The Book of the American Indian

by Garland, Hamlin

• ISBN13: 9780803271210
• ISBN10: 0803271212
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-09-01
• Publisher: Bison Books

Summary

A Hopi child is torn from his parents and sent off to boarding school; white settlers encroach on the Cheyenne reservation, and the Cheyenne vow to fight to the death rather than give up their land; Howling Wolf witnesses the brutal murder of his brother and, when he protests, is in turn brutalized; after Sitting Bull's triumph over Custer's forces, he vows to fight to the death rather than submit to the white invaders.In these and other stories written from 1890-1905, Hamlin Garland sought to capture his vision of the spirit of the Native American Indian in transition. Based on ten years of visits to reservations in the American West, these stories are of interest for readers today in part because they illustrate a sincere and well-intentioned white reformer coming to understand a culture radically at odds with his own-and discovering in the process that his own culture is less "advanced" than he had supposed.Best known for his collection of short stories Main-Travelled Roads and for his novel Rose of Dutcher's Coolly, Hamlin Garland (1860-1940) was also an accomplished writer of tales of American Indians struggling to adapt to reservation life during a time of confusion and government brutality. This edition reprints the text and illustrations from the 1923 printing as well as two of Garland's essays indicting the treatment of Indians. An introduction places the stories in the historical context of Garland's life and times.Keith Newlin is a professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He is the author of Hamlin Garland: A Bibliography, with a Checklist of Unpublished Letters and the co-editor of Selected Letters of Hamlin Garland (Nebraska 1998).

Author Biography

Best known for his collection of short stories Main-Travelled Roads and for his novel Rose of Dutcher’s Coolly, Hamlin Garland (1860–1940) was also an accomplished writer of tales of American Indians struggling to adapt to reservation life during a time of confusion and government brutality. This edition reprints the text and illustrations from the 1923 printing as well as two of Garland’s essays indicting the treatment of Indians. An introduction places the stories in the historical context of Garland’s life and times.
Keith Newlin is a professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He is the author of Hamlin Garland: A Bibliography, with a Checklist of Unpublished Letters and the coeditor of Selected Letters of Hamlin Garland (Nebraska 1998).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Hamlin Garland, Crow Reservation, 1909	p. x
Introduction	p. xi
Selected Bibliography	p. xlvii
A Note on the Texts	p. liii
Map of Reservations Visited by Garland, 1895-1905	p. lvi
The Book of the American Indian	p. 1
Wahiah-A Spartan Mother	p. 3
Nistina	p. 16
The Iron Khiva	p. 25
The New Medicine House	p. 37
Rising Wolf-Ghost Dancer	p. 48
The River's Warning	p. 63
Lone Wolf's Old Guard	p. 71
Big Moggasen	p. 80
The Storm-Child	p. 87
The Blood Lust	p. 95
The Remorse of Waumdisapa	p. 101
A Decree of Council	p. 107
Drifting Crane	p. 112
The Story of Howling Wolf	p. 119
The Silent Eaters	p. 141
The Beginnings of Power	p. 141
Policy and Council	p. 150
The Battle of the Big Horn	p. 155
Dark Days of Winter	p. 173
The Chief Surrenders Himself	p. 178
In Captivity	p. 189
He Opposed All Treaties	p. 201
The Return of the Spirits	p. 206
The Message of Kicking Bear	p. 212
The Dance Begins	p. 219
The Breaking of the Peace Pipe	p. 226
The Chief Proposes a Test	p. 239
The Chief Plans a Journey	p. 251
The Death of the Chief	p. 256
Appendices
The Red Man's Present Needs	p. 262
The Redman as Material	p. 278
Suggestions for Further Reading	p. 283
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