Tribes and Tribulations: Misconceptions About American Indians and Their Histories - Softcover

Hauptman, Laurence M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0826315828 ISBN 13: 9780826315823

Publisher: University of New Mexico Press, 1995

Synopsis

Most Americans are misinformed about Native Americans and their history. In the nine essays in this volume, Laurence M. Hauptman, drawing on twenty-five years of teaching American Indian history, selects topics from the seventeenth century to the present as examples of some commonly held but erroneous views on Indian-white relations, including campaigns to pacify and Christianize Indians, policies of removal, and stereotypes of Indians as mascots for sports teams or Hollywood film sidekicks.

Some misconceptions arise from mistaken claims that pass as fact, such as the notion that the U.S. Constitution derived some of its concepts from the Iroquois. The misuse of terms such as genocide and paternalism has also obscured the experience of individual Indian nations or dulled perceptions about Anglo-American avarice. The tribal sovereignty guaranteed by treaties and, at the same time, Native Americans' United States citizenship have confused many who assume Indians receive special privileges.

Throughout the book, emphasis is given to Native Americans in the East, where a quarter of all Indians live today. Hauptman's knowledgeable and provocative analysis strips away wrong notions and replaces them with new insights and perspectives.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Hauptman selects topics from the 17th century to the present as examples of some commonly held but erroneous views on Indian-white relationships, including stereotypes of Indians as mascots.

About the Author:

Laurence M. Hauptman, professor of history at SUNY, New Paltz, is the author of ten books on Indian-white relations. In 1987, he received the Peter Doctor (Iroquois) Memorial Foundation Award, a "distinguished service award for the goodwill that person has bestowed for the image of the Indian."

About this edition

• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0826315828
• ISBN 13: 9780826315823
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 180