Rating: 
Summary: A great book!
Review: I found this book in the bookstore at Mesa Verde National Monument, which is a terrific site near Cortez, Colorado. I can add very little to the other reviews I have seen except to say that this well-written, fascinating, easy-to-read & highly entertaining book will fill in so many of the missing pieces in everyone's history education, and that it is a superb thinking tool. It will help to cleanse your mind of all those silly, cherished, romantic notions and myths that most of us were spoon fed in public school or in the movie theatres. This book is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in how profoundly the Indians of the New World influenced our world, and in a saner educational system, this little book would be required reading for all students. Every chapter would make an excellent educational film of its own.
Rating: 
Summary: This book loses objectivity a lot
Review: I wish to base my my review on 'Indian Givers' by Jack Weatherford on the chapter I have disliked the most. This Chapter happens to be the 7th one, "Liberty, Anarchism, and the Noble Savage". This chapter, very subjectively and one-sidedly tries to glorify the Indian nature, Indian government and Indian understanding of control. I am not trying to say that what Weatherford is totally incorrect, but the way he presents the knowledge is too much on the Native side of the scale. He starts defending his point with Thomas More's 'Utopia' stating that he was very much influenced by the Indians, whereas he was only excited about the new discovery of a new place that noone supposedly had never been before. In 'Utopia', very contrary to what Weatherford is trying to depict, we see slaves who are 'chained'. We see a monogamist system without divorce, a rule broken only in the severest cases of perverseness and adultery, however Indians are known to be, most commonly, polygamist, and in some cases adultery is not against Indian morals. Also in More's work under 'Of Their Military Discipline', the first sentence is "They detest war as a very brutal thing; and which, to the reproach of human nature, is more practiced by men than by any sort of beasts." which very much contradicts with the Native understanding of war. War, for Indians, being a most honorable quest, goes on until the last warrior falls on the battle field, and the captives of the war either state that they are overcome or they are executed, this we can read in the essay of Montaigne 'Of Cannibals', where he says that no Indian can ever admit the defeat and they are always executed. Weatherford has a few things to say about Montaigne's essay, too. "...Indians as having created the ideal society...' (Pg 122) is the way Montaigne depicts Natives Weatherford says, where if we are to read Montaigne's essay, we would see that Montaigne, in all his romanticism has stated that the most beautiful thing about the Natives is them being created by nature, not creating themselves but taking what Mother Nature has given them. This can be spotted in this sentence of his: "They are savages at the same rate that we say fruit are wild, which nature produces of herself and by her own ordinary progress". It is their disorder, which Montaigne is drawn to and this anarchy is not created by the Indians but by nature. Montaigne prefers to see this culture untouched by Europe's filth, and thinks of Natives as a new race that has not been touched before. Weatherford, in a vain attempt to romanticize Indians, also mentions not the outer influences on the Indian culture, which sure came from the Old World. The step pyramid design and some linguistic factors of South Americas are very clearly mirrored in Tibetan culture, a phenomenon to the social anthropologists and linguists. We can spot one of the queens of Solomon in Amazons, whose city was recently discovered, which matched the legends of David and Solomon mentioning 'the land beyond the vast waters' frequently. We can trace Turkish tribes from Middle Asia migrating over to North America and see their presence in the way of Indian naming ritual, which is Turkish indeed and in Indian carpet designs, which are indistinguishable from the carpets of Turkmenistan. Finally, we can find in Native chronicles of North American tribes traces of the Vikings, described as 'white giants walking out of dragons' to bring doom upon their nations; and in these chronicles, we see Indians retreating and surrendering, which shows that they are not all-too-brave under every circumstance. Weatherford also claims that the pacifist anarchism of Tolstoy was Indian influenced, but it is no more than Marxist anarchy he is talking about, which has nothing to do with Natives for its roots lie in the anarchy and some communal colonies of Ancient Greece and Mediterranean. I do not even want to mention how silly it is to assume Indians were the ones who heavily influenced American/French revolutions, movements of anarchy and such Europe originated ideas; for these are no more than the accumulated rage and angst towards the monopolies of the world at that time. French Revolution and other active movements of the time were first blossomed with the printing press, which grievously injured the Church; then with the mere greed of the bourgeoisie trying to have a saying in the aristocracy ran Europe. Other than these very politically influenced intricate 'freedom' designs, the elevated idea of freedom has, as Weatherford mentions, only been called upon under liberation actions. However, the book includes a very broad variety of subjects and is almost a must read. Despite my negativism on the particular chapter I have written about, the book in total is full of useful information which will surely bring you to a new perspective.
