Review

This book is designed by its author to fill the gap both in quantity and quality that he believes exists regarding Native Americans in current textbooks and survey courses. It is a supplementary reader which "represents American Indians properly as part of U.S. History" containing seventeen essays that span the typical college survey course from the end of the Civil War. The selection of small readings is designed to spark student interest and also to be accessible in the form of engaging and easily read prose. The essays are arranged in six thematic and chronological groupings: 1) The 1870s and 1880s "Clash of Cultures;" 2) The 1890s and Early 1900s—"Assimilation and Its Implications"; 3) The 1930s to 1945—"American Indians during Depression and War"; 4) 1945 to 1960—"Termination, Relocation, and Stereotypes"; 5) The 1960s and 1970s—"Self Determination, Activism, and Spiritual Rights"; and .6) The 1890s–2000—"Contemporary American Indian Issues." Each section contains an introduction by Evans that discusses the predominant themes for the chapter followed by two or three readings, some written by Native Americans.	1
Through these readings, students will be exposed to the role of American Indians in their relations with the Federal government, their fight for cultural self-determination, their selective adaptation of white culture, and their perceived role in contemporary society. The book provides more depth to topics glossed over in typical survey texts. For example, Evans devotes an entire reading to the New Deal's Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) which receives between a couple of sentences to a couple of paragraphs in typical texts. Elizabeth James-Stern's essay on the Nez Perce's struggles with the Dawes Act of 1877 provides a more personal understanding of the impacts of assimilation policy and even shows how the Nez Perce put aside their intra-tribal divisions to resist the attack on their culture. The representations of First Nations people in popular culture is explored in Liza Black's study of the Indian in Hollywood during the 1950s when Native Americans were relegated primarily to extra roles in formula westerns. There they had to not only deal with the prejudices of the studios but also were influenced by the Bureau of Indian Affairs interfering with their contracting efforts.	2
The book would fit best in a college survey class, but because of its ease of reading, it would also be useful in high school AP U.S. history courses, Readings could be used for a general discussion, writing assignments, or merely to reinforce, from a Native American perspective, the general topics already covered in the class. However, to relegate it only to use in a U.S. history survey course would be to deny many other suitable uses for this book. For instructors who do not wish to incorporate Native Americans to the point of assigning their students another book, this work is one that provides ample lecture material to enrich their classes. In addition, upper division classes in topics such as American West or U.S. ethnic history would find this book equally useful. While the merit of this book is clearly evident, it is not without its weaknesses. While Evans makes an effort to include works by Native Americans, most selections still read as dispassionate scholarly works. For the later sections relating to the 1960s and 1970s, it might have been useful to provide a more polemical piece or two such as a selection from Russell Means' Where White Men Fear to Tread. Likewise it could have been useful in providing conflicting interpretations that facilitate debate in class by forcing students to think critically. In addition, while the section introductions are useful, Evans might have included some focus questions that would help students critically analyze the readings. However, these minor criticisms aside, this book is one that will allow instructors to better include Native American issues in their classes.	3
Montana State University–Billings Tom Rust

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