Northeast Books

The Divided Ground: Indians, Settlers, and the Northern Borderland of the American Revolution

Alan Taylor

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Detailed, and thus slow going 3 out of 5 stars.
9 of 11 people found this review helpful.

Taylor has done his homework here, and when one reads this book it is obvious he knows his stuff. This is a detailed look at Indian relations with settlers in the post Revol War NY world, as well as a look at relations between Americans and the British in Canada, and between Americans as well. Unfort., Taylor has fallen into the trap (assisted by an editor) of not knowing what to leave OUT of his story. No pun intended, but there are far too many trees described to the point that it takes too long to see the forest. This is especially true in the first half of the book, in which he seems to give us EVERY scrap he could find about indian land leases and coalitions of settlers to try to get the land from the Indians by any means necessary. This has the effect of making for very tedious reading, as do the descriptions of negotiations between whites and Indians. The book is 400 pp long, so eliminating much of this dry, plodding text would have been a great service to the reader, without sacrificing Taylor's objective of telling a story.

Editorial Review:

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of William Cooper's Town comes a dramatic and illuminating portrait of white and Native American relations in the aftermath of the American Revolution.

The Divided Ground tells the story of two friends, a Mohawk Indian and the son of a colonial clergyman, whose relationship helped redefine North America. As one served American expansion by promoting Indian dispossession and religious conversion, and the other struggled to defend and strengthen Indian territories, the two friends became bitter enemies. Their battle over control of the Indian borderland, that divided ground between the British Empire and the nascent United States, would come to define nationhood in North America. Taylor tells a fascinating story of the far-reaching effects of the American Revolution and the struggle of American Indians to preserve a land of their own.

The Moundbuilders: Ancient Peoples of Eastern North America (Ancient Peoples and Places)

George R. Milner

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Nineteenth-century explorers of the American continent were amazed to find great monuments built of earth in the Eastern Woodlands. Thousands of these mounds were discovered in the plains and forests—some up to a hundred feet high, some overgrown hillocks, some conical, others flat-topped. Speculation was rife as to the identity of the moundbuilders.

As George Milner shows, research over the past century demonstrates conclusively that Native Americans built these mounds. In a period ranging from 3000 BC to the sixteenth century AD, North American Indians quarried tons of earth to form the monuments, which vary widely in location, size, and purpose. Some contained thousands of burials, others served as platforms for chiefs' residences, and many were low-lying "effigy" mounds in the form of serpents, panthers, and other sacred beasts. Moundbuilding was a key element in society—how people worshipped gods, buried the dead, remembered their ancestors, and respected their leaders—and many beautiful objects have been found inside the mounds, including artifacts of shell, copper, and mica.

The Moundbuilders covers the entire sweep of Eastern Woodlands prehistory, with an emphasis on how societies developed from hunter-gatherers to village farmers and town-dwellers. Great strides have been made in recent research, and many of the most impressive mounds, such as Poverty Point, Cahokia, and Moundville, are described and discussed in detail. This wide-ranging and copiously illustrated book, complete with information on dozens of sites to visit, is the perfect guide to the region for tourists, archaeologists, and students. 153 illustrations, 20 in color.

A Son of the Forest and Other Writings

William Apess

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

A Great early Indigenous voice 4 out of 5 stars.
14 of 15 people found this review helpful.

Four stars seem appropriate for an abridged edition of a work rating five stars for the complete version. For more detail, see my review of "On Our Own Ground" with the same date. The spectacle of Apess delivering his "Eulogy on King Philip" to the descendants of the Puritans who destroyed the Wampanoag leader should cause many Americans to rethink their image of our country's history.

A pioneering Native American writer 4 out of 5 stars.
11 of 12 people found this review helpful.

"A Son of the Forest and Other Writings," by William Apess, is an important resource in United States history and literature. The book is edited by Barry O'Connell, who also provides an introduction. Apess (1798-1839), of the Pequot Indian people, was a pioneer Native American writer. In addition to his 1831 autobiography, "A Son of the Forest," this volume also contains "The Experiences of Five Christian Indians of the Pequot Tribe" (1832) and his "Eulogy on King Philip" (1836).

Apess' writing is dominated by his fervent evangelical Christianity, and also by his articulation of a Native American consciousness. "Son" is at times a very gripping autobiography. In it Apess writes about poverty, child abuse, alcoholism, ethnic identity and religious conversion: all topics that remain very relevant over the centuries. This volume contains, in addition to the primary texts, a useful bibliography and chronology. This book is an excellent choice both for the classroom and for the independent reader.