Rating:
Summary: This book loses objectivity a lot
Review: I wish to base my my review on 'Indian Givers' by Jack Weatherford on the chapter I have disliked the most. This Chapter happens to be the 7th one, "Liberty, Anarchism, and the Noble Savage". This chapter, very subjectively and one-sidedly tries to glorify the Indian nature, Indian government and Indian understanding of control. I am not trying to say that what Weatherford is totally incorrect, but the way he presents the knowledge is too much on the Native side of the scale. He starts defending his point with Thomas More's 'Utopia' stating that he was very much influenced by the Indians, whereas he was only excited about the new discovery of a new place that noone supposedly had never been before. In 'Utopia', very contrary to what Weatherford is trying to depict, we see slaves who are 'chained'. We see a monogamist system without divorce, a rule broken only in the severest cases of perverseness and adultery, however Indians are known to be, most commonly, polygamist, and in some cases adultery is not against Indian morals. Also in More's work under 'Of Their Military Discipline', the first sentence is "They detest war as a very brutal thing; and which, to the reproach of human nature, is more practiced by men than by any sort of beasts." which very much contradicts with the Native understanding of war. War, for Indians, being a most honorable quest, goes on until the last warrior falls on the battle field, and the captives of the war either state that they are overcome or they are executed, this we can read in the essay of Montaigne 'Of Cannibals', where he says that no Indian can ever admit the defeat and they are always executed. Weatherford has a few things to say about Montaigne's essay, too. "...Indians as having created the ideal society...' (Pg 122) is the way Montaigne depicts Natives Weatherford says, where if we are to read Montaigne's essay, we would see that Montaigne, in all his romanticism has stated that the most beautiful thing about the Natives is them being created by nature, not creating themselves but taking what Mother Nature has given them. This can be spotted in this sentence of his: "They are savages at the same rate that we say fruit are wild, which nature produces of herself and by her own ordinary progress". It is their disorder, which Montaigne is drawn to and this anarchy is not created by the Indians but by nature. Montaigne prefers to see this culture untouched by Europe's filth, and thinks of Natives as a new race that has not been touched before. Weatherford, in a vain attempt to romanticize Indians, also mentions not the outer influences on the Indian culture, which sure came from the Old World. The step pyramid design and some linguistic factors of South Americas are very clearly mirrored in Tibetan culture, a phenomenon to the social anthropologists and linguists. We can spot one of the queens of Solomon in Amazons, whose city was recently discovered, which matched the legends of David and Solomon mentioning 'the land beyond the vast waters' frequently. We can trace Turkish tribes from Middle Asia migrating over to North America and see their presence in the way of Indian naming ritual, which is Turkish indeed and in Indian carpet designs, which are indistinguishable from the carpets of Turkmenistan. Finally, we can find in Native chronicles of North American tribes traces of the Vikings, described as 'white giants walking out of dragons' to bring doom upon their nations; and in these chronicles, we see Indians retreating and surrendering, which shows that they are not all-too-brave under every circumstance. Weatherford also claims that the pacifist anarchism of Tolstoy was Indian influenced, but it is no more than Marxist anarchy he is talking about, which has nothing to do with Natives for its roots lie in the anarchy and some communal colonies of Ancient Greece and Mediterranean. I do not even want to mention how silly it is to assume Indians were the ones who heavily influenced American/French revolutions, movements of anarchy and such Europe originated ideas; for these are no more than the accumulated rage and angst towards the monopolies of the world at that time. French Revolution and other active movements of the time were first blossomed with the printing press, which grievously injured the Church; then with the mere greed of the bourgeoisie trying to have a saying in the aristocracy ran Europe. Other than these very politically influenced intricate 'freedom' designs, the elevated idea of freedom has, as Weatherford mentions, only been called upon under liberation actions. However, the book includes a very broad variety of subjects and is almost a must read. Despite my negativism on the particular chapter I have written about, the book in total is full of useful information which will surely bring you to a new perspective.
