“Comprehensive and well-written books about contemporary Native issues are hard to find, and they tend to lose their contemporary relevancy very quickly in the bright light of rapid changes in Native affairs. Johansen's attempt to provide a solid book (actually, two books) in the face of such conditions is laudable. His essays range across a stunning variety of issues and details: economic revival, identity conflict, political and environmental justice, self-rule, revival of traditional food systems, federal fraud, and linguistic and cultural revitalization. The fact that the discussion does not stop at the arbitrary national borders of the US is a plus. It is also more than time that the discussion focuses on contemporary reality rather than histories of traditions. Johansen has written a guidebook to the contemporary revival process. By its very subject matter, the book, part of Nebraska's "Native America: Yesterday and Today" series, will demand updates as the revival process takes novel forms. This is a hopeful sign; all books about Native issues must adapt to the dynamics of the present and the future. Essential. All levels and libraries.”–
“There are precious few books written about this renewal of American Indian cultures. The author brings deep knowledge, cultural sensitivity, and commitment to this challenge. In addition, he has brought Indian voices to each page....Finally, there is a book that both acknowledges the complicated issues facing Indian cultures and provides vivid examples that provide strong evidence and hope for solutions and survival. It should be mandatory for school and academic libraries.”–
“This well-written, extensively researched two-volume set is designed for the college/university level reader. Students will learn about the issues facing American Indians and gain new perspectives about the history of the Americas' first inhabitants. This two-volume guide provides detailed information about the resurgence of Native American issues throughout North America. The first volume deals with the legal, cultural, and environmental dimensions of this resurgence. The second volume focuses on the revival of Native American languages, ethnic identities, and economies....Each book has its own introduction and comprehensive index.”–
“Johansen offers students, scholars, and interested general readers a collection of essays and stories exploring the contemporary Native American revival of Native American traditions. The first volume examines the revival of indigenous languages; efforts to recover from pervasive poverty and reassert economic independence; ethnic revival, and the problems related to determining identity strictly in a multiethnic world; and the controversy over "Indian" sports mascots and place-names. The second volume focuses on legal traditions, including banishment; the conviction of Leonard Peltier; cultural revival through educational organizations and community centers; the reclamation of traditional diets and age-old agricultural systems; struggles with environmental issues; and achieving sociocultural survival and criticism of the dominant culture through contemporary Native American political humor.”–
“Bruce Johansen's The Praeger Handbook on Contemporary Issues in Native America is an excellent continuation of the author's innovate work on the history and contemporary concerns of this land's indigenous peoples. Johansen's observations are, as always, accurate, timely and entertaining. This well written, extensively researched two-volume set should be in the hands of anyone who has an interest in aboriginal affairs.”–
“Johansen's book, The Praeger Handbook on Contemporary Issues in Native America is a treasure trove of important, up-to-date information, its scope impressive, its journalistic style of writing crisp and easy to read. The biographical tribute to the late Vine Deloria, Jr., is the best I've seen.”–
“Johansen has outdone himself. This Handbook, in two volumes, is a classic work of Contemporary Native American issues which will be used for decades by scholars and students of Native American issues on both sides of the international border. It will also become a work of history in its own right. Filled with respectful learning and incredible detail, Johansen wisely lets the Native American voices speak out on every page providing the reader with their views on the many issues with which they are confronted in the early 21st century.”–
Product Description
This two-volume set is one of few guides to Native American revival in our time. It includes detailed descriptions of efforts throughout North America regarding recovery of languages, trust funds, economic base, legal infrastructure, and agricultural systems. The set also includes personal profiles of individuals who have sparked renewal, from Sheila Watt-Cloutier, a leader among the Inuit whose people deal with toxic chemicals and global warming, to Ernest Benedict and Ray Fadden, who brought pride to Mohawk children long before the idea was popular. Also included are descriptions of struggles over Indian mascots, establishment of multicultural urban centers, and ravages of uranium mining among the Navajo. The set ends with a detailed development of contemporary themes in Native humor as a coping mechanism. Delving occasionally into historical context, this set includes valuable background information on present-day controversies that are often neglected by the news media. For example, the current struggles to recover Native American trust funds and languages both emerged from a cradle-to-grave control system developed by the U.S. and Canadian governments. These efforts are part of a much broader Native American effort to recover from pervasive poverty and reassert Native American economic independence. Is gambling an answer to poverty, the "new buffalo," as some Native Americans have called it? The largest Native American casino to date has been the Pequots' Foxwoods, near Ledyard, Connecticut. In other places, such as the New York Oneidas' lands in Upstate New York, gambling has provided an enriched upper class the means to hire police to force anti-gambling traditionalists from their homes. Among the Mohawks at Akwesasne, people have died over the issue. This two-volume set brings together all of these struggles with the attention to detail they have always deserved and rarely received. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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