Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Approximate locations of selected Native American Peoples at the time of contact (source: James Wilson, The Earth Shall Weep: A History of Native America. New York: Grove Pres, 1998, p. vii). Native American populations in the United States (1990) and Canada (1996), plus selected pow-pow sites (source: Helen Hornbeck Tanner (ed.), The Setting of North America, New York: Macmillian, 1995, p. 193). * Canadian territory of Nunavut established within Northwest Territories (1999). Population, 27,039. What is American Indian, Native American, or First Nations history? What are its boundaries? Its methods? Its struggles and debates? What is its relation to the broader, interdisciplinary field of American Indian Studies? No single book could hope for a definitive answer to these questions, for they imply a coherence that is – and probably should be – lacking. A single volume may, however, aspire to discuss basic ideas, survey useful writings, trace developing intellectual patterns, and propose questions that may structure Native American history in the years to come. That, indeed, is our goal for this book. It is meant to serve as a useful reference guide to concepts and literatures while at the same time moving readers to think deeply about the issues at stake. Indian history – as it is and has been preserved, narrated, and owned by native people – is absolutely central to any thinking ... log in or subscribe to read full text