Rating:
Summary: A good book, though the claims are exaggerated
Review: Jack Weatherford's book "Indian Givers" is a medium-sized (272 pages) book that attempts to share what Native Americans in North and South America have contributed to our modern world. With a combination of stories and historical discussion, Weatherford's prose makes this book easy reading. Among other things, he points out the contributions made in the areas of money capitalism (with so much of the world's silver coming from South America, especially Bolivia), many types of foods (including various species of potato, cassava, chocolate, corn syrup, etc.), medicinal contributions such as quinine treatment for malaria, architectural styles, or urban planning, among other things. Unfortunately, the book suffers from some serious shortcomings. In attempting to make up for the lack of credit historically witheld from Native Americans, Weatherford does more than just correct this deficiency: he goes too far. He makes claims that go well beyond what the historical record can substantiate. In contrast to what history shows, he claims, for example, that the Industrial Revolution started in America(!), and that "without American precious metals and methods of processing, the industrial revolution would never have spread to Europe." (!!!!) He furthermore implies that Indians "gave" democracy to the fledgling U.S. ("Washington, D.C., has never recognized the role of the Indians in the writing of the United States Constitution") and promoted peaceful civil disobedience that inspired the likes of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., and even claims that liberation movements in Africa and Asia(!?) owed something to American Indians, since "the repeated failures of the Indian movements during the nineteenth century prepared the way for the successes of other peoples in the twentieth century." It is a shame that Weatherford's book is so dreadfully misleading and unbalanced, for it also legitimately points out many of the things for which American Indians do indeed deserve credit. It points a spotlight on the many interesting contributions that the various peoples in America have made to our societies over the years and, as previously mentioned, it is easy to read. In short, it is worth reading, but needs to be scrutinized with caution as it frequently overstates the case for "how the Indians of the Americas transformed the world." For a far more balanced presentation, I recommend Thomas Sowell's book "Conquests and Cultures".
Rating:
Summary: A good book, though the claims are exaggerated
Review: Jack Weatherford's book "Indian Givers" is a medium-sized (272 pages) book that attempts to share what Native Americans in North and South America have contributed to our modern world. With a combination of stories and historical discussion, Weatherford's prose makes this book easy reading. Among other things, he points out the contributions made in the areas of money capitalism (with so much of the world's silver coming from South America, especially Bolivia), many types of foods (including various species of potato, cassava, chocolate, corn syrup, etc.), medicinal contributions such as quinine treatment for malaria, architectural styles, or urban planning, among other things. Unfortunately, the book suffers from some serious shortcomings. In attempting to make up for the lack of credit historically witheld from Native Americans, Weatherford does more than just correct this deficiency: he goes too far. He makes claims that go well beyond what the historical record can substantiate. In contrast to what history shows, he claims, for example, that the Industrial Revolution started in America(!), and that "without American precious metals and methods of processing, the industrial revolution would never have spread to Europe." (!!!!) He furthermore implies that Indians "gave" democracy to the fledgling U.S. ("Washington, D.C., has never recognized the role of the Indians in the writing of the United States Constitution") and promoted peaceful civil disobedience that inspired the likes of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., and even claims that liberation movements in Africa and Asia(!?) owed something to American Indians, since "the repeated failures of the Indian movements during the nineteenth century prepared the way for the successes of other peoples in the twentieth century." It is a shame that Weatherford's book is so dreadfully misleading and unbalanced, for it also legitimately points out many of the things for which American Indians do indeed deserve credit. It points a spotlight on the many interesting contributions that the various peoples in America have made to our societies over the years and, as previously mentioned, it is easy to read. In short, it is worth reading, but needs to be scrutinized with caution as it frequently overstates the case for "how the Indians of the Americas transformed the world." For a far more balanced presentation, I recommend Thomas Sowell's book "Conquests and Cultures".
