, and then moves to prophets, Tecumseh, Cherokee Removal, and the plains tribes. Chapter Three, "Concentration, 1832-1898," probably has the most unity as it presents Indian Territory, plains wars, reservation issues, and Alaska events. Chapter Four, "Reform, 1868-1968," brings the story into the twentieth century as it examines allotment, assimilation, the Indian New Deal, and post-War War II termination. Finally in Chapter Five, "Renewal, 1961-1999," contemporary issues receive some attention. As the author moves rapidly through four and a half centuries, he has to avoid much of the basic data and also must lump frequently unrelated items together. This results in a choppy, disconnected presentation that is not particularly satisfactory for readers and is unlikely to prove helpful to students. The last half of the volume includes twenty-nine documents, twelve of which are U.S. laws and federal court decisions, seven are statements made by Native Americans from Tecumseh (1810) to that of Roger Jourdain (1986), and six are statements about Indians by others.	3
Intended as supplementary reading for lower division community college courses in Native American History or introductory classes in Native American Studies, the book is ill designed. Its length makes it unsatisfactory as a text--the narrative is hopelessly too short. However, the documents may be used as springboards for class discussion, or by an instructor to enrich materials given to the students. Although few in number and short, they do provide some valuable insights for a solid discussion leader to develop. At the same time, most of the items are federal laws, and these surely offer little that students can use to gain insights into the Indian side of events. The narrative chapters are supposed to do this, but do not present the ethnographic material in an effective manner. Clearly the book fails to achieve its goal of serving as a useful and valuable supplementary tool. The Anvil Series works best for courses that focus on a limited time span, such as the American Revolution or the New Deal, or a single issue such as slavery. Native American history courses usually cover five centuries, many European nations, and hundreds of tribal societies. As a result the author/editor has not been able to overcome the limits imposed by the series format, and so he has produced a book utterly unsuited to the courses for which it is designed.	4
University of Arizona Roger L. Nichols

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