The New Trail of Tears: How Washington Is Destroying American Indians

by Naomi Schaefer Riley

If you want to know why American Indians have the highest rates of poverty of any racial group, why suicide is the leading cause of death among Indian men, why native women are two and a half times more likely to be raped than the national average and why gang violence affects American Indian youth more than any other group, do not look to history. There is no doubt that white settlers devastated Indian communities in the 19th, and early 20th centuries. But it is our policies today—denying Indians ownership of their land, refusing them access to the free market and failing to provide the police and legal protections due to them as American citizens—that have turned reservations into small third-world countries in the middle of the richest and freest nation on earth.

The tragedy of our Indian policies demands reexamination immediately—not only because they make the lives of millions of American citizens harder and more dangerous—but also because they represent a microcosm of everything that has gone wrong with modern liberalism. They are the result of decades of politicians and bureaucrats showering a victimized people with money and cultural sensitivity instead of what they truly need—the education, the legal protections and the autonomy to improve their own situation.

If we are really ready to have a conversation about American Indians, it is time to stop bickering about the names of football teams and institute real reforms that will bring to an end this ongoing national shame.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Indigenous, History, Native American, American History, Race

232 pages, Hardcover

First published July 26, 2016

About the author

Naomi Schaefer Riley is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute focusing on issues regarding child welfare as well as a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum. She also writes about parenting, higher education, religion, philanthropy and culture.

She is a former columnist for the New York Post and a former Wall Street Journal editor and writer, as well as the author of seven books, including, “No Way to Treat a Child: How the Foster Care System, Family Courts, and Racial Activists Are Wrecking Young Lives,” out this fall.

Her book, Til Faith Do Us Part: How Interfaith Marriage is Transforming America (Oxford, 2013), was named an editor’s pick by the New York Times Book Review.


Ms. Riley’s writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the LA Times, and the Washington Post, among other publications. She appears regularly on FoxNews and FoxBusiness and CNBC. She has also appeared on Q&A with Brian Lamb as well as the Today Show.

She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in English and Government. She lives in the suburbs of New York with her husband, Jason, and their three children.

Reviews

[Audrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

"The New Trail of Tears:How Washington is Destroying American Indians" maintains that American Indians would be better off if they did not receive "special privileges or monies from the government. The holding of lands in trust by the government prevents Native people from utilizing it as collateral to open businesses and also prevents them from selling or transferring land between themselves. The author believes when Native people receive a monthly stipend it prevents entrepreneurship and ambition. One of the few "success" stories mentioned in the book are the Seneca tribe who have multimillion dollar companies but are still taking advantage of "loopholes" that are available to them based on their ancestry. But surely most business people take advantage of any and all loopholes available to them. From this point on, the water gets murkier....
It wouldn't be a stretch to say that the school system is failing Native American children. The author places the responsibility for this on the tribal government, nepotism, and parents, preferring instead teachers from Teach for America and catholic institutions available on some of the reservations. However, the statistics to prove that teachers provided by Teach for America achieve better results do not seem to be available in the text provided. It surely wouldn't be difficult to imagine why it would be impossible for some of the parents and grandparents on the reservation to trust catholic schools when, as the author acknowledges, these institutions were a source of humiliation, pain, violence,and abuse to them. The author would like the Native American children to be placed under the auspices of the Child Protection Agency instead of the "incompetent" tribal social work system. However, charges of incompetence have been leveled many times against the Child Protection Agency and just as many cases of anecdotal evidence could be found where calls were ignored and children perished. Native families have no great love of the State governments either as they have often been complicit in spiriting their children away and leaving them with little or no recourse. See: https://www.npr.org/2011/10/25/141662.... See also: http://www.newsweek.com/wrongs-we-are...
Lastly, out of concern for the harsh sentences that Native Americans receive due to being tried on Federal vs State charges, the author, rather naively, believes they would receive more justice in the regular judicial system. One wonders whether she has encountered any statistics regarding African American conviction and imprisonment rates. It certainly wouldn't be good advertisement for her belief in the purity of justice.
Overall, this book that started out as promising and interesting, fell apart after the first few chapters.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that was harder for me to take than most non-fiction. I could only do about 50 pages at a time and then come back to it after lighter fare or fiction reads in between.

