The inspirational story of the extraordinary gains by Indian tribes over the past half-century. The modern tribal sovereignty movement deserves to be spoken of in the same breath as the civil rights, environmental and women's movements.
Read More
The inspirational story of the extraordinary gains by Indian tribes over the past half-century. The modern tribal sovereignty movement deserves to be spoken of in the same breath as the civil rights, environmental and women's movements.
Read Less
Add this copy of Blood Struggle: The Rise of Modern Indian Nations to cart. $27.27, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2006 by W. W. Norton & Company.
Add this copy of Blood Struggle: the Rise of Modern Indian Nations to cart. $32.15, new condition, Sold by BargainBookStores rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Grand Rapids, MI, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by W. W. Norton & Company.
Add this copy of Blood Struggle: the Rise of Modern Indian Nations to cart. $39.95, new condition, Sold by Russell Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Victoria, BC, CANADA, published 2006 by W. W. Norton & Company.
Add this copy of Blood Struggle: The Rise of Modern Indian Nations to cart. $47.58, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2006 by W. W. Norton & Company.
Add this copy of Blood Struggle: The Rise of Modern Indian Nations to cart. $52.82, new condition, Sold by Booksplease rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Southport, MERSEYSIDE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2006 by W. W. Norton & Company.
Add this copy of Blood Struggle: the Rise of Modern Indian Nations to cart. $62.87, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by W. W. Norton & Company.
Add this copy of Blood Struggle: the Rise of Modern Indian Nations to cart. $74.71, new condition, Sold by GridFreed rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from North Las Vegas, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by W W Norton & Co Inc.
Add this copy of Blood Struggle: the Rise of Modern Indian Nations to cart. $77.20, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by W W Norton & Co Inc.
The second half of the Twentieth Century was a period of great social upheaval in the United States. The changes wrought by the Civil Rights, women's, environmental, and anti-war movements are well-known. Perhaps less well-known, but of great importance, are the changes brought about by American Indian Tribes as they sought to organize their governments, implement and determine their treaty rights, and revitalize their traditional cultures. The story of tribal self-determination is told with eloquence and passion by Professor Charles Wilkinson in his recent book, "Blood Struggle: The Rise of Modern Indian Nations" (2005). Professor Wilkinson is a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Colorado School of Law and the author of twelve books dealing with Indian affairs and with the American West. He is also a distinguished advocate and has worked as counsel to many Indian tribes on matters discussed in this book.
In his comprehensive and readable history, Professor Wilkinson places the self-determination movement against the backdrop of earlier Indian policy. He begins with the General Allotment Act of 1887 in which Congress provided for the division of Reservation lands to individual Indians with the goal of assimilating the Indians into the broader society and selling-off the tribal land base. He follows this with a discussion of Indian policy during the New Deal which partly reversed this trend but which lead to the policy of termination in the 1950s and early 1960s. The termination policy was also assimilationist in nature and had the goal of ending Federal supervision of and the special Federal relationship to Indian tribes. The tribes succeeded in reversing the termination policy when, in 1973, Congress passed a law restoring the Federal relationship to the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin. Professor Wilkinson was instrumental in securing this legislation.
Professor Wilkinson offers an intellectual, legal, and cultural history of Indian self-determination. His book is full of stories and anecdotes of tribal people and their leaders: this multi-dimensional approach brings his study to life. I learned a great deal from his discussion of the work of three influential Indian writers: Charles Eastman, Black Hawk, (primarily in the famous book "Black Elk Speaks" by John Neihardt) and Darcy McNickle. Wilkinson's treatment of these writers provides a good understanding to the tribal movement and is frequently overlooked in other treatments of this subject.
Professor Wilkinson offers well-paced accounts of the Indian attempted takeovers at Alcatraz and of portions of the BIA buildings in Washington, D.C. in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The book discusses, with the perspective of the insider, the salmon fishing litigation in the Northwest in which tribes secured a recognition of their treaty rights (the "Boldt" decision), the story of Indian land claims in the Northeast, tribal efforts to restore land unjustly taken from them and much else. He discusses the shifting fortunes of Indian litigants in recent years before the Supreme Court of the United States. The book also covers tribal business endeavors in such areas as forest management, resorts, oil and gas pipelines, and most recently and controversially, casino gambling.
Professor Wilkinson writes with a mastery of his subject and a deep commitment to the rightness of Indian causes. This is the source of great strength and eloquence in the book but also the source of some questions. At times, Professor Wilkinson doesn't let the reader see that there are (at least) two sides to every question. Too often, objections to the tribal position in various matters are swept aside or belittled. Tribal positions on various separate issues are indiscriminately lumped together with little effort to distinguish what is valuable with what is questionable. In his effort to set forth what he deems to be the values of Indian culture ( a slow-pace of life, living close to the land, a spiritual tie to land and community, environmentalism) Professor Wilkinson perhaps simplifies and romanticizes many individual cultures which differ widely from each other. Conversely, he oversimplifies and is overly critical of life in the broader United States which Professor Wilkinson finds conformist, materialistic, and destructive, and intolerant of differences. There is too much easy caricature here on both sides and, I think, too great a stress on the values of ethnicity and nationalism. The interplay and relationship between a traditional and a common culture is an important question faced by every group in the United States and deserves closer thought than it receives in this study.
Professor Wilkinson's study teaches a great deal about the development of Indian tribes and institutions in our recent history. The book held my interest and deeply moved me. It will encourage the reader to think about a part of our Nation's history and its present that is too often ignored.
Robin Friedman
HokaHey
Apr 2, 2007
An Honest Book
This book was used for my Federal Indian Policy Class, basically this book speaks truth about Indian Rights & Laws. The book covers such events like American Indian Movement, Indian Reorganization Act, Termination of the Tribes in the U.S, Allotment, So overall this book is great to really fresh up on Indian Views or just wanting to learn some insight on what happened in Indian Country where a lot of other books had sugar-coated it. This book does speak of such great people who stood up for their rights and what has now made history like, Vine Deloria Jr., Mel Thom, John Collier. So do read and appreciate what Charles Wilkenson has written for us. Hope you enjoy!!!