Indian Country, God's Country

Indian Country, God's Country
Author: Philip Burnham
Publisher:
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2000-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

The mythology of "gifted land" is strong in the Park Service, but some of our greatest parks were "gifted" by people who had little if any choice in the matter. Places like the Grand Canyon's south rim and Glacier had to be bought, finagled, borrowed -- or taken by force -- when Indian occupants and owners resisted the call to contribute to the public welfare. The story of national parks and Indians is, depending on perspective, a costly triumph of the public interest, or a bitter betrayal of America's native people.In Indian Country, God's Country historian Philip Burnham traces the complex relationship between Native Americans and the national parks, relating how Indians were removed, relocated, or otherwise kept at arm's length from lands that became some of our nation's most hallowed ground. Burnham focuses on five parks: Glacier, the Badlands, Mesa Verde, the Grand Canyon, and Death Valley. Based on archival research and extensive personal visits and interviews, he examines the beginnings of the national park system and early years of the National Park Service, along with later Congressional initiatives to mainstream American Indians and expand and refurbish the parks. The final chapters visit the parks as they are today, presenting the thoughts and insights of superintendents and rangers, tribal officials and archaeologists, ranchers, community leaders, curators, and elders. Burnham reports on hard-won compromises that have given tribes more autonomy and greater cultural recognition in recent years, while highlighting stubborn conflicts that continue to mark relations between tribes and the parks.Indian Country, God's Country offers a compelling -- and until now untold -- story that illustrates the changing role of the national parks in American society, the deep ties of Native Americans to the land, and the complicated mix of commerce, tourism, and environmental preservation that characterize the parks system. Anyone interested in Native American culture and history, the history of the American West, the national park system, or environmental history will find it a fascinating and engaging work.

The Gods of Indian Country

The Gods of Indian Country
Author: Jennifer Graber
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2018-03-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0190279621

During the nineteenth century, white Americans sought the cultural transformation and physical displacement of Native people. Though this process was certainly a clash of rival economic systems and racial ideologies, it was also a profound spiritual struggle. The fight over Indian Country sparked religious crises among both Natives and Americans. In The Gods of Indian Country, Jennifer Graber tells the story of the Kiowa Indians during Anglo-Americans' hundred-year effort to seize their homeland. Like Native people across the American West, Kiowas had known struggle and dislocation before. But the forces bearing down on them-soldiers, missionaries, and government officials-were unrelenting. With pressure mounting, Kiowas adapted their ritual practices in the hope that they could use sacred power to save their lands and community. Against the Kiowas stood Protestant and Catholic leaders, missionaries, and reformers who hoped to remake Indian Country. These activists saw themselves as the Indians' friends, teachers, and protectors. They also asserted the primacy of white Christian civilization and the need to transform the spiritual and material lives of Native people. When Kiowas and other Native people resisted their designs, these Christians supported policies that broke treaties and appropriated Indian lands. They argued that the gifts bestowed by Christianity and civilization outweighed the pains that accompanied the denial of freedoms, the destruction of communities, and the theft of resources. In order to secure Indian Country and control indigenous populations, Christian activists sanctified the economic and racial hierarchies of their day. The Gods of Indian Country tells a complex, fascinating-and ultimately heartbreaking-tale of the struggle for the American West.

American Indians and National Parks

American Indians and National Parks
Author: Robert H. Keller
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 348
Release: 1999-05-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780816520145

Many national parks and monuments tell unique stories of the struggle between the rights of native peoples and the wants of the dominant society. These stories involve our greatest parks—Yosemite, Yellowstone, Mesa Verde, Glacier, the Grand Canyon, Olympic, Everglades—as well as less celebrated parks elsewhere. In American Indians and National Parks, authors Robert Keller and Michael Turek relate these untold tales of conflict and collaboration. American Indians and National Parks details specific relationships between native peoples and national parks, including land claims, hunting rights, craft sales, cultural interpretation, sacred sites, disposition of cultural artifacts, entrance fees, dams, tourism promotion, water rights, and assistance to tribal parks. Beginning with a historical account of Yosemite and Yellowstone, American Indians and National Parks reveals how the creation of the two oldest parks affected native peoples and set a pattern for the century to follow. Keller and Turek examine the evolution of federal policies toward land preservation and explore provocative issues surrounding park/Indian relations. When has the National Park Service changed its policies and attitudes toward Indian tribes, and why? How have environmental organizations reacted when native demands, such as those of the Havasupai over land claims in the Grand Canyon, seem to threaten a national park? How has the Park Service dealt with native claims to hunting and fishing rights in Glacier, Olympic, and the Everglades? While investigating such questions, the authors traveled extensively in national parks and conducted over 200 interviews with Native Americans, environmentalists, park rangers, and politicians. They meticulously researched materials in archives and libraries, assembling a rich collection of case studies ranging from the 19th century to the present. In American Indians and National Parks, Keller and Turek tackle a significant and complicated subject for the first time, presenting a balanced and detailed account of the Native-American/national-park drama. This book will prove to be an invaluable resource for policymakers, conservationists, historians, park visitors, and others who are concerned about preserving both cultural and natural resources.

