Goodreads Synopsis:In a series of powerful and moving documents, anthropologist Peter Nabokov presents a history of Native American and white relations as seen through Indian eyes and told through Indian voices: a record spanning more than five hundred years of interchange between the two peoples. Drawing from a wide range of sources - traditional narratives, Indian autobiographies, government transcripts, firsthand interviews, and more - Nabokov has assembled a remarkably rich and vivid collection, representing nothing less than an alternative history of North America. Beginning with the Indian's first encounters with the earliest explorers, traders, missionaries, settlers, and soldiers and continuing to the present, Native American Testimony presents an authentic, challenging picture of an important, tragic, and frequently misunderstood aspect of American history.
My Review:
This book took awhile for me to finish. And not because it wasn't interesting or relevant, but because the material was heartbreaking. The book is broken up into short 2-3 page accounts. In these accounts you get a very personal glimpse into the life of members from different tribes. Spanning from 1492 to 1992, this book delivers scope. This is not a history book written from a Eurocentric mindset where the telling of events become skewed through the eyes of the victor. This is straight from the underdog's mouth and it's powerful. I wish this were required reading in high schools because young Americans would benefit from native perspectives. I'm so glad I bought this book. Definitely something worth reading again in five years.
The editor, Peter Nabokov, sets up each chapter with a brief overview of what was going on during that particular time period. Then each chapter is broken down into 5 or 6 personal accounts from Native Americans. And he doesn't focus on just one tribe. You really get a feel for what people were going through across the country.
There is, however, some controversy over one of his more recent publications, "The Origin Myth of Acoma Pueblo." Nabokov promised to consult with the Acoma Tribal Council before publishing the book as it discusses sensitive cultural and religious information, but he failed to do so. You can read more about this here: Acoma Pueblo vs. Peter Nabokov
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| The Editor |
About the Editor: Peter Nabokov is an anthropologist, writer, and professor at UCLA.
Favorite Quote:
"The old people came literally to love the soil," wrote the Sioux author Luther Standing Bear. "They sat on the ground with the feeling of being close to a mothering power. It was good for the skin to touch the earth, and the old people liked to remove their moccasins and walk with their bare feet on the sacred earth. The soil was soothing, strengthening, cleansing and healing."
