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A review by lrcartee
Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians But Were Afraid to Ask by Anton Treuer
2.0
I read this after I read the young adult version of the same. I wanted to see the differences I. The two volumes, whether the questions were the same, if the answers were more in depth and offered more explanation than the YA version.
What I found was that the differences were few. Both books read more like a reference book that may be easier to browse than to read page for page. I found it informational but there were aspects I didn’t like. Often, I found, that the author spoke blankety about the experiences of Native Americans. In the question about why reservations were important to the tribes, he responded by stating that the reservations were the tribes traditional native homelands. I felt this didn’t take into account the forced removal of so many tribes who ended up thousands of miles away from their traditional native homelands. I also found some of the questions offensive and perpetuating stereotypes he is trying to dispel. For example, a question about why, if the Indians are such caretakers of the land, is there an abundance of trash in their yards?
Another issue I had was his defense against some “pretendians” advocating for them to have federally recognized status. He cited the Lumbee Cherokee as an example and it has been proven time and again that the Lumbee are not a legitimate tribe. He also stated the Elizabeth Warren was a Cherokee. She is not. One cannot base native heritage on here say and family legend. She has never proven her claim to have Cherokee blood so should not be recognized as such.
So, my issues with this books are many. The biggest being that I felt in some areas it continued to perpetual misinformation while the author is described as an authority on Indian culture and history. This is a dangerous misappropriation of his scholarship on his tribal experience. He shouldn’t speak with authority for the experience and culture of all tribes.
What I found was that the differences were few. Both books read more like a reference book that may be easier to browse than to read page for page. I found it informational but there were aspects I didn’t like. Often, I found, that the author spoke blankety about the experiences of Native Americans. In the question about why reservations were important to the tribes, he responded by stating that the reservations were the tribes traditional native homelands. I felt this didn’t take into account the forced removal of so many tribes who ended up thousands of miles away from their traditional native homelands. I also found some of the questions offensive and perpetuating stereotypes he is trying to dispel. For example, a question about why, if the Indians are such caretakers of the land, is there an abundance of trash in their yards?
Another issue I had was his defense against some “pretendians” advocating for them to have federally recognized status. He cited the Lumbee Cherokee as an example and it has been proven time and again that the Lumbee are not a legitimate tribe. He also stated the Elizabeth Warren was a Cherokee. She is not. One cannot base native heritage on here say and family legend. She has never proven her claim to have Cherokee blood so should not be recognized as such.
So, my issues with this books are many. The biggest being that I felt in some areas it continued to perpetual misinformation while the author is described as an authority on Indian culture and history. This is a dangerous misappropriation of his scholarship on his tribal experience. He shouldn’t speak with authority for the experience and culture of all tribes.