The first comprehensive history of the Lakota Indians and their profound role in shaping America's history
This first complete account of the Lakota Indians traces their rich and often surprising history from the early sixteenth to the early twenty†'first century. Pekka Hämäläinen explores the Lakotas' roots as marginal hunter†'gatherers and reveals how they reinvented themselves twice: first as a river people who dominated the Missouri Valley, America's great commercial artery, and then—in what was America's first sweeping westward expansion—as a horse people who ruled supreme on the vast high plains.
The Lakotas are imprinted in American historical memory. Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull are iconic figures in the American imagination, but in this groundbreaking book they emerge as something different: the architects of Lakota America, an expansive and enduring Indigenous regime that commanded human fates in the North American interior for generations. Hämäläinen's deeply researched and engagingly written history places the Lakotas at the center of American history, and the results are revelatory.
2 of 2 copies available
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
October 9, 2019 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780300248746
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780300248746
- File size: 15510 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from September 1, 2019
H�m�l�inen (history, St. Catherine's Coll., Oxford Univ.; Comanche Empire) is one of the world's leading experts on nomadic equestrian peoples. His latest monograph focuses on the evolution of the Lakota from the 16th to 21st century. They initially were ensconced in the Missouri Valley where they proved influential in opposing the imperial designs of England, France, and Spain. In rising up against the colonial powers, they laid the foundation for later dominance of the Missouri Valley by the United States. By that time, the Lakota had adopted an equestrian lifestyle and had come to dominate the Great Plains. Their prowess as horsemen was evident at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, where they delivered a devastating victory to George Armstrong Custer and the Seventh Cavalry. Although a great victory, the Lakota lost the Great Sioux War of 1876-77 since they could not match the sheer numbers of the soldiers utilized by the United States during the conflict. The ability to adapt to changing circumstance, as exhibited first in the Missouri Valley and later in the Great Plains, has continued into the present, as the Lakota have been central to the effort to demand tribal sovereignty. VERDICT An essential purchase for all collections of American history and Native American studies.--John R. Burch, Univ. of Tennessee at Martin
Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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