Rating:
Summary: A good book, though the claims are exaggerated
Review: Jack Weatherford's book "Indian Givers" is a medium-sized (272 pages) book that attempts to share what Native Americans in North and South America have contributed to our modern world. With a combination of stories and historical discussion, Weatherford's prose makes this book easy reading. Among other things, he points out the contributions made in the areas of money capitalism (with so much of the world's silver coming from South America, especially Bolivia), many types of foods (including various species of potato, cassava, chocolate, corn syrup, etc.), medicinal contributions such as quinine treatment for malaria, architectural styles, or urban planning, among other things. Unfortunately, the book suffers from some serious shortcomings. In attempting to make up for the lack of credit historically witheld from Native Americans, Weatherford does more than just correct this deficiency: he goes too far. He makes claims that go well beyond what the historical record can substantiate. In contrast to what history shows, he claims, for example, that the Industrial Revolution started in America(!), and that "without American precious metals and methods of processing, the industrial revolution would never have spread to Europe." (!!!!) He furthermore implies that Indians "gave" democracy to the fledgling U.S. ("Washington, D.C., has never recognized the role of the Indians in the writing of the United States Constitution") and promoted peaceful civil disobedience that inspired the likes of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., and even claims that liberation movements in Africa and Asia(!?) owed something to American Indians, since "the repeated failures of the Indian movements during the nineteenth century prepared the way for the successes of other peoples in the twentieth century." It is a shame that Weatherford's book is so dreadfully misleading and unbalanced, for it also legitimately points out many of the things for which American Indians do indeed deserve credit. It points a spotlight on the many interesting contributions that the various peoples in America have made to our societies over the years and, as previously mentioned, it is easy to read. In short, it is worth reading, but needs to be scrutinized with caution as it frequently overstates the case for "how the Indians of the Americas transformed the world." For a far more balanced presentation, I recommend Thomas Sowell's book "Conquests and Cultures".
Rating: 
Summary: left-wing propaganda
Review: The author of this book pretends to be a legitimate anthropologist presenting a book about Native Americans, however, after reading the first few chapters, he gradually shifts from anthropolgy to economics, and thus is revealed his true purpose in writing this book. J.W. has no interest in Native affairs other than to use them as a false example of the left-wing notion of the perfectability of mankind. Readers, take note: this is not a scientific book, but rather a work of anti-capitalism.
I find it particularly disturbing that he seems to think that all Native Americans are the same, living in peace with each other and the environment-a dangerously false, and disturbingly racist, idea.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding primer for a visit to European tourist sites
Review: The book gives such an outstanding different view of how the Indians of the Americas (mostly south America) affected the romantic countries of Europe and the rest of the world. I met the author and found him to be most interesting in this and other anthropology subjects.
Rating:
Summary: Garbage
Review: The book should be in the fiction category. If you like PC you will love this junk. He credits the silver and gold from S.America as causing slavery. Here is a sample..."Overweight women flapping along in little rubber thongs pull on the arms of bored children sticky with melted ice cream as the camera-carrying father of the family dutifully records his children against the backdrop of this living history tableau on the shores of Lake Superior." p. 27. If you like non-sense, you will love this book.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly answers the question: why we are who we are
Review: Weatherford brilliantly examines the collision of 2 very different cultures-Indian and European. This book is about what European civilization has gained from the Indians, but most importantly it also is about what we all have irrevocably lost by assuming that the European model was superior. Every American should read this book because it clearly shows why we are at this point in our history. The Indians lost their culture, becoming lost souls on the reservation. In many important ways, white Americans also lost their culture and also are lost souls. This book doesn't show how white, black and Indian Americans can somehow join together as true Americans in a true American culture, but it does show how we all happened to arrive at the place we are now
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