American Indians in the Early West

Sandra K. Mathews-Benham

• Publisher: ABC-CLIO
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN:
  9781851098231
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781851098248
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Ethnic Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Thousands of years of American Indian history are covered in this work, from the first migrations into North America, through the development of specific tribal identities, to the turbulent first centuries of encounters with European settlers up until 1800.

American Indians in the Early West offers a concise guide to the development of American Indian communities, from the first migrations through the arrival of the Spanish, French, and Russians, to the appearance of Anglo-American traders in the easternmost portions of the West around 1800.

With coverage divided into periods and regions, American Indians in the Early West looks at how Indian communities evolved from hunter-gatherers to culturally recognized tribes, and examines the critical encounters of those tribes with non-Natives over the next two-and-a-half centuries. Readers will see that the issues at stake in those encounters—political control, preserving traditions, land and water rights, resistance to economic and military pressures—are very relevant to the Native American experience today.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Series Introduction
• Preface
• Maps
• 1 Origins and Migrations
• 2 The Rio Grande Valley and Beyond
• 3 From the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico
• 4 From the Saint Lawrence and Great Lakes to the Rocky Mountains
• 5 From the Aleutian Chain to Northern California
• 6 Historiography and Major Issues in the Study of American Indian History
• Chronology
• Glossary
• Select Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author