First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History

by Colin G. Calloway

First Peoples distinctive approach to American Indian history has earned praise and admiration from its users. Created to fill the significant need for a survey text that acknowledges the diversity of Native peoples, respected scholar Colin G. Calloway provides a solid course foundation that still allows instructors to emphasize selected topics of interest to them and their students. The signature format of First Peoples strikes the ideal balance between primary and secondary source material, combining narrative, written documents, and visual documents in each chapter.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Native American, Textbooks, American History, Anthropology, School

672 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Colin G. Calloway is John Kimball Jr. 1943 Professor of History and Native American Studies at Dartmouth College. His previous books include A Scratch of the Pen and The Victory with No Name.

Reviews

[Laura Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

heartbreaking, informative

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The President has repeatedly said to us, that the Cherokees will be protected in their territorial possessions..."

Originally a college textbook, now a book I've been determined to finish (and not just for the sake of Book Club Bingo). This is a dark history but one I think everyone should be aware of. I find myself reflecting more and more on these issues as I expand my reading and grow older.
Dr. Scharff would be proud.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The absolutely essential guide to studying Native American history as it puts into context the historical precedents for modern day problems. One of Calloway's finest contributions to the field as it makes the issues accessible to a general student population.

[Jason Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the text book for my American Indian History class. It is one of the best history books I have read, as far as information provided and as non-biased as you can be.

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars? It's a textbook I was required to read cover to cover for a college course. I found some sections mind-numbingly dull and some quite fascinating. It's all important information. The coercive nature of the reading experience probably colors my view, so I rounded up in stars. It really is important information for all citizens of the US to know.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty hard read (historical texts always are for me) but I liked the perspective of this textbook. It's different from others mostly because the other texts gloss over the gory details of our country and it's beginning. Honestly, it made me think completely differently about the United States and its greed and willingness to strip someone completely of rights or debt them until they starve or getting someone hooked on alcohol to trade them rum for all of their land so they have nothing left.

The victor writes the history though, right? So if you ask anyone whose only ever read a public school issued textbook, well, they'd say that "those Injuns were savages and they got what they deserved, those devil worshippers!"

[liz]

read this for a short semester class. very insightful and well written

[R.E. E. Derouin · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Peoples-A Documented History of American Indian History by Colin G. Calloway 3/16/2022

This is not a book many people would read cover to cover. It is far too detailed for anyone but a serious student of the subject. Never-the-less, I found much of it intriguing. I had intended to only read the few chapters which interested me but I found myself hooked into much more. The accumulated detail is truly mind boggling. Additionally, list of other references to each chapter subject is clearly given. I was particularly interested in pre-Columbian America and our first settled century. I was very much impressed.

The author painstakingly discusses both sides of this period of early history and offers much food for thought. Lessons taught in school would do well to follow his example. An excellent read for those truly interest in learning of our country’s pre and early history.

[Samuel Saul Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

***review is for 6th edition***

This was my assigned textbook for my free class this semester, Native American History.

This has been a major lack in my history knowledge, as I feel it is for the vast majority of Americans, and I learned a lot. We, as a country, should better understand the experiences of our Native populations.


I would recommend this book to people that want an academic approach on learning about Native Americans.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book, but then I love Indian history. I would give it 5 stars except I reserve that for my absolute favorites. It's a textbook, so don't expect it to read like a novel. But, given that, it's very readable.

[Anja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the most comprehensive overview I have found on this topic. I appreciate that it cites a lot of original sources and explains different academic thoughts and ideas.

[Jenna ( Chicken Mama )]

Had to read this in college and I couldn't put it down. Yes, full of facts, I still believe to be insightful and alluring to read about our forefathers and the hardships they went through.

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

HST 320: American Indians

[Daniel Thewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely thorough and well written. The language is not overly academic, so easier to read. The primary sources are very also helpful. In the world of textbooks, this one is a keeper

[TeshaMae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great text of Native American history.

[Miles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid textbook on Native history. Great primary sources provided with each chapter.

[Lia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This great book covers a lot of history in good detail, with plenty of documents, illustrations, comparisons, and thoughtful questions to ponder as you read. I really enjoyed it, and I think I'd like to read Calloway's other books, especially White People, Indians, and Highlanders: Tribal People and Colonial Encounters in Scotland and America

I read this for my Native American Voices class (HIST 2600) and it was effectively paired with American Indian History: A Documentary Reader for even more documents to widen the understanding of certain periods or topics (the boarding schools were especially fascinating - and horrifying.)

[Aidan Hane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good look into post-columbus Native American history, without any attempts to make it look any prettier than it is. That being said, it'd be nice to read more about how things were before Columbus, as I'd like to read about peoples, and not just the tragedies inflicted upon them.

[Abigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book. I loved learning about the topic and it was very well written. This was my textbook for Anthropology and was very helpful. I even read some of it just for fun and will most likely read it more often.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Textbook for my Native American Studies course in college. Very dense and informative; an interesting read, but sometimes dry.

[Kwesi Kurtz-weathers]

12/23/2010 - found website, I need this book for a class. This is the test as to whether or not I continue to return here.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up just for the information on Choctaws. There are only 9 mentions of my tribe but that is more than other Native American history books.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was good even thought i had to read it for class. The information was very well put together.

[Holly]

This was a textbook for one of the classes I took this semester.

[Kendall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enlightening

[Christian Dittlau · Rating 1 out of 5]

a bit dry. some of the facts seem to be a stretch. the book itself admits there's a lot of speculation. too many unknowns to actually have any certainty.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

read for native american history

[Edward · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent overview of Native American history! One only learns half the story in school, whereas this book attempts to show both "versions" (White/Anglo and indigenous) of history, side by side. That's the way you get the complete story. It would be interesting to see if there's a new edition of this book (which was published in 2004), which covers what's happened in Native American history since the first edition. At least the addition of another chapter, or an expansion of the last one.

[Mills College Library]

973.0497 C163f 2016