It's not a topic that I feel I can review well outside of the fact that Naomi Schaefer Riley did immense research and covers considerable angles in under 300 pages. My Minnesota friends would probably have much more to say in reaction to this than I can as they have and have had tremendous intersect. All I can state is that the stats are so abysmal for these res groups, that there HAS to be a better policy. Whoever had a part of making them autonomous within their own societal Native American structures should (if they are still around or their same thinkers' "we think" philosophy is strongly present to continue this) wake up and understand what these stats ARE to the way (structure and mindset) they are currently living. Completely linked.

That they are not able to own their own property within their own individual tribe's laws or that they are insignificant within law to such extent as individuals. That's despicable to me.

Full blown example of social engineering at its worst turn of and for all. Not only from the Washington federal end either. Tribal decisions are probably worse.

[Audrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

I sincerely struggled to get through this book. I knew from the description I wasn't going to agree with many of the points, but I wanted to read something that challenged my opinions. As someone who has spent some time working on Pine Ridge Reservation, which was mentioned in the book several times, I could tell the author had not done nearly enough of a deep dive on conditions on the reservation. There were several instances where she used proposed that were just absolutely impossible.

A libertarian viewpoint on what could benefit Indian Reservations, and certainly not the best one!

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

Holy shit, if you want a neoliberal, libertarian-bias book about Native communities, this is it. The author obviously selectively chose her interviewees, choosing only those who aligned with her thesis. Sure, some of the observations are valid. But her complete failure to provide a holistic and accurate portrayal of Indian Country (while also conflating the Indian and First Nations experiences) negates any arguments she presents in the book. I should have read her bio - "frequently appears on Fox News and Fox Business" and just stopped when she cited the Cato Institute on page IX. I mean, who in the world would ever need or want to cite the Cato Institute 4+ times in a book about American Indians? Only a privileged white person who believes anyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and that marginalized communities just need to "forget the past" and "become civilized." Glad I read this only to see the biased views people still have about Indian Country.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

The New Trail of Tears attempts to offer an explanation for the startling statistics that plague Native American communities. Naomi Schaefer Riley successfully moves the conversation beyond the romanticization of First Nations in the pre-contact years but arrives at another extreme. Undoubtedly self-determination can explain certain aspects of the crime, violence and poor education on reservations; however, Riley fails to offer explanations outside of pathology. Had more varieties of opinion been included, clarification on her definition of a “tribal leader” been provided and had she not used the term “negroid,” the argument would have felt less condescending. The New Trail of Tears is useful in detailing the unique problems facing Native peoples, particularly the pros and cons of legal loopholes, but overall the book left much to be desired.

[Lesley]

If you are seeking information about the social and political plight of native americans and reservation inhabitants then this book is not for you. This book is conservative propaganda in favor of continued cultural destruction and the striping of sovereign rights rather than fixing our broken bureaucracy that lets down all peoples in a state of poverty. Avoid unless you purposefully seek out right wing propaganda masked in false compassion.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

They honestly don’t teach you enough about Native Americans in school or at least the Native Americans of today.

This book was educational, so yeah, sometimes a bit boring. I learned about many of the challenges Native Americans face in today’s society and I can’t begin to fathom, why our government hasn’t gone back and revised some of the acts/treaties that are in place.

The way the system is set up, seems to be failing. Making it nearly impossible for Native Americans to own property. Drugs, suicide, rape, and abuse running rampant throughout the reservations. Low standards of education with below average graduating rates. The Federal Government claims to care about these people but their conditions are similar to third-world countries right here in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It’s heartbreaking to realize. And don’t get me started on the ICWA.

I don’t think this stuff is common knowledge and they definitely don’t teach you about the plight of what the Native American society is going through today. Maybe it’s time we say goodbye to political correctness and start pointing out the problems to be solved in one of the most impoverished societies in our country.

[Amber]

I'ma chicken out and not rate this book. The title in itself is hyperbolic and the author obviously believes she's pulling the curtain back on the Wizard - I'm not so sure. This book waivers between 1 and 5 stars.

