The Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Southeast / Edition 1

by Theda Perdue, Michael Green

Overview

Though they speak several different languages and organize themselves into many distinct tribes, the Native American peoples of the Southeast share a complex ancient culture and a tumultuous history. This volume examines and synthesizes their history through each of its integral phases: the complex and elaborate societies that emerged and flourished in the Pre-Columbian period; the triple curse of disease, economic dependency, and political instability brought by the European invasion; the role of Native Americans in the inter-colonial struggles for control of the region; the removal of the "Five Civilized Tribes" to Oklahoma; the challenges and adaptations of the post-removal period; and the creativity and persistence of those who remained in the Southeast.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231115711
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	06/22/2005
Series:	The Columbia Guides to American Indian History and Culture
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	1340L (what's this?)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Theda Perdue is professor of history at the University of North Carolina and author of Cherokee Women. Michael D. Green is professor of American studies at the University of North Carolina and author of The Creeks.

Table of Contents

History and Culture
1. Writing About Native Southerners
2. Native Southerners
3. The European Invasion
4. Native Peoples and Colonial Empires
5. "Civilization" and Removal
6. Native Southerners in the West
7. Those Who Remained
People, Places, and Events, A to Z
Chronology
Resources

What People are Saying About This

Clara Sue Kidwell

The Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Southeast is a superb reference work. The historical overview is concise and lucid, the individual entries well chosen, and the bibliography comprehensive. The authors include the Oklahoma experience of the Five Tribes removed from the Southeast. The book will be useful for scholars, teachers, and students exploring the complex relationships of Native people and colonial powers and the development of federal Indian policy.

— Clara Sue Kidwell, Director, Native American Studies, University of Oklahoma

Daniel H. Usner

Part I of this volume blends encyclopedic knowledge with thoughtful interpretation. Readers are conveniently provided a comprehensive overview of southeastern Indians, but are also gracefully invited to consider current debates within the scholarship. Entries in Part II are fresh and succinct, ranging in coverage from general concepts and groups to specific events and people. The list of resources is a valuable tool for researchers at all levels. Perdue and Green identify many oral traditions, published records, archaeological studies, general and tribal histories, fictional writings, films, museums, and internet sites for readers to find additional information about the American South's great diversity of American Indian societies.

— Daniel H. Usner, Jr., Director, American Indian Program, Cornell University

David Wilkins

Perdue and Green have produced a remarkably comprehensive, engrossing, and interdisciplinary book about a subject matter, Southeastern Indians, that has historically been underresearched. It is an ambitious work, spanning great swaths of history, leaving virtually no southeastern indigenous nation or important event or personality uncovered. An elegantly written and invaluable educational resource, it will prove indispensable for anyone interested in the historical and contemporary situation of Native nations in the Southeast.

— David Wilkins, University of Minnesota

Editorial Reviews

Reads quickly and easily and is complemented by an attractive gallery of illustrations... quite useful.

North Carolina Historical Review

A volume whose strength is its comprehensiveness... a volume that scholars of all levels will want to consult.

H-Net Reviews - Melissa A. Stock

A volume whose strength is its comprehensiveness... a volume that scholars of all levels will want to consult.

— Melissa A. Stock

H-Net Reviews

The first of a projected seven-volume reference series on American Indian history and culture by Columbia University Press, Perdue and Green have set a high standard with this logically organized, well-written, and concisely comprehensive work.

— Kathryn E. Holland Braund

The Journal of Southern History

In The Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Southeast, Theda Perdue (Cherokee Women) and Michael D. Green (The Creeks), University of North Carolina professors of, respectively, history and American studies, track the various Southeastern peoples from the pre-Columbian period of societal development through the invasion by Europeans, the colonial era, the exile of the "Five Civilized Tribes" to Oklahoma and the experience of those who stayed in the Southeast. Taking a decidedly more conventional, less postmodern approach than its counterpart on Asian America (see below), this volume examines not only the history but also the methodologies, attitudes and assumptions common to the historical study of American Indians. Photos. (Dec.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Renowned scholars on the ethnohistory of southeastern native peoples and coeditors of the University of Nebraska's "Indians of the Southeast" series, Perdue and Green have produced a long-needed handbook that fills a significant niche in the reference literature. The first half of the text focuses on the history and culture of the region's native groups. This includes not only the Mississippian Moundbuilder cultures that arose between 800 and 1000 C.E. but also well-known native groups such as the Cherokee and Creeks. One notable feature is that, unlike many titles on the same subject, this book does not conclude with the journey of the "five civilized tribes" on the Trail of Tears. Instead, it continues documenting the experiences of those natives forced onto reservations in Oklahoma and those who avoided removal and continue to live in the region today. Immediately following the survey are alphabetically arranged entries focusing on individuals, places, and events. The final two sections are a chronology and a listing of resources for further research, which include published primary sources, oral traditions, films, and Internet sites. Until the long-promised Southeast volume of the Smithsonian's "Handbook of the North American Indians" series is published, this will probably be the reference of choice on the topic and is an essential purchase for all libraries collecting books about Native Americans. John Burch, Campbellsville Univ., KY Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

The first of a projected seven-volume reference series on American Indian history and culture by Columbia University Press, Perdue and Green have set a high standard with this logically organized, well-written, and concisely comprehensive work.

The Journal of Southern History - Kathryn E. Holland Braund

Theda Perdue and Michael Green, renowned experts on the history of the Cherokee and Creeks, respectively, have produced a wonderful guide to the Indians of the southeast.

The Georgia Historical Quarterly