The Praeger Handbook On Contemporary Issues In Native America

Provides a culturally relevant and rich introduction to contemporary issues facing Native Americans.

Most Americans know very little about Native America. For many, most of their knowledge comes from an amalgam of three sources—a barely remembered required history class in elementary school, Hollywood movies, and debates in the news media over casinos or sports mascots. This two-volume set deals with these issues as well as with more important topics of concern to the future of Native Americans, including their health, their environment, their cultural heritage, their rights, and their economic sustainability. This two-volume set is one of few guides to Native American revival in our time. It includes detailed descriptions of efforts throughout North America regarding recovery of languages, trust funds, economic base, legal infrastructure, and agricultural systems. The set also includes personal profiles of individuals who have sparked renewal, from Sheila Watt-Cloutier, a leader among the Inuit whose people deal with toxic chemicals and global warming, to Ernest Benedict and Ray Fadden, who brought pride to Mohawk children long before the idea was popular. Also included are descriptions of struggles over Indian mascots, establishment of multicultural urban centers, and ravages of uranium mining among the Navajo. The set ends with a detailed development of contemporary themes in Native humor as a coping mechanism. Delving occasionally into historical context, this set includes valuable background information on present-day controversies that are often neglected by the news media. For example, the current struggles to recover Native American trust funds and languages both emerged from a cradle-to-grave control system developed by the U.S. and Canadian governments. These efforts are part of a much broader Native American effort to recover from pervasive poverty and reassert Native American economic independence. Is gambling an answer to poverty, the new buffalo, as some Native Americans have called it? The largest Native American casino to date has been the Pequots' Foxwoods, near Ledyard, Connecticut. In other places, such as the New York Oneidas' lands in Upstate New York, gambling has provided an enriched upper class the means to hire police to force anti-gambling traditionalists from their homes. Among the Mohawks at Akwesasne, people have died over the issue. This two-volume set brings together all of these struggles with the attention to detail they have always deserved and rarely received.

Provides a culturally relevant and rich introduction to contemporary issues facing Native Americans.

Provides a culturally relevant and rich introduction to contemporary issues facing Native Americans.

In this volume, Joseph Coulombe argues that Native American writers use diverse narrative strategies to engage with readers and are 'writing for connection' with both Native and non-Native audiences.

An Introduction to Native North America provides a basic introduction to the Native Peoples of North America, covering what are now the United States, northern Mexico, and Canada. It covers the history of research, basic prehistory, the European invasion and the impact of Europeans on Native cultures. A final chapter covers contemporary Native Americans, including issues of religion, health, and politics. In this updated and revised new edition, Mark Q. Sutton has expanded and improved the existing text as well as adding a new case study, updated the text with new research, and included new perspectives, particularly those of Native peoples. Featuring case studies of several tribes, as well as over 60 maps and images, An Introduction to Native North America is an indispensable tool to those studying the history of North America and Native Peoples of North America. .

This essential reference work enables a deeper understanding of contemporary challenges in the lives of American Indians and Alaskan Natives today, carefully reviewing their unique problems and proposing potential solutions. American Indians face problems in their lives on a daily basis that most other Americans never contend with, and their challenges—which in some cases are similar to those of other minority groups in the United States—are still qualitatively unique. American Indians at Risk gives readers a broad overview of what life in Indian country is like, addressing specific contemporary social issues such as alcoholism, unemployment, and suicide. The author goes beyond detailed descriptions of the problems of American Indians to also present solutions, some of which have been effective in addressing these challenges. Each chapter includes a "Further Investigations" section that presents helpful ideas for additional research.