Native Americans Today - by Bruce Johansen (Hardcover)

About the Book

This engaging collection of Native American profiles examines these individuals' unique life experiences within the larger context of U.S. history.
Native Americans Today: A Biographical Dictionary focuses on the lives of contemporary Native Americans. Such treatments are rare, as most Native American biographies are historical (pre-1900) and cover familiar figures. Profiles collected here are written to be enjoyable as well as instructive, presented as examples of personal storytelling that should be savored not only for their factual content, but also for the humanity they evoke.

The book spotlights Native American lives in the United States and Canada, mainly after 1900, though a few older figures are included because their lives evoke strikingly modern themes. The author, an expert on all things Native American, knows (or knew) several of the people in the entries, adding a special vibrancy to the writing. Among those profiled are former U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, activist Eloise Cobell, and controversial political prisoner Leonard Peltier, as well as writers, artists, and musicians. The compilation also includes non-Native Americans whose lives and careers impacted Indian life.

• 100 biographical entries arranged in an A-Z, encyclopedic format
• 50 photographs and illustrations include original artwork

Book Synopsis

This engaging collection of Native American profiles examines these individuals' unique life experiences within the larger context of U.S. history.

Native Americans Today: A Biographical Dictionary focuses on the lives of contemporary Native Americans. Such treatments are rare, as most Native American biographies are historical (pre-1900) and cover familiar figures. Profiles collected here are written to be enjoyable as well as instructive, presented as examples of personal storytelling that should be savored not only for their factual content, but also for the humanity they evoke.

The book spotlights Native American lives in the United States and Canada, mainly after 1900, though a few older figures are included because their lives evoke strikingly modern themes. The author, an expert on all things Native American, knows (or knew) several of the people in the entries, adding a special vibrancy to the writing. Among those profiled are former U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, activist Eloise Cobell, and controversial political prisoner Leonard Peltier, as well as writers, artists, and musicians. The compilation also includes non-Native Americans whose lives and careers impacted Indian life.

Review Quotes

"Johansen helps history come alive for a number of individuals about whom we might know very little, if anything. He gives the reader titles of books where more in-depth information can be found in such fields as literature and religious themes. This book provides an introduction to Native Americans who have made significant contributions in a number of fields and whets the appetite of the reader to find out more." --Reference Reviews

"This volume is best suited to readers in high school, public, and college libraries as an introduction to the persons represented." --Booklist

About the Author