Recommend checking her sources first so you can see where they are mostly pulled from - that will tell you all you need to know as far as ideology and the overall focus on free market solutions. I agree there is a lot of room for market-oriented solutions and the creation of strong property rights, I don't completely disagree with what she says. I do disagree with her embarassing those she has interviewed - not saying she fabricated anything, I believe they said what she said. Instead, I am saying she could have said so many things with more finesse and ultimately made it easier for the next researcher to reach these populations and/or for those interviewed to be willing to try new things.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book covered the plight of native American Indian living on reservations of government trust land. It covered the difference between reservations like the Seneca's in New York vs the South Dakota ones. Topics were violence, alcoholism, education, income, health care, food stamps. Most interesting is the commonalities between the Indians Reservations and impoverished urban communities. Ms Riley points out the similarities in terms of single motherhood, teen pregnancy, drug use, and violence. A husband (boyfriend or fertilizer) can do as they please in these communities. Women and children will be taken care of by HUD, food stamps, medicaid, WIC, etc. So the family disintegration is largely caused by the government subsidies. The government has largely replaced the father in the home (an on reservations) and has devastated communities across the country. So I worry about the future of America will the liberals turn the whole country into a reservation? The similarities are scary.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Late to reviewing this, but not because I didn’t have much to say about this book. Things I learned while reading: Essentially, members of the tribe living on the reservation cannot easily own property. After all, they’re living on federal land, or rather, lands held in trust by the federal government. Those living on the reservation also lack the capital necessary to make owning a business *or* a home a near impossibility. Loans are virtually impossible to take out and thus owning businesses is almost unheard of unless it’s a gas station, casino, bar, or marijuana dispensary (various reasons for why these “fringe” businesses are permitted on the reservation is explored in this book.

I also learned that the way the casinos operate (and why they’re so common on reservations) is that it is meant to help the youth. A percentage is saved each year and is allocated to members of the tribe so that after they turn 18 years old, amounts around $30,000 or more (depending on the casino’s success, I am guessing) are given to tribe members upon graduation from high school (or when they turn 22, if they don’t graduate high school.) While the idea sounds good in theory (perhaps like a scholarship opportunity) it sadly does not often work out that way. Reasons for why this practice is damaging, and possible alternatives are also explored in the book.

In short, there is a lot of talk of how America did Native Americans wrong long ago. Unfortunately, there’s not much talk about what America is doing wrong toward Native Americans today. And besides the increased spending response which is a common solution offered up, the data shows that the extra money is unfortunately not helping. The author takes a look at the Indian Bureau of Affairs, tribal governments, and the tribal schools (which are not ran by school boards, interestingly enough) and analyzes how money is spent. She provides a lot of data, and it’s very interesting.

Her conclusions are interesting. It’s worth a read, for sure.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot about our Native Americans. I knew life on the reservation was hard, but whoa. This was more than I even imagined.

[Miriam Downey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read my full review here: http://mimi-cyberlibrarian.blogspot.c...

One of my childhood memories occurred at our family cabin in Bemidji, Minnesota. My father and I were out fishing, near one of the inlets of Big Turtle Lake. I saw some people in canoes doing something along the edges of the stream. My father took me closer so that I could see natives harvesting the wild rice that grew there. They pulled the stalks over the edge of the canoe and then whacked the stalks with sticks, loosening the seeds, which then fell into the bottom of the canoe. It was a fascinating operation, and my dad told me that Indians were the only people who could legally harvest wild rice in Minnesota.

I grew up in areas where Chippewa and Ojibwa Indian reservations were prevalent; Native Americans were the "minorities" in Minnesota—they were part of our everyday life. The people on the reservations were poor and powerless. There are approximately 3 million Native Americans living in reservations, and all these years after my childhood, they are still poor and powerless.

Many people think that the lives of Native Americans improved with the advent of casinos and the money that came from working in the casinos. Riley's thesis is that the government has a paternalistic attitude toward native peoples and that paternalistic attitude is what has kept them in poverty with inferior educational and medical opportunities. I do have to mention that Riley is very conservative and her book reflects her conservative bias.

I received The New Trail of Tears from the publicist, and while I didn't read the book all the way through, I found what I did read to be enlightening. I would recommend it to students of sociology and those interested in social justice issues. It is to be published this week.

Riley is married to Jason Riley, the author of Please Stop Helping Us, which I reviewed a year or so ago. His thesis about African Americans in American society is quite similar in tone to the thesis of The New Trail of Tears.

I would also recommend books by Sherman Alexie because he explores some of these same difficult themes in fiction—poverty, alcoholism, and identity. My favorite is the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Then I love the Minnesota Native American author Louise Erdrich. I read and reviewed The Round House, a novel that deals with violence against Native American women very effectively. She has a new novel LaRose, which I plan to read yet this summer.

