This Day in North American Indian History: Important Dates in the History of North America's Native Peoples for Every Calendar Day [Anglais] [Relié]

By now the myth of the "discovery" and peopling of North America has passed into the historical record, with the idea of an empty land being tamed by toil and westward expansion giving way to a more accurate picture of steady trade, virtually nonstop wars and moments of cooperation between the native Americans and the European immigrants. Freelancer Konstantin shows readers just how many treaties, battles, settlements and resettlements, government acts, executive orders and surprise attacks comprise this troubled history. Covering territory from "Panama to the North Pole" and dates from the 16th century to the present, this exhaustive look at the plight of North America's indigenous people is both instructive and downright depressing. With its neutral tone and format, literally marking events over 365 days of the calendar year, it should be an important resource for furthering the cause of corrective history.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This work contains more than 4,000 entries listing significant events in North American Indian history for each day of the year. Events listed are only those that can be traced to an exact date. When more than one date is recorded for an event, the author, a freelance writer and member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, has "tried to show which date is most acceptable to the widest number of sources." A fairly successful attempt has been made to avoid bias. The tone taken throughout is straightforward and objective, reporting on what happened on a given date in clear, unemotional prose.

The volume is laid out in columnar form in date order, beginning with January 1 and progressing to December 31. Under each date, events are listed chronologically, starting with the earliest recorded event (e.g., for January 1, dates run from 1756-1975, with a final "Every" entry giving an annual event, a form that is consistent throughout). Entries vary in length from three or four words to half a column, with most coming in at four or five sentences. Frequent black-and-white photographs and reproductions run from a quarter to half a column in size, and are placed adjacent to the passages they illustrate.

Several appendixes (including a list of tribal names and their meanings, alternate tribal names, and North American Indian calendars listing month and moon names) are followed by a three-page bibliography of print works and a lengthy, detailed, and accurate index. The index actually serves as a cross-referencing tool, listing all entries for particular tribes and events.

A useful quick-reference work, this is also an attractive browsing book. Though there is some overlap with books like the Biographical Dictionary of American Indian History to 1900 (Facts On File, 2001) and the Chronology of American Indian History: The Trail of the Wind (Facts On File, 2001), the format and purpose of this work are unique enough to justify purchase for public, college, and high-school libraries. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

For every calendar day, this book lists the important events in the history of North America's native peoples-over 5,000 events covering more than 5,000 years.

This Day in North American Indian History is a one-of-a-kind, fun-to-read book covering over 5,000 years of North American Indian history, culture, and lore. Wide-ranging and in-depth, it lists over 5,000 important events involving the native peoples of North America in a unique day-by-day format.

From the construction of Mayan temples in A.D. 715 to modern political activism and governmental legislation affecting native peoples-and everything in between-virtually every significant historical event in Indian history is listed. It also includes biographical sketches of prominent and lesser-known North American Indian leaders, chiefs, explorers, and their white counterparts, descriptions of migrations, the histories of tribes and ancient languages, and a list of the meanings of tribal names. Well-organized and comprehensive, the thousands of entries in This Day in North American Indian History weave an exciting and panoramic mosaic of North American Indian history. It is the most all-encompassing single-volume reference work on the subject available.

Phil Konstantin is a public affairs officer for the California Highway Patrol and a freelance author with over 100 magazine and newspaper articles to his credit. As a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, he has had a lifelong interest in American Indian history. He makes his home in San Diego, California.