The Native American Experience

History, as traditionally taught, has a rather unfortunate habit of beginning with the arrival of Europeans, as though an entire continent had spent several thousand years patiently waiting for somebody to turn up with a flag, a questionable navigation system and a remarkably confident attitude towards other people’s property. Fortunately, North America’s Indigenous peoples had established sophisticated societies, cultures, trading networks and civilisations long before anyone thought to describe the continent as a New World.

In The Native American Experience (2010), Jay Wertz explores the extraordinary history, diversity and cultural heritage of the Indigenous peoples of North America. Published by Andre Deutsch, this richly illustrated historical volume examines a fascinating and frequently turbulent story, from ancient traditions and established civilisations to the profound consequences of European colonisation and the continuing survival of Native American identities.

Far from representing a single homogeneous culture, Native American societies encompassed an immense variety of nations, languages, customs, political systems and ways of life. From the agricultural communities of the Southwest to the peoples of the Great Plains, the forests of the East and the Pacific Northwest, each developed distinctive relationships with its environment, neighbours and traditions.

Then came European expansion, accompanied by treaties, territorial ambitions and an increasingly inventive interpretation of the word agreement. The resulting history contains extraordinary courage, remarkable diplomacy, devastating conflict and a succession of government policies that frequently demonstrated a greater enthusiasm for acquiring land than honouring promises.

Wertz brings together the people, events and historical developments that shaped the Native American experience, offering readers an opportunity to look beyond the familiar Hollywood imagery of feathered headdresses, charging cavalry and suspiciously clean frontier settlements. The reality was infinitely more complex, involving sophisticated diplomacy, economic systems, cultural achievements and struggles for sovereignty that continue to resonate today.

The book also serves as a reminder that Native American history is not merely a collection of dramatic nineteenth-century confrontations. Indigenous communities remain living, evolving societies whose histories and contributions cannot conveniently be confined to the final reel of a Western.

Condition: Good. This is a previously owned copy, showing ordinary signs of age and handling consistent with a book published in 2010. It remains a worthwhile reading copy, with considerably more substance than the average cinematic account of the American frontier.

Published by Andre Deutsch in 2010. ISBN: 9780233003122.

Offered by Crappy Old Books, where we believe history becomes considerably more interesting when it includes the people who were already there before somebody else arrived and announced they had discovered the place.

An absorbing addition to any collection of American history, Indigenous studies or illustrated historical reference works. Particularly suitable for readers who suspect that the familiar story of America’s westward expansion might have been rather different when viewed from the perspective of those already living in the West.

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