American Indian History: A Documentary Reader

Series Editors’ Preface viii

Acknowledgments x

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Indian Ways 9

1 Maya Glyphs at Piedras Negras 9

2 Ancient Nahuatl Prayers from the Florentine Codex 12

3 Pueblo Bonito of Chaco Canyon 14

4 Images of Secotan 17

5 Two Versions of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Creation Story 21

Chapter 2 First Contact 27

1 Arrival of the Spaniards in the Annals of Tlatelolco 27

2 Response to the Spanish by Native Priests 29

3 Don Luis Travels the World 31

4 The Arrival of the Dutch at Manhattan in Native Memory 33

Chapter 3 The Expectations of the Strangers 39

1 Christopher Columbus’s Journal 39

2 Cabeza de Vaca’s Experiences in North America 41

3 Thomas Harriot’s Observations at Roanoke 43

4 John Smith’s Visit to Werowocomoco 44

5 Edward Waterhouse’s Report on the Events of 1622 46

Chapter 4 The Long Struggle for American Lands 50

1 A Jesuit’s Story of the 1639 Smallpox Epidemic 50

2 Gandeaktena’s Decision to Become a Christian 52

3 Metacom’s Grievances 55

4 Mary Rowlandson’s Narrative 57

5 The Declaration of a Rebellious Christian Indian in the Pueblo Revolt 61

Chapter 5 Eighteenth-Century Power Shifts 64

1 The Refusal of Some English Prisoners to Return to English Life 64

2 The Abenakis’ Forceful Statement to the English 68

3 The Chickasaws’ Political Vision in 1723 72

4 Sir Jeffery Amherst Suggests the Smallpox 76

5 The Chickasaws after the Revolution 81

6 George Washington’s Indian Policy 84

Chapter 6 What the New Nation Portended for Indians 89

1 Lewis and Clark in the Pacific Northwest 89

2 Russian Settlements in Alaska 91

3 Tecumseh’s Demands 94

4 The Cherokee Syllabary and Newspaper 99

5 The Cherokee Debate in Washington 102

6 Black Hawk’s Autobiography 112

7 William Apess’s Condemnation of White America 118

Chapter 7 The Losing of the West 122

1 Charles Ohiyesa Eastman’s Childhood Memories 122

2 Lone Dog’s Winter Count, 1800–1870 125

3 Sarah Winnemucca’s Choices 135

4 The Views of George Armstrong Custer 136

5 Black Elk’s Memories of the Battle of the Little Big Horn 138

6 Elaine Goodale’s Observations of the Ghost Dance 142

7 Charles Ohiyesa Eastman’s Visit to Wounded Knee 144

8 Geronimo’s Story of His Life 146

Chapter 8 Surviving Assimilation and the National Imagination 154

1 The 1887 Statement of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 154

2 Francis La Flesche’s Memories of Boarding School 157

3 A Navajo Girl’s Letters Home from Boarding School 161

4 William Stoddard’s The Talking Leaves 164

5 The Arguments of The Quarterly Journal 166

Chapter 9 Mid-Twentieth-Century Changes 171

1 The Arts and Crafts Act of 1935 171

2 The Navajo Contribution to the War Effort 175

3 The Musings of an Iroquois High Steel Man 177

4 The Menominee Struggle against Termination 181

Chapter 10 The Upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s 184

1 The 1961 Declaration of Indian Purpose 184

2 The Alcatraz Proclamation 186

3 Vine Deloria’s Custer Died for Your Sins 189

4 The Thoughts of Mary Crow Dog 192

5 A Reporter’s Comments on the Deaths at Pine Ridge 195

Chapter 11 The End of the Twentieth Century: A New Era? 198

1 The Origins of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) 198

2 Growing Pan-Indian Activism and the Native Press 201

3 Louise Erdrich’s ‘‘Dear John Wayne’’ 205

4 President Clinton’s 1994 Conference with Native Leaders 207

5 Struggles over the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act 211

6 An Elder’s Stories for Future Generations 216

7 List of Federally Recognized Tribes Today 219

Selected Bibliography 233

Index 240