Finally, I have been watching Longmire, a Netflix series based on the books by Craig Johnson. It features a Wyoming sheriff whose district includes a reservation. Although it is primarily a mystery solving series, it includes the interplay between the white population of the county, the people who live on the "Rez", and the owners of the casino that is being established. It is very good.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Us white folk tend to only think of Native American issues in terms of the past, but I thought this book did a great job of discussing modern Native American issues. Of course, not every tribe or individual view their issues in the same way, but it was very enlightening to see their view on government policies and how they affect their lives.

With that being said, I decided to knock a star down of my rating due to this book's conclusion. In the conclusion, the author compares the Native American assimilation into society as no different than what immigrants are currently facing. Sure, I understand that the lose of identity and one's closeness to their culture decreases with each new generation, but that in no way can compare to the utter devastation and violation of the Native American culture by colonialism. The author also states that the Native community is focusing too much on political correctness (Redskin team name, media stereotypes, etc) rather than on the important issues of education, entrepreneurship, etc. I disagree with this statement wholeheartedly. For once, we need to LISTEN to their concerns and if they want to focus on the exploitation of their culture in sports and media then they damn well have earned the right to. The author also suggests that maybe forgetting the past is the answer and quotes an English professor discussing the The Dakota War of 1962
blockquote:

"I can feel in my bones the anger and resentment of the Dakota at scurrilous agents, empty promises, and a legacy of broken treaties. But I also know I could come to hate the red man for the murders or babies, yet to be born, of children, of women and men, I can feel these emotional tremors in me, rising, rising, And with that realization, my soul weeps.

No, just no. It is no comparison. NO COMPARISON.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will say there is some truly good information in here. There are serious problems with the “solutions” the more liberal side of the government tries on reservations, and the BIA especially does not have a great track record. Additionally, the corruption on the local and federal level can be appalling.

However, the author seems to believe that nigh unbridled capitalism is the only answer to all of the problems faced by Indigenous Americans, to the point where she praises the Dawes Act for the first half of the book. Along with dismissing the harm the act caused (even the loss of over half of reservation land to white people who purchased allotments), she dismisses what Indigenous women say about who is doing much of the assault on reservations. She distrusts the feds when they say things counter to her view but only believes the FBI statistics when it comes to sexual assaults. To the author it comes down to capitalism and reinstalling “traditional (European of course) family values”. There are many flaws, all stemming from a disregard of factors that don’t align with the authors views.

While there is some great information and good points scattered throughout the book, most of it is iffy arguments using halves of various facts or cherry picked examples to “prove” that capitalism and one culture’s take on family values is the way forward.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was interested in this topic because a number of my friends at church have spent part of their summers for a number of years doing maintenance work at a post-secondary school that trains Native Americans for ministry. I don't remember why I chose this particular title to read to learn more. Some of the other reviewers question whether the author's research was thorough enough, and I can't speak to that at all. I definitely have more information now than I did before I read it, but I have no doubt that there are many ways to look at this topic and that this barely scratches the surface.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

My grandmother was a full blooded Cherokee and married my grandfather when she was only thirteen. She raised his five children and gave birth to seven of her own. One of these was my father who looked like an Indian. I enjoyed the book but I had trouble grasping the huge amount of facts brought up. The author is an amazing writer.

[Glenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting but it comes from a single perspective. Very few stories of things that worked. Mostly a negative picture

[Malcolm Murrell-Byrd · Rating 1 out of 5]

The New Trail of Tears presents itself as an exposé of the crisis in “Indian Country,” but what Naomi Schaefer Riley offers is a deeply flawed, assimilationist narrative that repeats the old colonial script rather than illuminating the structural realities Indigenous nations face. It’s clear that the book relies on selective history, decontextualized data, and a consistent pathologizing of Native communities. Riley routinely frames Indigenous peoples as either helpless victims or culturally deficient dependents which are tropes that have been used for centuries to justify dispossession and undermine tribal sovereignty.

Each chapter rests on simplistic binaries: Indians as economically backward, unmotivated, or fundamentally trapped by their own cultures. Instead of engaging with Indigenous scholarship, governance, or community voices, Riley elevates outside “experts” and free-market think tanks that have long promoted policies harmful to Indigenous sovereignty. Her proposed “solutions,” the privatizing land, dissolving trust protections, assimilating tribes into mainstream property regimes, echo the disastrous policies of allotment and termination, which devastated tribal nations in the past.

From a post-colonial and decolonial perspective, the book’s core failure is its erasure of the colonial structure itself. Riley treats poverty, underfunded services, and social trauma as cultural failings rather than the predictable consequences of dispossession, broken treaties, forced removals, ect. She ignores Indigenous resilience, resurgence, and political agency, offering instead a familiar narrative in which salvation comes from abandoning Indigenous land-holding traditions and embracing Western capitalist norms (as in market capitalism and privatization as universal solutions).

