One Vast Winter Count: The Native American West Before Lewis and Clark (History of the American West Series)

Rating:
Summary: VASTLY INFORMATIVE
Review: Colin Calloway has written an impressive debut volume for the University of Nebraska Press' History of the American West series. It weaves the latest archeological discoveries together with Native American oral history into cotemporary European accounts to produce a panoramic overview of 15,000 years of human existence is western America. His narrative ends at the point where coventional school textbooks begin -- with Lewis and Clark. This book has expanded my understanding by showing me that "The West is not a land of empty spaces with a short history..." Calloway wants us to see western history as a "long and unbroken continuum" that stretches backward in a vast spiral of years and forward beyond our own lifetimes.

Most of us have a static view of Native American culture in the West; a 19th century snapshot with tribal characteristics and territories frozen in place. Calloway gives the reader a motion picture full of swirling migrations and altered identitites -- the result of altered climate, technology, as well as of European intervention. He integrates important events in native history into the timeline of world history in a way I have not previously encountered. As the Revolutionary War raged east of the Appalachians, a great smallpox epidemic that reduced native populations by 50-75% was raging to the west. The land Lewis and Clark explored was far emptier than it had been just a generation earlier.

The diffusion of corn-growing into cooler regions of North America, starting in the sixth century C.E. initiated a revolution in Native American life. At the time the Normans invaded England, the Cahokias were building monumental earthworks and plazas amid fields of corn at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi. It was probably the largest city North America had seen until New York surpassed it at the end of the 18th Century. The Cohokias, like the Anasazi of the Southwest, had vanished before Lewis and Clark pushed west. The arrival of the horse on the plains in the 16th century coicided with climatic changes that expanded buffalo populations. Some native groups that had adopted the agrarian life forsook their cornfields, moved out onto the plains, and morphed into nomadic warrior cultures. The Sioux, Apaches, and Cheyenne were farmers before they were buffalo hunters.

Although ONE VAST WINTER COUNT is unapologetically academic, it is well written and very readable. Without interrupting the narrative flow, Calloway identifies his sources and earmarks points of scholarly disagreement. The book devotes less space to native cultures of the Pacific coast than to others. Calloway's explanation is that he had to rely heavily on the record created by Europeans (who came later to that region). He says he chose to make his primary focus "centers of action and interaction". He ends the book by pointing to the depopulation of the rural West, the exhaustion of water resources, and the return of the buffalo as signs that the endless spiral of winters may be making another turn.

Rating:
Summary: VASTLY INFORMATIVE
Review: Colin Calloway has written an impressive debut volume for the University of Nebraska Press' History of the American West series. It weaves the latest archeological discoveries together with Native American oral history into cotemporary European accounts to produce a panoramic overview of 15,000 years of human existence is western America. His narrative ends at the point where coventional school textbooks begin -- with Lewis and Clark. This book has expanded my understanding by showing me that "The West is not a land of empty spaces with a short history..." Calloway wants us to see western history as a "long and unbroken continuum" that stretches backward in a vast spiral of years and forward beyond our own lifetimes.

Most of us have a static view of Native American culture in the West; a 19th century snapshot with tribal characteristics and territories frozen in place. Calloway gives the reader a motion picture full of swirling migrations and altered identitites -- the result of altered climate, technology, as well as of European intervention. He integrates important events in native history into the timeline of world history in a way I have not previously encountered. As the Revolutionary War raged east of the Appalachians, a great smallpox epidemic that reduced native populations by 50-75% was raging to the west. The land Lewis and Clark explored was far emptier than it had been just a generation earlier.

The diffusion of corn-growing into cooler regions of North America, starting in the sixth century C.E. initiated a revolution in Native American life. At the time the Normans invaded England, the Cahokias were building monumental earthworks and plazas amid fields of corn at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi. It was probably the largest city North America had seen until New York surpassed it at the end of the 18th Century. The Cohokias, like the Anasazi of the Southwest, had vanished before Lewis and Clark pushed west. The arrival of the horse on the plains in the 16th century coicided with climatic changes that expanded buffalo populations. Some native groups that had adopted the agrarian life forsook their cornfields, moved out onto the plains, and morphed into nomadic warrior cultures. The Sioux, Apaches, and Cheyenne were farmers before they were buffalo hunters.

Although ONE VAST WINTER COUNT is unapologetically academic, it is well written and very readable. Without interrupting the narrative flow, Calloway identifies his sources and earmarks points of scholarly disagreement. The book devotes less space to native cultures of the Pacific coast than to others. Calloway's explanation is that he had to rely heavily on the record created by Europeans (who came later to that region). He says he chose to make his primary focus "centers of action and interaction". He ends the book by pointing to the depopulation of the rural West, the exhaustion of water resources, and the return of the buffalo as signs that the endless spiral of winters may be making another turn.

Rating:
Summary: One Vast Winter Count
Review: Don't get me wrong. I learned a lot from this book. But I would not have learned nearly as much if I did not come to the book with quite a bit of knowledge. I suggest that you read the excellent "Atlas of the North American Indian" before you read this book, or at least that you have the "Atlas" by your side as you read this book.

