The Earth Shall Weep: A History of Native America - Hardcover

Wilson, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0871137305 ISBN 13: 9780871137302

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Pr, 1999

Synopsis

A comprehensive, authoritative history of Native America draws on ethnography, archaeology, Indian oral tradition, and other sources to document the evolution of native cultures and examines the collision between indigenous cultures and European settlers over the course of the past four centuries. 30,000 first printing. $50,000 ad/promo.

About this title

Review:

Native Americans continue to hold a special place in the modern imagination. Images of the Native American as "noble savage," as grunting Hollywood brute, or even as nature lover reinforce what author James Wilson describes as "the principal role of Indians in US culture throughout the twentieth century: helping America imagine its own history." Wilson hopes to rescue them from this role and place Native Americans within their own context by attempting to view the Indian-European encounter through their eyes. The result is an engaging history of North America and its peoples--and a welcome addition to the already voluminous literature on the subject.

Wilson weaves Native American oral traditions and archeological, ethnographical, and historical evidence into a compelling narrative. Chapters on regional groups and their histories--from the Algonquians of the Northeast to the Zuñi of the Southwest--emphasize both their differences and their similarities. Wilson also traces the shifting relationships between Indians and non-Indians and investigates the reasons behind their misunderstandings. As Wilson points out, the image of the Native American as spiritual guide and Green Party spokesperson, while more romantic, is no more realistic than the image of the ignorant savage. Frequent excerpts from personal interviews allow Native Americans to speak for themselves and remind us that, far from ending at Wounded Knee, the Native American experience continues to evolve. Wilson's clear prose, command of the subject, and detailed suggestions for further reading make this book valuable to scholars and general readers alike. --C.B. Delaney

From the Back Cover:

The European "discovery" and conquest of America was one of the most cataclysmic events in history, leading to the wholesale destruction of millions of people and hundreds of flourishing societies. As far as history books are concerned, Native Americans have been secondary to an essentially Euro-American story. Now, James Wilson presents a rigorously authoritative, beautifully written, comprehensive history that-as Richard Gott wrote in the London Literary Review "places the 'Native Americans' at the center of the historical stage, abandoning the traditional version of the American past in which the 'Indians' had a subservient role on the periphery of someone else's epic."

The Earth Shall Weep is a groundbreaking book with a pioneering approach that sets it apart from any history now on the market. Drawing not only on historical sources but also on ethnography, archaeology, Indian oral tradition, and his own extensive research in Native American communities, James Wilson sets out to make the Indian perspective on the past and the present accessible to a broad audience. He charts the collision course between indigenous cultures and European invaders, from the first English settlements on the Atlantic coast to the Wounded Knee massacre of 1890, explaining how Europeans justified a process that reduced the Native American population from an estimated seven to ten million to less than 250,000 in just four centuries. Finally, as The Independent on Sunday noted, "whereas most accounts of the North American Indian take the Wounded Knee massacre as constituting, in the words of Black Elk, an end to the Indian experience on the continent, James Wilson pursues the story further into the twentieth century and up to the present day." Wilson shows how old ideas about native people have continued to underpin government policy and popular perception in the twentieth century, leaving a painful legacy of ignorance and misunderstanding.

The story of Native America is the invisible subtext to every American history book ever published. James Wilson's splendid tour de force of narrative history redresses the historical balance and sets the standard for work to come.

"[Wilson] presents a comprehensive, imaginative overview of Native American history that is exceptional in its concept: Wilson has gathered information not only from historical sources but from ethnographic and archaeological works as well as oral histories. . . . Because it encompasses so many facets of the Native American situation, this volume will appeal to a broad spectrum of readers."-Library Journal

"A sweeping, well-written, long-view history of American Indian societies . . . a trustworthy telling of a sad epic of misunderstanding, mayhem, and massacre."-Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"Employing elegiac prose and steady narrative momentum, Wilson has written a richly informative history that places Native Americans 'at the center of the historical stage.' . . . The result is an impressive work of historical synthesis that relies heavily on Native American oral traditions."-Publishers Weekly (starred)

"A wonderful new history of the Indians of the United States-thoroughly informed, thoughtful, and compellingly written."-Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., author of The Indian Heritage of America

"The Earth Shall Weep is a very different history of Native America. James Wilson has written a fresh and lively account of Native American relations with Europeans and settlers. By placing Native American ideas of the world at the forefront and using native testimony and writings as well as conventional history, Wilson avoids the sense of tragic victimhood and academic ponderousness that so much of the writing on the subject is mired in. Taking us through the very diverse experiences of Native Americans in New England, the Northeast, the Southeast, the Southwest, the Great Plains, and the Far West, the book is a wonderfully sympathetic introduction to native predicaments from the first encounters to the casinos."-Colin Samson, director of Native American Studies, University of Essex

"Wilson is constantly seeking fresh insights. . . . First-rate history . . . intellectually sophisticated, lucid, nuanced, fair and judicious, this is an outstanding addition to the literature on the subject."-Frank McLynn, The Independent Saturday Magazine (London)

"Employing elegiac prose and steady narrative momentum, Wilson has written a richly informative history that places Native Americans 'at the center of the historical stage.' . . . In this account, Indians are neither a subplot in the grand story of American Manifest Destiny nor the poster children for all that is wrong and rapacious about Western Civilization: they are the protagonists of a vital, tumultuous history that continues to unfold today."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Wilson's concise but compendious new history of American Indians since the arrival of Europeans should be required reading for any student of American history. Painstakingly researched . . . engagingly written."-Thomas Vennum, Jr., Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies, the Smithsonian Institution

James Wilson has been actively involved in working with indigenous North Americans for twenty-five years. He has written numerous articles as well as radio and television documentaries, including the award-winning two-part series, Savagery and the American Indian, which was broadcast on BBC2 in Great Britain and the Arts & Entertainment network in the United States. He is the recipient of a Ford Foundation grant and a member of the executive committee of Survival, an international organization campaigning for the rights of indigenous peoples worldwide. James Wilson lives in Bristol, England.

About this edition

• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Pr
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0871137305
• ISBN 13: 9780871137302
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 466