American Indian History: A Documentary Reader

This latest volume in Wiley–Blackwell′s ′Uncovering the Past′ series conveys the premise that indigenous intellects were the equal of European intellects at the moment of conquest, that the people suffered a long period of decline for varied reasons, and that in the recent past they have made great strides in asserting themselves once again. With nearly a third of the volume dedicated to the ancient world through the eighteenth centuries, Townsend allows the documents to illuminate the richness of American Indian historical traditions and the strength of the efforts they made when the crisis came. The volume then moves on to extensive coverage of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, completing an integral study of the American Indian experience.

Series Editors Preface.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction.

1. Indian Ways.

1. Maya Glyphs at Piedras Negras.

2. Ancient Nahuatl Prayers from the Florentine Codex.

3. Pueblo Bonito of Chaco Canyon.

4. Images of Secotan.

5. Two Versions of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Creation Story.

2. First Contact.

1. Arrival of the Spaniards in the Annals of Tlatelolco.

2. Response to the Spanish by Native Priests.

3. Don Luis Travels the World.

4. Arrival of the Dutch at Manhattan in Native Memory.

3. The Expectations of the Strangers.

1. Christopher Columbus s Journal.

2. Cabeza de Vaca s Experiences in North America.

3. Thomas Harriot s Observations at Roanoke.

4. John Smith s Visit to Werowocomoco.

5. Edward Waterhouse s Report on the Events of 1622.

4. The Long Struggle for American Lands.

1. A Jesuit s Story of the 1639 Smallpox Epidemic.

2. Gandeaktena s Decision to Become a Christian.

3. Metacom s Grievances.

4. Mary Rowlandson s Narrative.

5. The Declaration of a Rebellious Christian Indian in the Pueblo Revolt.

5. Eighteenth–Century Power Shifts.

1. The Refusal of Some English Prisoners to Return to English Life.

2. The Abenakis Forceful Statement to the English.

3. The Chickasaws Political Vision in 1723.

4. Sir Jeffery Amherst Suggests the Smallpox.

5. The Chickasaws after the Revolution.

6. George Washington s Indian Policy.

6. What the New Nation Portended for Indians.

1. Lewis and Clark in the Pacific Northwest.

2. Russian Settlements in Alaska.

3. Tecumseh s Demands.

4. The Cherokee Syllabary and Newspaper.

5. The Cherokee Debate in Washington.

6. Black Hawk s Autobiography.

7. William Apess s Condemnation of White America.

7. The Losing of the West.

1. Charles Ohiyesa Eastman s Childhood Memories.

2. Lone Dog s Winter Count, 1800 1870.

3. Sarah Winnemucca s Choices.

4. The Views of George Armstrong Custer.

5. Black Elk s Memories of the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

6. Elaine Goodale s Observations of the Ghost Dance.

7. Charles Ohiyesa Eastman s Visit to Wounded Knee.

8. Geronimo s Story of His Life.

8. Surviving Assimilation and the National Imagination.

1. The 1887 Statement of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

2. Francis La Flesche s Memories of Boarding School.

3. A Navajo Girl s Letters Home from Boarding School.

4. William Stoddard s The Talking Leaves.

5. The Arguments of The Quarterly Journal.
 
9. Mid–Twentieth–Century Changes.

1. The Arts and Crafts Act of 1935.

2. The Navajo Contribution to the War Effort.

3. The Musings of an Iroquois High Steel Man.

4. The Menominee Struggle against Termination.

10. The Upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s.

1. The 1961 Declaration of Indian Purpose.

2. The Alcatraz Proclamation.

3. Vine Deloria s Custer Died for Your Sins.

4. The Thoughts of Mary Crow Dog.

5. A Reporter s Comments on the Deaths at Pine Ridge.

11. The End of the Twentieth Century: A New Era?

1. The Origins of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

2. Growing Pan–Indian Activism and the Native Press.

3. Louise Erdrich s Dear John Wayne .

4. President Clinton s 1994 Conference with Native Leaders.

5. Struggles over the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

6. An Elder s Stories for Future Generations.

7. List of Federally Recognized Tribes Today.

Selected Bibliography.

Index.

Camilla Townsend is Professor of History at Rutgers University. She is the author of Tales of Two Cities: Race and Economic Culture in Early Republican North and South America (2000), Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma (2004), and Malintzin s Choices: An Indian Woman in the Conquest of Mexico (2006).