By now the myth of the "discovery" and peopling of North America has passed into the
historical record, with the idea of an empty land being tamed by toil and westward expansion
giving way to a more accurate picture of steady trade, virtually nonstop wars and moments of
cooperation between the native Americans and the European immigrants. Freelancer Konstantin
shows readers just how many treaties, battles, settlements and resettlements, government acts,
executive orders and surprise attacks comprise this troubled history. Covering territory from
"Panama to the North Pole" and dates from the 16th century to the present, this exhaustive
look at the plight of North America's indigenous people is both instructive and downright
depressing. With its neutral tone and format, literally marking events over 365 days of the
calendar year, it should be an important resource for furthering the cause of corrective
history.
From Booklist (American Library Association):
This work contains more than 4,000 entries listing significant events in North American
Indian history for each day of the year. Events listed are only those that can be traced
to an exact date. When more than one date is recorded for an event, the author, a freelance
writer and member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, has "tried to show which date is
most acceptable to the widest number of sources." A fairly successful attempt has been
made to avoid bias. The tone taken throughout is straightforward and objective, reporting
on what happened on a given date in clear, unemotional prose.
The volume is laid out in columnar form in date order, beginning with January 1 and
progressing to December 31. Under each date, events are listed chronologically, starting
with the earliest recorded event (e.g., for January 1, dates run from 1756-1975, with a
final "Every" entry giving an annual event, a form that is consistent throughout). Entries
vary in length from three or four words to half a column, with most coming in at four or
five sentences. Frequent black-and-white photographs and reproductions run from a quarter
to half a column in size, and are placed adjacent to the passages they illustrate.
Several appendixes (including a list of tribal names and their meanings, alternate tribal
names, and North American Indian calendars listing month and moon names) are followed by
a three-page bibliography of print works and a lengthy, detailed, and accurate index. The
index actually serves as a cross-referencing tool, listing all entries for particular
tribes and events.
A useful quick-reference work, this is also an attractive browsing book. Though there is
some overlap with books like the Biographical Dictionary of American Indian History to
1900 (Facts On File, 2001) and the Chronology of American Indian History: The Trail of
the Wind (Facts On File, 2001), the format and purpose of this work are unique enough
to justify purchase for public, college, and high-school libraries.
Midwest Book Review:
This Day In North American Indian History: Important Dates In The History Of North
America's Native Peoples For Every Calendar Day by Phil Konstantin (freelance writer and
member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma) is a unique and original historical reference.
For each day of the calendar year, a momentous or significant occasion in Native American
history is listed which occurred on that same day. Spanning over 500 years of recorded
Native American culture, war, law, and societal change, This Day In North American Indian
History is enhanced with a handful of black-and-white photographs, an extensive index, a
bibliography, and three extended appendices (Tribal Names; Alternative Tribal Names; North
American Indian Calendars). A meticulously compiled and "reader friendly" reference, This
Day In North American Indian History is enthusiastically recommended as an informed and
informative addition to any personal, academic, and community library Native American
Studies collection.
From the publisher:
"For every calendar day, an in-depth look at the important events in the history of North
America’s native peoples.
From the dedication of the Maya ballcourt at Chichen Itza in A.D. 864 to modern political
activism and government legislation affecting native peoples, here is virtually every
significant event in North American Indian history. It also includes fascinating information
on hundreds of battles and skirmishes between Indians and whites, as well as countless
treaties made and broken. An extensive appendix includes information about Indian tribal
names and calendars. It’s all here—Indian chiefs, wars, massacres, treaties, reservations,
modern constitutions and much, much more.
This Day in North American Indian History is a one-of-a-kind, vastly entertaining and
informative book covering over 5000 years of North American Indian history, culture,
and lore. Wide-ranging, it covers over 4,000 important events involving the native peoples
of North America in a unique day-by-day format.
The thousands of entries in This Day in North American Indian History weave a compelling
and comprehensive mosaic of North American Indian history spanning more than five
millennia-every entry an exciting opening into the fascinating but little-known history
of American Indians.
With over 100 photographs and illustrations"
This book has 480 pages, weighs 2.2 pounds and is 8" by 9.5" in size.
Click on one of the underlined phrases below to go to that page.
