From the earliest traces of first arrivals to the present, Native Americans represent a diverse and colorful array of cultures. Ranging North America and topics as diverse as archaeological discoveries from thousands of years ago and accounts of reservation life today, this study draws on traditional records as well as oral histories and biographical sketches to bring the history of these varied peoples to life.
Johansen’s account, now available for the first time in one comprehensive volume, tackles the various theories that date Native Americans’ first probable appearance perhaps 30,000 years before Columbus’s arrival. Chapters trace the explosion of westward expansion and include personal sketches of some of those famous for native resistance such as Tecumseh’s six-nation alliance, among many others. The book also explores the new wave of Native American activism that began in the 1960s, reservation life today, the repatriation of artifacts, and the current and widespread revival of native language studies.
Written in a compelling and accessible style, this book not only provides a comprehensive introduction to the history of North American Indians, but also offers an uncommonly rich description of the material and intellectual ways that Native American cultures have influenced the life and institutions of people across the globe.
Introduction
1. Early Indigenous North America: An Overview
2. Mexico and Mesoamerica: Beginnings to European Contact
3. Native America Meets Europe: The Colonial Era
4. The Transfer of Ideas: Native Confederacies and the Evolution of Democracy
5. The Explosion Westward: The Accelerating Speed of Frontier Movement
6. The Northwest Coast and California
7. The Frontier Closes on the Southwest and Great Plains
8. The Rise of the "Vanishing Race": Native American Adaptations to Assimilation
9. A People's Revival—1961 to 1990: Native Self-Determination
10. Majority Culture Borrowings from Native American Peoples Cultures
11. Contemporary Issues in Native America
Selected Bibliography
Index