The book has several very good features. One is the depiction of the adaptation of Native American cultures to changing circumstances, particularly climate change, the introduction of corn, the return of the horse and the acquisition of firearms. Another is the very valuable narrative thread throughout the book about trade with Europeans and the impact it had on Native Americans and on the relations of tribes to each other. Another is the section on the impact of the late 18th century smallpox epidemic. The book would be valuable for these alone.

But there are serious problems with the book. Where to begin? There are so many deficiencies that it is hard to pick a starting point.

Maps are few and late. Rivers are important to Native American history, but the first map showing a comprehensive view of the rivers of what is now the United States does not appear until page 127 and on that map the rivers are not named. The first map naming the rivers of what is now the northeast United States does not appear until page 229. Another map without river names appears on page 271. The Arkansas, Red, and Sabine Rivers are mentioned on page 105, but are not named on a map until page 329. The Angelina and Neches Rivers are also mentioned on page 105, but I cannot find them on any map in the book.

Terminology is introduced but not defined or explained. What the heck is a potlatch? The first reference is merely to a potlatch. A page later, there is a reference to a potlatch ceremony. Actually, this is something I did not remember, so I looked it up and it sounds more like a party than a ceremony. Oh, well.

Likewise, confusion reigns regarding language and tribal groups. Early on, the author speaks of the Athabaskans. Pray tell, what is an Athabaskan? Is Athabaskan a tribe, a cultural group, or a language? There is one reference to later on to "Athabaskan speakers," but it is not in the index.

On pages 297 and 298 the author switches back and forth between the terms "Piegan" and "Blackfoot" several times. This will be confusing if the reader does not know that Piegan is a language and Blackfoot is a tribe and both terms describe almost the same group.

And what is an Algonquin? If the author had devoted just a few pages early on to an overview of Native American languages and cultures and how they intersect, the book would be much, much better. In that regard, dear reader, I invite you to check out: www.native-languages.org.

The author is obviously very knowledgeable and to an extent, I think that he is trapped by his own knowledge. He uses terminology that is familiar to him, but which may not be familiar to an average reader. He does not realize that he is writing over the heads of much of his audience.

There are strange gaps in the book. For example, there is no mention of the continuing discussion about the date of the first migration of humans to the Americas. And, there has been some very interesting work done lately on genetic relationships between various ethnic groups based on DNA analysis, but that work is not mentioned at all.

There are omissions that are apparently dictated by political correctness. For example, the author mentions that in Meso-America (wherever that is, because the author does not tell us) ball games had a sacred significance, but fails to tell us what that significance was. Once again, dear reader, you can check out: www.ballgames.org.

On the other hand, for this day and age, the book is curiously Euro-centric. For example, there is no mention at all of Northwest Coast Native Americans until contact with Europeans. What do we know about Northwest Native American culture before contact? Not a word. Many other tribes are mentioned only on contact with Europeans. Do we know anything about them before contact?

My last comment points to the largest deficiency of the book. There is very little treatment of Native American religion, culture or art. There is some mention of religion particularly in the first chapter, but there is no overview. One common thread seems to be narratives about emerging from darkness into light. Is this in fact a common thread? The author is silent. A few pages devoted to an overview would have been very helpful.

There is very little discussion of Native American culture. OK, we know they ate corn and later buffalo and there is some discussion in passing of leadership and adoption customs. But other aspects of Native American culture are neglected. What did these people wear? What were their farming practices? How did they store and cook their food? How did they preserve their meat? What sort of houses did they live in, apart from lodges (or tepees), Pueblos or cliff dwellings? Did they bury their dead? What were their courtship customs? What customs prevailed before contact and how did they change with contact? And so on and on. Do we know anything about these things? If so, what are the sources? If not, why not?

Native American art is neglected entirely. Native American art is often very powerful and was and is an important part of Native American culture. But there is almost no discussion of Native American art in the book.

I don't know a book to recommend on Native American religion, culture and art. Perhaps another correspondent can suggest one.

Finally, an important question: Did this book have an editor?


Rating:
Summary: With focus on evolving Native politics and interactions
Review: Part of the University of Nebraska Press "History of the American West" series, One Vast Winter Count: The Native American West Before Lewis And Clark by Colin Calloway is not just another casual or coffee table treatment, but a weighty and in-depth examination of the Native American west before Lewis and Clark, highly recommended for college-level holdings and the personal reading lists of Native American History students and dedicated American West history buffs. Over 600 pages traces the histories of the Native American peoples of the west from their arrival thousands of years ago to the early years of the 19th century. The focus on evolving Native politics and interactions with various cultures and the new look blending ethnohistory and frontier history makes One Vast Winter Count a unique and strongly recommended presentation.

Rating:
Summary: With focus on evolving Native politics and interactions
Review: Part of the University of Nebraska Press "History of the American West" series, One Vast Winter Count: The Native American West Before Lewis And Clark by Colin Calloway is not just another casual or coffee table treatment, but a weighty and in-depth examination of the Native American west before Lewis and Clark, highly recommended for college-level holdings and the personal reading lists of Native American History students and dedicated American West history buffs. Over 600 pages traces the histories of the Native American peoples of the west from their arrival thousands of years ago to the early years of the 19th century. The focus on evolving Native politics and interactions with various cultures and the new look blending ethnohistory and frontier history makes One Vast Winter Count a unique and strongly recommended presentation.