History

An updated version of this award-winning set (originally published in 1998) offers in-depth historical, cultural, and current information on 107 Native American groups. Organized by region, each entry features a locator map, a fact box (origin of name, location, population, language family), a chronology, and information under the following subheads: introduction, history, religion, language, buildings, subsistence, clothing and adornment, healing practices, customs, oral literature, current tribal issues, and short biographies. This title brings together a vast array of information on these tribes that allows for a holistic profile of each group.

This new set provides students and researchers with a much-needed, comprehensive resource on the subject of colonialism and expansion. The work describes and analyzes the many aspects of the history of Europe's expansion overseas into the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Pacific, beginning in the 15th century and the building and collapse of empires (Spanish, Portuguese, British, French, Dutch, German, American). Race relations in decolonized regions as well as current examples of continuing dependence by much of the developing world on Western nations are covered. In addition, a number of the more than 400 articles in the set address the ideology and theories behind colonialism and imperialism, as well as the major and controversial issues at the core of the debate on colonialism and its consequences. Other features include a thematic outline for assistance in cross-curricular research, a glossary for quick reference and a handy subject index for easy navigation. The breadth and depth of coverage results in substantial geographic, historical, political, economic, social and cultural data.

The Indian Removal Act transformed the Native North American continent and precipitated the development of a national identity based on a narrative of vanishing American Indians. This volume is a probing look into a chapter in American history that, while difficult, cannot be ignored. Sweeping in its coverage of history, it includes deeply personal accounts of American Indian removal from which readers may discern the degree to which the new national identity of the United States was influenced by bigotry and dependence on the corporate economy. The book is organized into six sections that collectively provide the full scope of American Indian removal policies that began with the founding of the United States. The sections trace the evolution of federal government policies; the rhetoric of Indian removal in public debates; removal experiences; ethnic cleansing through overtly racist laws; responses to removals; and the question that reigned in the aftermath: Who owned the land? The chronological organization allows readers both to approach Indian removal through the framework of ongoing injustice in the colonial system that existed for the first 150 years of the United States, from the 1770s through the 1920s, and to draw connections from this legacy to the seizures of Indian lands and resources that continue today.