Rather than revealing a “new trail of tears,” Riley reproduces the logic of the original: dismiss Indigenous sovereignty, deny colonial responsibility, and prescribe assimilation as the path forward. Readers seeking a genuine understanding of indigenous realities would be far better served by indigenous authors and community-rooted scholarship. This book ultimately reinforces the very colonial assumptions it claims to critique.

Also I must come back to her comparison of the Seneca to Israel (p.62) . Showcasing modern Israel, a settler colonial project under the ideology of Zionism backed by imperial powers, as a success story in which the Seneca can aspire to is beyond understanding.

[Mia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've read most of this book and felt uncomfortable with it from the beginning: it seems as if it is a polemic on Riley's conservative views rather than an objective evaluation. She does work for very conservative think tanks, but this should not lead to ad hominem-type insults such as the repeated implication that Indigenous peoples are somehow 'lazy' and that the government shouldn't give them a 'hand-out:' given the history of the Indigenous Holocaust in the US, she should be ashamed to frame it this way -- especially as she seems to be a white settler. She seems focused on making sure that the status quo is maintained, and of course this status quo includes American white women.
A recent article she published revealed her ethnic prejudices: in an article for Deseret News about intergenerational trauma, she makes this statement re: Indigenous Americans, who lost 50-60 million in the worst Holocaust known to man (David Stannard). In a shockingly arrogant, banal phrase, Riley writes: '... if the abuse of our ancestors is cause enough for modern trauma, then there are plenty of other groups -- Jews, for example -- who should be suffering more.'

What sort of arrogant, 'hierarchy of oppression' is this nonsense? Why does Riley believe that Jews are suffering more than others whose ancestors have endured Holocausts? Does Riley believe that all human beings who've endured genocide and Holocaust didn't suffer as much as Jews??

If Riley thinks that Indigenous American suffering belongs on a hierarchy in which it is lesser than a white people's suffering, then she should NOT be writing about Indigenous people.

This article clarified my discomfort with Riley: she is racist and ethnocentric, somehow deciding that the historical pain of one group of people is lesser than that of (her?) group of people.

Repulsive and despicable.

[Andy Dollahite · Rating 3 out of 5]

A historically and culturally complex issue, and one thought ought to grieve us. I think the book highlights several key underlying factors that, broadly speaking, continue to exacerbate rather than alleviate the widespread poverty and dysfunction among Native American populations. Federal government ineptitude, tribal government corruption, historical injustices...these are well documented. The book tries to avoid one-size-fits-all diagnostic or prescriptive errors, but of course its length precludes chasing down every nuance. It's anecdotal offerings fit its narrative, but these are notoriously pliable.

It seems fundamental to me that part of the economic solution includes private property rights, which the first sections detail well. Weaning off of paternalistic government assistance requires more willingness than either party seems to desire at this time. As for the historical injustices, I think a solid case for reparations exists in several specific situations. The cultural/social catastrophes are such horrific briar thickets. I think it's wildly foolish to consider "education" as the panacea -- which the book avoided, but only barely. It's become almost a religious confession that schooling, especially college education, is what will reform and reshape a community, but this is manifestly untrue. Of course, it's the gospel of Christ which transforms people, individually and as nations. Unfortunately there has been a brutal history of syncretistic abuse defiling communities.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating and disturbing book. Riley details the terrible ways in which the policies of the US and the Canada continue to screw over the indigenous peoples of North America. She focuses on property rights issues, education, child welfare, and criminal issues. Many of the current policies in place in these areas, often well-intentioned, have exacerbated previous injustices or created new ones. Too many of the anecdotes Riley reports are terrible and horrifying. Others are frustrating and maddening. This book will make you sad and angry.

Riley does discuss some proposals for possible solutions, but not in any detail (and its not always clear these proposals are much better). This is a weakness, but not a damning one. I took the point of the book as more diagnosis than treatment. Most people, like myself, are ignorant of most of these policies and laws that are doing real damage and injustice, and so this is more about shining sunlight on these.

(Note on the audio: this was mixed. The reader was good, but there were issues with sound quality. At times the voice sounded too mechanical or too flat. It seemed to be that the equalizer settings were changing throughout, creating varying quality.)

[logankstewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

The more I educate myself on Native history the more appalled I become. Equally true, the more I understand tribes today and the current involvement (or lack thereof in some cases) of the government I somehow find myself even more dumbfounded.

This is an incredibly complex situation filled with guilt and shame and anger and resentment and pride. This book does a good job of laying out the facts and the author presents her findings clearly and with good intention.

Her conclusions are logical and difficult to argue with. Her research and statistics are disgusting and tragic. Reform is needed for sure, but what should it look like? I haven’t formulated an opinion yet, but I’m working on that.

If you’re like the majority of Americans and are oblivious to the injustices of many Native peoples, this book is a good primer on some of the major topics (land ownership, education system, crime, and ICWA) to consider. What makes a life worth living? How do you measure success? These are big topics worth pondering, and this book does a fair job at getting you to think.

And the open ended challenge at the end is a terrible burden. What should be done? What can I do?

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The cultural problem on Indian reservations--what seems like laziness, an indifference toward work, an antipathy toward education--are really the results of economic and political circumstances that have been foisted upon Indians. If you live in a place where there are no jobs and no access to capital, not working becomes the norm. Any entrepreneurial impulse you have is quickly squelched. If you live in a place where the only jobs to be had are publicly funded and given out as rewards by political leaders, then nepotism (and the resulting corruption) becomes the norm. If you live in a place where the people who become schoolteachers are there because they're related to someone in tribal government, you start to lose respect for educational enterprises. If students who fail classes end up graduation anyway because of their family connections, school starts to seem pointless. And if you do work hard in school but find that it gets you nowhere afterward, you and the people around you start to wonder what the point of education is at all. In other words, Indians, just like all people, respond to the economic incentives and political conditions around them."

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short read, but dense with individuals' stories and descriptions of the state of things.

The gist: Native Americans on reservations are the victims of government incompetence (at best) and outright disdainful mistreatment (at worst).

Too many contributing factors to name, but the basic issue is that the government thinks that throwing money at people they've wronged in the past will make up for all of the problems their unjust actions brought about. The problem is that the reservation system that is set up to disburse that money (as I understand the author to say) also relegates Native Americans to second-class citizens under the hand of a paternalistic State.

Horribly sad to read about what goes on, but necessary. Would recommend to anyone advocating for an omnipotent Government Hand to solve other problems, but primarily to understand the injustice currently being served to those who lived in this land before European settlers came.

[Nicholas Galiardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was difficult to get going for some reason but I'm glad I finished it. The author does a good job of getting to the root of the systemic and perennial issues impacting native nations and how much of it can be traced back to well intentioned, yet harmful government involvement. But instead of merely focusing on the problems, she also examines what strategies have proven successful. The book is dense with empirical case studies and will definitely warrant additional future rereads. A worth while read.

[Augustus · Rating 1 out of 5]

Naomi Schaefer Riley is a *raging* TERF, and I think that enough shows her care for Native Americans, seeing how they famously had gender noncomforming and transgender people pre-colonialism. Besides that point, she has no qualifications in history — especially Native history — and it shows. There are so much better books you can read on the Indigenous people of America, especially ones written by the people themselves.... But definitely not this one.

Do not support the TERF Naomi Schaefer Riley, and do not buy this book.

[Clara Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of statistics and information. This book deals with the dysfunction of dependency. Today we pay 9,000 employees to lobby for more money for 3 million people on 310 reservations. Energy resources on these reservations would make these places self supporting. The problem is a culture of dependency, violence, alcohol and drug addiction. The waist of money is enormous with no improvement in the lives of the people they are suppose to help. This book was depressing.

[Gwendolyn Plano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Several years ago, I made a marathon trip through the Southwest and through a number of reservations. It was an eye-opening experience. Riley's book gets to the heart of why reservations are located in barren areas, often without water. She tackles difficult and complex concerns with careful notes and acknowledgments. This may not be a book you'll like reading, but it is a book you'll never forget. I strongly recommend The New Trail of Tears.

[Rashel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Important information, though maybe too much time spent on education issues. Gaining an education is not the most important aspect of solving Indian issues, and the ability to assimilate the education is degraded when there is no steady homelife or family support, no basic food, health, housing. But all in all well researched and pointed. I gained a lot reading this.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

A lot of research was done from direct sources, and the writing is surprisingly good. The author touches on other sides’ positions but dismisses them quickly enough that I worry about the accuracy of her data.

If the data is correct, I’d say this is a really interesting read on a neglected topic.