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Rating: 
Summary: A Pretty Good Basic Overview of the Subject
Review: First published more than fifty years ago, in 1953, the revised edition of "Red Man's America" remains one of the most important works to appear on the history and culture of Native Americans in the twentieth century. It provides an exhaustive exploration of the first peoples of America from Stone Age hunter/gatherer tribes to the highly organized civilizations of later eras. Underhill emphasizes the origins, backgrounds, and customs of the various North American First Peoples and explores their commonalties and divergences. The book is a fine work of history, sociology, and anthropology. In fourteen chapters, Underhill discusses the migration of peoples from Siberia over the Bering Strait to the American Northwest. She then moves on to the development of agriculture, the rise of the so-called "civilized" tribes of the Southeast, and the encounters with Europeans in the Southeast. Underhill then moves to the Northeast, treating the development of Algonquin culture and the Iroquois Confederacy. Then she explores the history and culture of the Calumet of the Great Lakes and the Upper Mississippi. This is followed with a discussion of the horse culture of the Great Plains and the agricultural civilizations of the Southwest. The latter portion of the book deals with the Navaho and Apache, whom Underhill characterizes as the late arrivals to America. She then investigates the Native Americans of the Great Basin, California, and the Potlatch culture of the Pacific Northwest. The last chapter deals with the relationship of the United States government to native peoples. This is a rather troublingly positive assessment of the government's activities on the American Indians' behalf, when the beneficial aspects of the relationship might be considered a definite minority of all that has transpired between the Native and Anglo populations. "Red Man's America" is still a very good book despite how dated it is, and may be read profitably as an overview of the subject. Indeed, despite the large number of books on the history of Native Americans, this remains one of the best on the subject.
Rating:
Summary: A Pretty Good Basic Overview of the Subject
Review: First published more than fifty years ago, in 1953, the revised edition of "Red Man's America" remains one of the most important works to appear on the history and culture of Native Americans in the twentieth century. It provides an exhaustive exploration of the first peoples of America from Stone Age hunter/gatherer tribes to the highly organized civilizations of later eras. Underhill emphasizes the origins, backgrounds, and customs of the various North American First Peoples and explores their commonalties and divergences. The book is a fine work of history, sociology, and anthropology. In fourteen chapters, Underhill discusses the migration of peoples from Siberia over the Bering Strait to the American Northwest. She then moves on to the development of agriculture, the rise of the so-called "civilized" tribes of the Southeast, and the encounters with Europeans in the Southeast. Underhill then moves to the Northeast, treating the development of Algonquin culture and the Iroquois Confederacy. Then she explores the history and culture of the Calumet of the Great Lakes and the Upper Mississippi. This is followed with a discussion of the horse culture of the Great Plains and the agricultural civilizations of the Southwest. The latter portion of the book deals with the Navaho and Apache, whom Underhill characterizes as the late arrivals to America. She then investigates the Native Americans of the Great Basin, California, and the Potlatch culture of the Pacific Northwest. The last chapter deals with the relationship of the United States government to native peoples. This is a rather troublingly positive assessment of the government's activities on the American Indians' behalf, when the beneficial aspects of the relationship might be considered a definite minority of all that has transpired between the Native and Anglo populations. "Red Man's America" is still a very good book despite how dated it is, and may be read profitably as an overview of the subject. Indeed, despite the large number of books on the history of Native Americans, this remains one of the best on the subject.
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