_Black Indians_ Author: Katz -- a history of black-Indian relations. Has a
lot of good stuff I never knew before, especially about Florida. Written, I
think, more for high-school students, but has a great index and
bibliography.
_Fantasies of the Master Race_ by Ward Churchill. Talks about images in film
and TV and books. The only problem is he picks works which in some cases are
obscure. He does a great takedown of Dances With Wolves, but goes on to talk
about a book whose title made me say "huh? who is that?" But otherwise his
critical skills are right on target. Very good reading for people into
literary criticism. Churchill has a straightforward style. Another more
recent book of his is _Indians R Us_
_Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee_ an old standby by Dee Brown. If you lived in
the 70s you probably read it.
_Custer Died For Your Sins_ by Vine DeLoria. A bit out of date in some spots
(it was written in the 60s) but still very incisive. Vine also has volumes
of other works and poetry out there.
_Struggle For The Land_ also by Churchill. A legal history of land-rights
struggles. Great for a Constitutional/Federal law class. The Bibliography
and Citations are top-notch.
_Red Power_ -- various authors. A collection of writings by different Native
people about everything from the original land-rights disputes in the 19th
century to the Indian civil Rights movements of the 60s and 70s. Heavily
wieghted to the latter. Includes Clyde Warrior to Peterson Zah, so it has a
spectrum of ideas. Very good survey of Indian politics.
_Lakota Woman_ Mary Crow Dog. (nee Brave Bird). An autobiography of Leonard
Crow Dog's former wife. SHe's a good perspective to hear especially about
women. Not that well written, but reminiscent of Audre Lourde in some ways.
(No, Crow Dog is not a lesbian, to my knowledge.) Written fairly recently,
so she can take a longer view of AIM and the people in it, I think. Says a
lot about living as a Lakota girl in the 60s. I only wish she talked more
about her life in the 80s.
_A Chief and her People_ Wilma Mankiller. I haven't read this one, but I
belief it's about Wilma Mankiller's life and her doings as the first female
tribal chief of the Tsalagi. (Title right on this one?)
_Hopi Coyote Tales_ Ekkehart Malotki. Bilingual, collection of Hopi Coyote
tales. More for the scholars of Hopi, but still some wonderful stories I'd
love to use on my kids if I had any.
Richard Erdoes also has a few collections of Native myths & legends out
there.
Other than that... _In the Spirit of Crazy Horse_ and _Indian Country_, both
by Peter Mattheisen. The latter is a collection of stuff that originally
appeared in the Audobon Society magazine.
_The Last Free Man: The true story of the massacre of Shoshone Mike and his
band of Indians in 1911_ By Dayton O. Hyde -- a chronicle of Mike Dagget,
aka Shoshone Mike, and the last band of non-reservation Bannock. In 1911,
the last Indian massacre occurred. A sad story, but made new by the journey
the author, a non-indian, takes to track down this ultimateley fascinating
Indian chief who died some twenty years before his birth. It suffers a
little from too much of the author, though-- I got the feeling he was trying
to be an Indian. But at least he's honest about it.
_Women of the Apache Nation_ by Henrietta Stackel. A study of the
Chiricahua, with great interviews with Mildred Cleghorn.
Hope this is a good beginning.
--Jesse Emspak emspak@rosebud.berkeley.edu