A Review of North American Indians

In her book North American Indians: A Comprehensive Account, Alice Kehoe appears to give a straightforward account of the history of North America from the point of view of the Native Americans. The textbook covers the periods from when humans first inhabited the North American continent, some fifteen thousand years ago, and continues through to the present. Due to the immense size and diversity of the North American continent, the text is written so that each chapter covers a geographical region of the continent. The regions covered range from the rich lands of Mexico, through the eastern and western United States, through the forests of Canada, and concluding at the Arctic Circle. Each chapter covers the region’s history, people, culture, ways of life, and the circumstance that caused its cultural identity to collapse. The book culminates with chapters on the trials and tribulations that the Native American nations will face as they enter into the twenty-first century and a chapter on how anthropologists view American Indians. The author emphasizes several key points and occurrences in the history of the natives of North America and their impact on the I

. . .

During the 1970s and 1980s, hundreds of Native American businesses were created on the various Indian reservations, resulting in an increase of funds for the reservation’s community services, and some prosperity for its people. As surpluses become available as their agricultural abilities increased, the natives of the region began trading and producing other goods. These earlier books and films have not portrayed this part of history accurately.

The text states that as the shift to full-time cultivation began, there was no longer a requirement for the break up of the multifamily social groups.

During this period, the United States government built schools for the Indians in which they were trained for manual labor and other low-wage skills such as blacksmithing, carpentry, tailoring, and housekeeping. Through their agricultural develops, the natives of Mesoamerica gave us what is today called corn, which is a main part of many people’s diets throughout North America. Within ten years of the Act, the Native American land base was reduced by two-thirds.

As a result of these enforced and broken treaties, modern Native Americans have suffered from many social problems that are were just being resolved in the later decades of the twentieth century. Governmental support for this type of research was expected to produce information that could be used in the administration of the subjugated peoples.

The civilizations of the Mexican Indians have had a major effect on modern life on the North American. To provide the base for this economy, the government forced Indians off their land in the frontier through conquest, and by the Dawes Allotment Act of 1887.

Since these full-time cultivators were able to remain near their crops there was a progressive development of agricultural techniques which resulted in better harvests and necessity of building permanent granaries to store to produce. Also, during the 1980s there was an extraordinary explosion of legal gambling on the various Indian reservations of North America.

By knowing the geographic location of a tribe, it is possible to predict its major food resources, nomadic or sedentary settlement, political structure, and so forth. This forced many Indians into the rural labor market where they worked cheaply, and at peak labor demand times.

Common topics in this essay:
Native American, Native Americans, North America, North American, Americans According, American Indians, Europeans Euro-Americans, Dawes Act, Canada United, Aztecs Spanish, north america, native american, native americans, north american, american indians, mexican nations, north american indians, native populations, native american populations, europeans euro-americans, indians comprehensive, american indians comprehensive, american populations, natives north america, indians comprehensive account,

Approximate Word count = 2494
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)

Already a member? Click here