Editorial Review:

This book brings together the best-known works of the 19th-century Indian writer William Apess, including the first extended autobiography by a Native American. The text is drawn from ON OUR OWN GROUND, which was named a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book. This new edition of Apess's classic texts is designed for classroom use .

A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison

James E. Seaver

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Firsthand account of Captive who became tribal Matriarch 5 out of 5 stars.
27 of 27 people found this review helpful.

They say if you visit New York State you will find her descendants; many native-americans have her last name. Taken captive; her parents killed - Mary becomes part of a native-american family. She married a Delaware (Lenape) warrior, with whom she was very content and has many children. This is a dramatic, true story, told in her own words. She is in her 80's, and reminisces about her unusual life.

Fascinating History 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 16 people found this review helpful.

The narrative is fascinating reading, both in terms of the history revealed in the words of Mary Jemison and in terms of James Seaver who gives us his own version of her story. The effect is a layering of historical periods. With the help of the editing, you can peer through and see not only the period of Mary Jemison's captivity, but also the prejudices of the following time. An interesting example of the simultaneous respect and loathing with which the early settlers viewed the native inhabitants. I first read the narrative in high school, and would recommend it for young and old readers alike.

Editorial Review:

The Peace of 1783 and the consequent cessation of Indian hostilities and barbarities returned to their friends those prisoners who had escaped the tomahawk the gauntlet and the savage fire after their having spent many years in captivity and restored harmony to society.

In the Shadow of the Eagle: A Tribal Representative in Maine

Donna M. Loring

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Maine is the only American state to have tribal representatives seated in its legislative body 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Maine is the only American state to have tribal representatives seated in its legislative body, a practice that originated in the 1820s. The representatives from the Penobscot Nation and the Passamquoddy Tribe don't have the power to vote, but they do serve on committees and may chair study committees. Author Donna Loring served as a representative of the Penobscot Nation; In the Shadow of the Eagle: A Tribal Representative in Maine is the story of her fight to have her voice heard. She was deeply involved in issues such as the drive to change offensive names; the teaching of Native American history in Maine schools; casinos and racinos; and the interpretation of sovereign rights for tribes. Written in first-person perspective, In the Shadow of the Eagle tells Loring's story of her tireless job from the beginning of 2000 to the spring of 2002, interspersed with a handful of black-and-white photographs. Highly recommended, especially for Native American studies shelves. "I find that most people who are against a casino are well-to-do or are against it for moral reasons. In Kittery, for instance, they are often people from out of state who have moved to Maine to retire or who are wealthy and have moved to Maine to be left alone... Maine people who are poor or who have lost their jobs are more willing to consider the casino alternative."

Editorial Review:

Maine is the only state in the nation to have tribal representatives seated in its legislative body, a practice that began in the 1820s. Although the representatives from the Penobscot Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe don't have voting power on the house floor, they serve on committees and may chair committees. Donna's first session as representative of the Penobscot Nation was a difficult one--a personal struggle to have a "voice," but also because of the issues: changing offensive names, teaching Native American history in Maine schools, casinos and racinos, and the interpretation of sovereign rights for tribes. Some of the struggles and issues remain as she continues to serve, and the perspective she offers--as a Native American and as a legislator--is both valuable and fascinating.

The Delaware Indians: A History

C. A. Weslager

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

An excellent, well-researched study of Delaware Indians 4 out of 5 stars.
20 of 21 people found this review helpful.

Weslager combines a flair for description with a scholarly tone to produce what is to date the most fair, accurate study of the Delaware Indians, or Lenni Lenape. Using historical, archealogical, anthropological, and ethnohistorical evidence, Weslager provides an almost complete history of this often neglected Indian tribe. This work is a must read for anyone interested in the early history of the mid-Atlantic region.

Editorial Review:

In the seventeenth century white explores and settlers encountered a tribe of Indians calling themselves Lenni Lenape along the Delaware River and its tributaries in New Jersey, Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania, and southeastern New York. Today communities of their descendants, known as Delawares, are found in Oklahoma, Kansas, Wisconsin, and Ontario, and individuals of Delaware ancestry are mingled with the white populations in many other states. The Delaware Indians is the first comprehensive account of what happened to the main body of the Delaware Nation over the past three centuries.

