"Everything you know about Indians is wrong." As the provocative title of Paul Chaat Smith's 2009 book proclaims, everyone knows about Native Americans, but most of what they know is the fruit of stereotypes and vague images. The real people, real communities, and real events of indigenous America continue to elude most people. The Oxford Handbook of American Indian History confronts this erroneous view by presenting an accurate and comprehensive history of the indigenous peoples who lived--and live--in the territory that became the United States. Thirty-two leading experts, both Native and non-Native, describe the historical developments of the past 500 years in American Indian history, focusing on significant moments of upheaval and change, histories of indigenous occupation, and overviews of Indian community life. The first section of the book charts Indian history from before 1492 to European invasions and settlement, analyzing US expansion and its consequences for Indian survival up to the twenty-first century. A second group of essays consists of regional and tribal histories. The final section illuminates distinctive themes of Indian life, including gender, sexuality and family, spirituality, art, intellectual history, education, public welfare, legal issues, and urban experiences. A much-needed and eye-opening account of American Indians, this Handbook unveils the real history often hidden behind wrong assumptions, offering stimulating ideas and resources for new generations to pursue research on this topic.

About the Author
Frederick E. Hoxie is Swanlund Professor of History, Law, and American Indian Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. A former Director of the D'Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian History and Vice President for Research and Education at the Newberry Library, he is the author or editor of more than a dozen books, including This Indian Country: American Indian Activists and the Place They Made and Parading Through History: The Making of the Crow Nation in America.

Reviews
Bringing a rigorous standard of scholarship to the task, the contributors to this large, impressive volume, begin with the period before the European invasion of America in 1492 and continue to the present century, covering the entire territory from the East coast to Alaska... * Curt Bench, Bench Press *
[A]n innovative and timely source that examines not only the historical facts but also the clashing interpretations crucial to understanding Native American history...Recommended. * CHOICE *
[T]he volume will appeal to Americanists and Native Americanists alike, and the clearly written and well-argued essays make for terrific reading at the undergraduate and graduate levels. * Steven J. Peach, The Journal of Southern History *



Book Information
ISBN 9780197522691
Author Frederick E. Hoxie
Format Paperback
Page Count 662
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 1075g
Dimensions(mm) 249mm * 173mm * 38mm