A Companion to American Indian History captures the thematic breadth of Native American history over the last forty years. Twenty-five original essays by leading scholars in the field, both American Indian and non-American Indian, bring an exciting modern perspective to Native American histories that were at one time related exclusively by Euro-American settlers. Contains 25 original essays by leading experts in Native American history. Covers the breadth of American Indian history, including contacts with settlers, religion, family, economy, law, education, gender issues, and culture. Surveys and evaluates the best scholarship on every important era and topic. Summarizes current debates and anticipates future concerns.

A Companion to American Indian History captures the thematic breadth of Native American history over the last forty years. Twenty-five original essays by leading scholars in the field, both American Indian and non-American Indian, bring an exciting modern perspective to Native American histories that were at one time related exclusively by Euro-American settlers.* Contains 25 original essays by leading experts in Native American history.* Covers the breadth of American Indian history, including contacts with settlers, religion, family, economy, law, education, gender issues, and culture.* Surveys and evaluates the best scholarship on every important era and topic.* Summarizes current debates and anticipates future concerns.

List of Contributors viiIntroduction 11 Historiography 6Philip J. DeloriaPart One: Contacts 252 First Contacts 27John E. Kicza3 Wag the Imperial Dog: Indians and Overseas Empires in North America, 1650-1776 46Gregory Evans Dowd4 Health, Disease, and Demography 68Russell ThorntonPart Two: Native Practice and Belief 855 Native American Systems of Knowledge 87Clara Sue Kidwell6 Native American Spirituality: History, Theory, and Reformulation 103Lee Irwin7 Indians and Christianity 121Willard Hughes Rollings8 Kinship, Family Kindreds, and Community 139Jay Miller9 American Indian Warfare: The Cycles of Conflict and the Militarization of Native North America 154Tom HolmPart Three: Language, Identity, and Expression 17310 Languages: Linguistic Change and the Study of Indian Languages from Colonial Times to the Present 175Regna Darnell11 Performative Traditions in American Indian History 193L. G. Moses12 Indigenous Art: Creating Value and Sharing Beauty 209Nancy Parezo13 Native American Literatures 234P. Jane Hafen14 Wanted: More Histories of Indian Identity 248Alexandra HarmonPart Four: Exchange and Social Relations 26715 Labor and Exchange in American Indian History 269Patricia Albers16 The Nature of Conquest: Indians, Americans, and Environmental History 287Louis S. Warren17 Gender in Native America 307Betty Bell18 Métis, Mestizo, and Mixed-Blood 321Jennifer Brown and Theresa Schenck19 Transforming Outsiders: Captivity, Adoption, and Slavery Reconsidered 339Pauline Turner Strong20 Translation and Cultural Brokerage 357Eric HinderakerPart Five: Governmental Relations 37721 Federal and State Policies and American Indians 379Donald Fixico22 Native Americans and the United States, Canada, and Mexico 397R. David Edmunds23 American Indian Education: by Indians versus for Indians 422K. Tsianina Lomawaima24 Indian Law, Sovereignty, and State Law: Native People and the Law 441Sidney L. Harring25 Sovereignty 460Taiaiake AlfredBibliography 475Index 495