Molly Spotted Elk: A Penobscot in Paris

Bunny McBride

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Moving, romantic, spellbinding 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is a wonderfully lyrical account of the life of a Penobscot woman who against great odds overcomes poverty and illness through her intelligence, love of beauty and dance and her connection to her Native American heritage. Her romance with a French Resistance-member journalist and her escape over the Alps with her infant daughter during World War II is spell-binding. I loved this book!

historically accurate as well as lively 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

As a middle school librarian in a county with two tribes, I am always looking for books that will model exellence for our young men and women. This is a fascinating read about a native American young woman in the early days of Hollywood. We can't afford this book yet, but it is one of three that top my list for next year's order. We have 180 feet of empty shelves.

A Tragic Beauty 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is a beautifully-written biography of a young Penobscot woman from Indian Island, Maine. She danced in vaudeville, Wild West shows, and even went topless in New York before dancing before royalty in Europe. She had a passionate but tragic love affair with a French journalist, and fled with her daughter from the Nazis. Molly suffered greatly in her lifetime but shone among her people as a strong matriarch with dazzling basketweaving skills and musical talents. She deserves to have her story told at last.

"Strong Medicine" Speaks: A Native American Elder Has Her Say

Amy Hill Hearth

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

From the bestselling author of Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years comes the inspiring true story of Marion "Strong Medicine" Gould, a Native American matriarch, and the Indian way of life that must never be forgotten.

Amy Hill Hearth's first book, Having Our Say, told the true story of two century-old African-American sisters and went on to become an enduring bestseller and the subject of a three-time Tony Award-nominated play. In "Strong Medicine" Speaks, Hearth turns her talent for storytelling to a Native American matriarch presenting a powerful account of Indian life.

Born and raised in a nearly secret part of New Jersey that remains Native ancestral land, Marion "Strong Medicine" Gould is an eighty-five-year-old Elder in her Lenni-Lenape tribe and community. Taking turns with the author as the two women alternate voices throughout this moving book, Strong Medicine tells of her ancestry, tracing it back to the first Native peoples to encounter the Europeans in 1524, through the strife and bloodshed of America's early years, up to the twentieth century and her own lifetime, decades colored by oppression and terror yet still lifted up by the strength of an enduring collective spirit.

This genuine and delightful telling gives voice to a powerful female Elder whose dry wit and charming humor will provide wisdom and inspiration to readers from every background.

The Original Vermonters: Native Inhabitants, Past and Present

William A. Haviland, Marjory W. Power

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A Sorrow in Our Heart

Allan Eckert

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Fair Warning 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Straight up front I'll admit I'm a quitter. With grim determination I made it to page 55 and there, gentle readers, I had had it. I couldn't go any farther. I just couldn't. But then, one doesn't need to drink the whole glass to know if the milk is sour.

Maybe the tipping point lay in having reason several Francis Parkman's works ("The Frances Parkman Reader", the volumns on Pontiac, "Montcalm and Wolfe") before starting this thing. It was this book breaker.

Usually in re: to a one or two star book I'll say, "If you can get it at a yard sale, or real cheap, or someone give it to you, go ahead and read it." But not this one, brother. Your's truly got it real cheap and...well, and I'm writting this review.

What wrong with this book? For one thing, the preface is something like 34 pages long! Good grief. And when several other reviewers said this book as written like a novel, take it from me -- they weren't kidding. But, heck, I knew that going in and made allowances for it. But nothing could prepare me for early-era Political Correctness/New Age tone of this thing.

The yellow flags went up when I read the opening quote (supposedly by Tecumseh's elder brother) chosen by the author which read, in part,

'...The white man seeks to conquer nature, to bend it to his will and to use it wastefully until it is goneand then he simply moves one, leaving the waste behind him...The whole white race is a monster...'

I thought: Uh-Oh. According to this "story" the red Indianas -- particularly the Shawnee -- were the beau sauvages, the enfants de nature, of the sixities: the 1960s and the 1760s. The white man, particular the British, were the snake in this Garden of Eden. The Great Spirit, surprise surprise, is refered to as a woman. ("The Great Spirit watched over her Indian children...") The men tall and handsome, the women loving and lovely, the elders calm and wise, the children serious yet happy. The whites, esp. the British, insensitive brutes. Shades of being oh-so politically correct!

This sort of view might have been the bee's knees in the late 1980s- early 1990s but today it is 18th c. romantism at best, teeth-gritting at worst. The red Indians in this book are painted in a very different manner than can be found in Parkman, and a good many others.

Editorial Review:

A biography of the famous Shawnee describes Tecumseh's plan to amalgamate all North American tribes into one people, his role as statesman and military strategist, and his death in the Battle of Thames. 35,500 first printing.