The Gods of Indian Country

The Gods of Indian Country
Author: Jennifer Graber
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2018
Genre: History
ISBN: 0190279613

During the nineteenth century, Anglo-Americans inflicted cultural and economic devastation on Native people. The fight over Indian Country sparked spiritual crises for both Natives and Settlers. In the end, the experience of intercultural encounter and conflict over land produced religious transformations on both sides.

God and Country

God and Country
Author: Sheila Suess Kennedy
Publisher: Baylor University Press
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2007
Genre: History
ISBN: 1932792996

Habits of the mind : thinking in red and blue -- America's religious roots -- A new paradigm -- Conflict and change -- The culture war considered -- The usual suspects -- Religion, wealth, and poverty -- Religion, science, and the environment -- Sin and crime -- God and country, us and them -- Living together.

The Militarization of Indian Country

The Militarization of Indian Country
Author: Winona LaDuke
Publisher: MSU Press
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2013-03-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1609173775

When it became public that Osama bin Laden’s death was announced with the phrase “Geronimo, EKIA!” many Native people, including Geronimo’s descendants, were insulted to discover that the name of a Native patriot was used as a code name for a world-class terrorist. Geronimo descendant Harlyn Geronimo explained, “Obviously to equate Geronimo with Osama bin Laden is an unpardonable slander of Native America and its most famous leader.” The Militarization of Indian Country illuminates the historical context of these negative stereotypes, the long political and economic relationship between the military and Native America, and the environmental and social consequences. This book addresses the impact that the U.S. military has had on Native peoples, lands, and cultures. From the use of Native names to the outright poisoning of Native peoples for testing, the U.S. military’s exploitation of Indian country is unparalleled and ongoing.

God is Red

God is Red
Author: Vine Deloria
Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2003
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781555914981

The seminal work on Native religious views, asking questions about our species and our ultimate fate.

God Gave Us this Country

God Gave Us this Country
Author: Bil Gilbert
Publisher: Atheneum Books
Total Pages: 392
Release: 1989
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

In the forefront of this account is Tekamthi (often remembered as Tecumseh), the brilliant Shawnee warrior, orator, and political strategist, long renowned as the most astute and able of the red leaders. In the early 1800s be became convinced that his people could defend themselves against the United States only by forming a single racial federation. From a base at Tippecanoe in Indiana, he traveled between the Great Lakes and Gulf Coast, recruiting supporters. Though there were fewer than 100,000 free reds in these territories versus the 7 million whites of the United States, the westward advance of Manifest Destiny was slowed, in large part, by the formidable reputation and charismatic influence of Tekamthi.

For God and My Country

For God and My Country
Author: J. J. Carney
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2020-10-27
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532682522

A devout Catholic politician assassinated by a capricious dictator. A Cardinal standing up for his people in the face of political repression. A priest leading his nation’s constitutional revision. The “Mother Teresa of Uganda” transforming the lives of thousands of abandoned children. Two missionaries who founded the best community radio station in Africa. A peace activist who has amplified the voices of grassroots women in the midst of a brutal civil war. Such are the powerful stories in For God and My Country, a book that explores how seven inspiring leaders in Uganda’s largest religious community have shaped the social and political life of their country. Drawing on extensive oral research, J. J. Carney analyzes how personal faith, theological vision, and Catholic social teaching have propelled these leaders to embody Vatican II’s call for the Church to be a sign of communion and unity in the world. Readers will gain rich insight into Uganda’s postcolonial politics and the history of one of Africa’s most important Catholic communities. Each chapter closes with leadership lessons and reflection questions, making this an ideal text for classroom and parish adoption.