Indians and the American West in the Twentieth Century - Softcover

Parman, Donald L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0253208920 ISBN 13: 9780253208927

Publisher: Indiana University Press, 1994

Synopsis

Parman brings fresh life to some well-worked topics, while illuminating lesser-known developments of the postwar period and contextualizing Indian concerns within broader governmental and social dynamics. Both specialists and general readers will appreciate his succinct, informed treatment of 'the Indian problem' in the United States." -Gateway Heritage

Parman's accomplishment lies in his ability to synthesize the saga of the numerous interactions among those seeking dominance.... Parman's balanced and comprehensive overview provides a handy guide to the subject for upper-division undergraduate and graduate collections." -Choice

Indians and the American West in the Twentieth Century is an important contribution to understanding the development of the West and provides a clear and impressive analysis of evolving government policy and programs that impacted directly on the resident Indian people." -American Indian Culture and Research Journal

This is an impressive effort that provides the reader with a balanced view of a subject that tends to become polemic." -Books of the Southwest

The well-written and analytical narrative is backed with thirty-nine pages of notes and bibliography, which provide an enormous complement and establish a firm foundation of scholarship." -Nebraska History

This book is an important contribution that manages to give the reader a bird's-eye view of the regularities of twentieth-century Indian history, while at the same time conveying the local twists, complexities, and ironies of that history and of any generalizations we would make about it.... should be read by all scholars in Native American studies and American minority history." -Journal of American History

Parman's thoughtful book will be of interest to students, scholars, and anyone remotely interested in Indian-white relations during the twentieth century." -Pacific Historical Review

An appraisal that is both clear and balanced." -Margaret

About this title

Synopsis:

As the twentieth century began, Native Americans were reeling from a century of war, forced resettlement, and loss of indigenous control. In a narrative that is compellingly evenhanded and insightful, Donald L. Parman follows the Indians' continuing struggle to hold on to their land, their resources, and their identity. Focusing on the American West, Parman presents twentieth-century Indian history in the context of regional development. Two questions dominate this story: Who will control Indian resources, and who will control Indian affairs? The turning point is World War II, when Indians in considerable numbers left reservations for wartime jobs or military service, leaving a postwar legacy of migration to urban centers, a sharpened sense of racial identity, and a desire for greater tribal autonomy. These changes set the stage for such key events and trends of recent Indian history as the Red Power Movement, tribal development of resources, fights for new legislation and more favorable policies, and the entry of Indians into gambling ventures.

Parman details these events and clarifies their historical significance, and he provides a useful assessment of the status of Native Americans in the West as the century comes to a close.

From the Back Cover:

This book follows the Indians' continuing struggle to hold on to their land, their resources, and their identity. Focusing on the American West, Parman presents twentieth-century Indian History in the context of regional development.

About this edition

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0253208920
• ISBN 13: 9780253208927
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256