Native American Studies - (Introducing Ethnic Studies) by Clara Sue Kidwell & Alan Velie (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This guide to Native American history and culture outlines new ways of understanding American Indian cultures in contemporary contexts. Native American Studies covers key issues such as the intimate relationship of culture to land; the nature of cultural exchange and conflict in the period after European contact; the unique relationship of Native communities with the United States government; the significance of language; the vitality of contemporary cultures; and the variety of Native artistic styles, from literature and poetry to painting and sculpture to performance arts. This thematic approach places history, culture, and intellectual production in the contexts of politics and power. Using specific examples throughout the book, the authors portray the culture of Native Americans from the viewpoints of Native people as well as from those of non-Native Americans.

Review Quotes

"Clara Sue Kidwell and Alan Velie's Native American Studies is the first volume in the University of Nebraska Press's new series entitled 'Introducing Ethnic Studies.' . . . If the entire series is as strong as this first entry, the series will provide an excellent overview of scholarship in these areas and resources for accessing additional scholarship."--Gregory Hansen, Arkansas Review

"Kidwell and Velie provide a unified synthesis of the state of Native American studies, a program that has matured since the 1970s into an interdisciplinary discipline. [They] discern and explicate four issues: the canon of Native American studies, the contrast between Indian emphasis on local knowledge and the academy's preference for global models, description of Native perspectives, and definition of Indian identity. The authors conclude that Indian studies still needs 'to create a truly interdisciplinary program'."--Choice

"This thematic approach places history, culture, and intellectual production in the contests of politics and power. Using specific examples throughout the book, the authors portray the culture of Native Americans from the viewpoints of Native people as well as from those of non-Native Americans."--Indian Artifact Magazine

About the Author

Clara Sue Kidwell is a professor of history and the director of the Native American studies program at the University of Oklahoma. Alan Velie is David Ross Boyd Professor of English at the University of Oklahoma.