American Indians

Have you ever heard this? "Indians have a tendency toward alcoholism". Or "Indians get a free ride from the government". Or "If Indians had united, they could have prevented the European invasion". Many such thoughtless notions concerning American Indians linger within popular and even academic milieus, despite the publication of numerous scholarly works clarifying American Indians' history. This may be due to the fact that such works rarely address common, often unspoken, public misconceptions whose accuracy is simply presumed. Such mistakes prolong intercultural misunderstanding, and thereby give rise to further grief and conflict. Widely endorsed by American Indian scholars, American Indians: Stereotypes & Realities provides an engaging and often amusing, yet thoroughly scholarly Indian perspective on common misconceptions concerning American Indians which afflict public and even academic circles to this very day. Written in a highly accessible stereotype/reality format, it examines 24 of the most common stereotypes, and includes a brief bibliography of recommended reading pertinent to each for those interested in further study. No teacher dealing with discrimination issues "on the ground" should be without this book. It should be used in classrooms across America, and sold wherever American Indian memorabilia are sold. This is an American Indian book for the nonIndian population, because it needs to know.

Devon A. Mihesuah is Associate Professor of American Indian history at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff. She has published numerous books and articles about the education of American Indians, Indian women, and the desecration of Indian burial sites. A member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Prof. Mihesuah is the recipient of grants from The Ford Foundation, The Smithsonian Institution, and The American Council of Learned Societies. She is Associate editor of the American Indian Quarterly.