Re: American History Textbooks

Mark N. Trahant (trahantm@fac.org)
Tue, 28 Mar 1995 14:10:37 -0500

>Unfortunately (but not surprisingly) the textbooks include little information
>concerning Native Americans after coverage of "The Indian Wars." Many
>mention the protests of the 60s and 70s, but they give little detail. Only
>one mentions Wounded Knee II. I was interested in your comments about
>*should* be included in these textbooks about recent Native American
>history.

Alison Clement,
I am working on a history of Native American journalism and it seems
to me there is a story there that ought to be of general interest. The first
tribal newspaper was founded in 1828 and was bilingual in Cherokee and
English. The Cherokee Phoenix described itself as a "vehicle of Indian
intelligence." Decendents of the founder, Elias Boudinot, went on to start
newspapers across the country -- both in the Indian territory and beyond.
(The Sacramento Bee, for example, was started by John Rollin Ridge --
Boudinot's nephew.)