Native Americans Today: A Biographical Dictionary - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0313355541 ISBN 13: 9780313355547

Publisher: Greenwood, 2010

Synopsis

This engaging collection of Native American profiles examines these individuals' unique life experiences within the larger context of U.S. history.

Native Americans Today: A Biographical Dictionary focuses on the lives of contemporary Native Americans. Such treatments are rare, as most Native American biographies are historical (pre-1900) and cover familiar figures. Profiles collected here are written to be enjoyable as well as instructive, presented as examples of personal storytelling that should be savored not only for their factual content, but also for the humanity they evoke.

The book spotlights Native American lives in the United States and Canada, mainly after 1900, though a few older figures are included because their lives evoke strikingly modern themes. The author, an expert on all things Native American, knows (or knew) several of the people in the entries, adding a special vibrancy to the writing. Among those profiled are former U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, activist Eloise Cobell, and controversial political prisoner Leonard Peltier, as well as writers, artists, and musicians. The compilation also includes non-Native Americans whose lives and careers impacted Indian life.

About this title

About the Author

Bruce E. Johansen is Frederick W. Kayser Professor of Communication and Native American Studies, University of Nebraska. He is the author of dozens of books, including The Dirty Dozen: Toxic Chemicals and the Earth's Future, The Global Warming Desk Reference, and The Native Peoples of North America. He is series editor of Praeger's Native America: Yesterday and Today.

Reviews

A collection of 100 biographical profiles, this volume covers Native Americans from the late 1900s through the present day. The biographies average three to five pages in length, and each includes a list of further readings. At the beginning of the volume, there is a list of entries both by field of endeavor and nationality (tribe). Most of the individuals who are represented are categorized as activists, writers, or political leaders. Examples include Sherman Alexie, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Wilma Mankiller, Jay Silverheels, and Jim Thorpe. The volume provides a nice cross section of members of a variety of tribes and areas of the U.S. and Canada. Although there are other biographical sources pertaining to Native Americans, including American Indian Biographies (2005), editor Johansen notes in his preface that “many recent figures profiled here have not been included in other biographical dictionaries.” This volume is best suited to readers in high-school, public, and college libraries as an introduction to the persons represented. --Diana Shonrock

Edition details

• Publisher: Greenwood
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0313355541
• ISBN 13: 9780313355547
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 340
• Editor: Johansen Bruce E.