Native Roots: How the Indians Enriched America - Hardcover

Weatherford, Jack

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0517574853 ISBN 13: 9780517574850

Publisher: Crown, 1991

Synopsis

"Well written, imagery-ridden...A tale of what was, what became, and what is today regarding the Indian relation to the European civilization that 'grafted' itself onto this ancient system.'"
MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE
Conventional American history holds that the white settlers of the New World re-created the societies they had known in England, France, and Spain. But as anthropologist Jack Weatherford, author of INDIAN GIVERS, brilliantly shows, the Europeans actually grafted their civilization onto the deep and nourishing roots of Native American customs and beliefs. Our place names, our farming and hunting techniques, our crafts, the very blood that flows in our veins--all derive from American Indians ways that we consistently fail to see.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

ritten, imagery-ridden...A tale of what was, what became, and what is today regarding the Indian relation to the European civilization that 'grafted' itself onto this ancient system.'"
MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE
Conventional American history holds that the white settlers of the New World re-created the societies they had known in England, France, and Spain. But as anthropologist Jack Weatherford, author of INDIAN GIVERS, brilliantly shows, the Europeans actually grafted their civilization onto the deep and nourishing roots of Native American customs and beliefs. Our place names, our farming and hunting techniques, our crafts, the very blood that flows in our veins--all derive from American Indians ways that we consistently fail to see.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Reviews

Another insightful and provocative contribution by anthropologist Weatherford (Indian Givers, 1989, etc.) to increasing national recognition of the extent of white America's debt to Native Americans. Taking far-off Tuktoyaktuk, inside the Arctic Circle in Canada, as a point of departure, Weatherford illustrates that interdependency between white and Indian cultures persists today- -there, between a DEW-line radar installation and the old Inuit community nearby. Historically, the author details how early explorers from DeSoto to Lewis and Clark used native guides, and how many natural resources (timber, furs, cash crops of tobacco and King Cotton among them)--the economic foundation of white North America--were husbanded and harvested by Indians. Moreover, Weatherford points out, Indians as well as Africans were enslaved, and from native women as companions to European trappers and traders arose prominent mixed-blood groups such as the proud M‚tis of central Canada. Evidence past and present combines to indicate contributions to language, military tactics, food, and philosophy, creating in each case an example concise and scholarly, yet at times lively and even poetic. Quietly subversive but wonderfully accurate--a comprehensive, memorable tribute to the pervasive Native American influence on those who destroyed a way of life even as they assimilated it. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

"Beneath the surface of . . . American accomplishments, lie indigenous roots," asserts cultural anthropologist Weatherford, in this sequel to his popular Indian Giving ( LJ 11/1/88). The bounty of the Americas, carefully tended and developed by the first Americans, melded with the rich diversity of both European settlers and indigenous groups to produce a unique American culture. While the premise is sound, the author's assertions often overstate Indian influence on settlers. He relies on secondary sources, some of which are incomplete or controversial, for his references. General readers deserve better.
- Mary B. Davis, Huntington Free Lib., Bronx, N.Y.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Crown
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0517574853
• ISBN 13: 9780517574850
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 310