Native Nations: Cultures and Histories of Native North America

by Nancy Bonvillain

Combining historical background with discussion of contemporary Native nations and their living cultures, this comprehensive text introduces students to some of the many indigenous peoples in North America. The book is organized into parts corresponding to regional divisions within which similar, though not identical, cultural practices developed. Each part opens with an overview of the topography, climate, and natural resources in the area, and describes the range of cultural practices and beliefs grounded in the area. Subsequent chapters are devoted to specific tribal groups, their history, and the conditions of contemporary Native communities.

Nancy Bonvillain provides context for the regional and tribe-specific chapters through a brief overview of Native American history beginning around 1500 and covering the early period of European exploration and colonization. She details both U.S. and Canadian policies affecting the lives, cultures, and survival of more than five hundred Native nations on this continent. Finally, she offers up-to-date demographics and addresses significant social, economic, and political issues concerning Native communities.

The second edition features new material throughout, including a new two-chapter section on the Native nations of the Plateau, expanded introductory material addressing topics such as climate change and recent Supreme Court decisions, up-to-date demographic and economic data, and more.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Academic, Native American

552 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 2001

About the author

Dr. Bonvillain is an authority on Native American cultures and languages. She is the author of books on the Mohawk language and on the Huron, the Mohawk, the Hopi, the Teton Sioux, the Navajo, the Inuit, the Zuni, and the Santee Sioux and on Native American Religion and Native American medicine. She has written on gender, linguistics, and narrative.

Dr. Bonvillain has written four textbooks: Language, Culture and Communication; Women and Men: Cultural Constructs of Gender; Native Nations: Cultures and Histories of Native North America; and Cultural Anthropology. Her articles have appeared in Anthropological Linguistics, American Indian Culture and Research Journal, International Journal of American Linguistics, Dialectic Anthropology, Papers on Iroquoian Research, and in several collections. She has taught at Columbia University, SUNY Purchase and Stonybrook, the New School for Social Research, and Sarah Lawrence College. Dr. Bonvillain has received fellowships from the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Philosophical Society, and the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Her fieldwork has been with the Navajo and on the Akwesasne Mohawk Reserve.

Reviews

[Byrd Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot is left out in Native Nations, more than is included in fact. Often, this is still the case with histories that the dominant culture pens first. I would recommend this for an introduction of the intricacies of American Indian history, but only as a beginning place.

[Annalisa Abdul · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring😒 college really does recommend us boring books, sorry but I’m just being honest.