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Killing The White Man's Indian; Reinventing Native Americans at the End of the Twentieth Century
In the face of a new lightly romanticized view of Native Americans, Killing the White Man's Indian bravely confronts the current myths and often contradictory realities of tribal life today. Following two centuries of broken treaties and virtual government extermination of the "savage redmen," Americans today have recast Native Americans into another, equally stereotyped role, that of eternal victims, politically powerless and weakened by poverty and alcoholism, yet whose spiritual ties with the natural world form our last, best hope of salvaging our natural environment and ennobling our souls.
The truth, however, is neither as grim , nor as blindly idealistic, as many would expect. The fact is that a virtual revolution is underway in Indian Country, an upheaval of epic proportions. For the first time in generations, Indians are shaping their own destinies, largely beyond the control of whites, reinventing Indian education and justice, exploiting the principle of tribal sovereignty in ways that empower tribal governments far beyond most American's imaginations. While new found power has enriched tribal life and prospects, and has made Native Americans fuller participants in the American dream, it has brought tribal governments into direct conflict with local economics and the federal government.
Based on three years of research on the Native American reservations, and written without a hidden conservative bias or politically correct agenda, Killing the White Man's Indian takes on Native American politics and policies today in all their contradictory--and controversial-guises."
From the Trade Paperback edition.
The truth, however, is neither as grim , nor as blindly idealistic, as many would expect. The fact is that a virtual revolution is underway in Indian Country, an upheaval of epic proportions. For the first time in generations, Indians are shaping their own destinies, largely beyond the control of whites, reinventing Indian education and justice, exploiting the principle of tribal sovereignty in ways that empower tribal governments far beyond most American's imaginations. While new found power has enriched tribal life and prospects, and has made Native Americans fuller participants in the American dream, it has brought tribal governments into direct conflict with local economics and the federal government.
Based on three years of research on the Native American reservations, and written without a hidden conservative bias or politically correct agenda, Killing the White Man's Indian takes on Native American politics and policies today in all their contradictory--and controversial-guises."
From the Trade Paperback edition.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
About the author
Fergus M. Bordewich
15 books126 followersFERGUS M. BORDEWICH is the author of eight non-fiction books: "Congress at War: How Republican Reformers Fought the Civil War, Defied Lincoln, Ended Slavery, and Remade America"; "The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government" (awarded the Hardeman Prize in American History, in 2019); "America's Great Debate: Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas and the Compromise that Preserved the Union" (winner of the Los Angeles Times award for best history book, in 2013); "Washington: The Making of the American Capital" (named by the Washington Post as one f the best books of 2008); "Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America (named by the American Booksellers' Association as one of the ten best books of 2005)"; "My Mother’s Ghost," a memoir; "Killing the White Man’s Indian: Reinventing Native Americans at the End of the Twentieth Century"; and "Cathay: A Journey in Search of Old China." He has also published an illustrated children’s book, "Peach Blossom Spring" and has written the script for a PBS documentary about Thomas Jefferson, "Mr. Jefferson’s University." He also edited an photo-illustrated book of eyewitness accounts of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, "Children of the Dragon." He regularly reviews books for the Wall Street Journal. His articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, TIME Magazine, American Heritage, Smithsonian Magazine, the Civil War Monitor, and many other publications. He lives in San Francisco with his wife, Jean Parvin Bordewich.
BORDEWICH WAS BORN in New York City in 1947, and grew up in Yonkers, New York. While growing up, he often traveled to Indian reservations around the United States with his mother, LaVerne Madigan Bordewich, the executive director of the Association on American Indian Affairs, then the only independent advocacy organization for Native Americans. This early experience helped to shape his lifelong preoccupation with American history, the settlement of the continent, and issues of race, poverty, and political power. He holds degrees from the City College of New York and Columbia University. In the late 1960s, he did voter registration for the NAACP in the still-segregated South; he also worked as a roustabout in Alaska’s Arctic oil fields, a taxi driver in New York City, and a deckhand on a Norwegian freighter.
He has been an independent writer and historian since the early 1970s. As a journalist, he traveled extensively in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, writing on politics, economic issues, culture, and history, on subjects including Islamic fundamentalism, the plight of the Kurds in northern Iraq, civil war in Burma, religious repression in China, Kenya’s population crisis, German Reunification, the peace settlement in Ireland, and other issues. He also served for brief periods as an editor and writer for the Tehran Journal in Iran, in 1972-1973, a press officer for the United Nations, and an advisor to the New China News Agency in Beijing, in 1982-1983, when that agency was embarking on its effort to move from a propaganda model toward a western-style journalistic one.
BORDEWICH WAS BORN in New York City in 1947, and grew up in Yonkers, New York. While growing up, he often traveled to Indian reservations around the United States with his mother, LaVerne Madigan Bordewich, the executive director of the Association on American Indian Affairs, then the only independent advocacy organization for Native Americans. This early experience helped to shape his lifelong preoccupation with American history, the settlement of the continent, and issues of race, poverty, and political power. He holds degrees from the City College of New York and Columbia University. In the late 1960s, he did voter registration for the NAACP in the still-segregated South; he also worked as a roustabout in Alaska’s Arctic oil fields, a taxi driver in New York City, and a deckhand on a Norwegian freighter.
He has been an independent writer and historian since the early 1970s. As a journalist, he traveled extensively in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, writing on politics, economic issues, culture, and history, on subjects including Islamic fundamentalism, the plight of the Kurds in northern Iraq, civil war in Burma, religious repression in China, Kenya’s population crisis, German Reunification, the peace settlement in Ireland, and other issues. He also served for brief periods as an editor and writer for the Tehran Journal in Iran, in 1972-1973, a press officer for the United Nations, and an advisor to the New China News Agency in Beijing, in 1982-1983, when that agency was embarking on its effort to move from a propaganda model toward a western-style journalistic one.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 16, 2017
This was a very informative book and one that I will spend a lot of time thinking about. The goal of the book wasn't to place the blame on the hardships that Native Americans have today on anyone - the answer to that is obvious. It's white people, the Europeans who came here in the fifteenth century.
It goes beyond this and raises some very interesting questions. White Americans have always seen Indians through various lenses - savage, child of nature, drunk or something else. However, those stereotypes - the myths - are simply that. The book gives numerous examples of tribes that were anything but gentle towards nature and other examples of tribes who were anything but savage in any way. It is simply the creation of these personas that people today still see Native Americans through - and that's an issue.
Today, reservations, for the most part, have sovereignty (for better and for worse - the book raises several good points as to how sovereignty can also be used for bad things, such as the denial of basic civil rights) and the ability to move forward and create a better future for themselves and the book delves into a lot of detail about how some tribes of done this, some have not at all and others are beginning to. However, if the myths and misconceptions are still in place, can Americans and Indians ever come together as people and not...something else?
The book also goes through some interesting aspects of how Native treatment has been seen in America. Until the early 20th century, little thought was given. Once this started to turn around (especially in the 1930's and onward), this is where people began to create these weird mythologies and almost godlike reverence for the "pristine child of nature" Indian that, in fact, didn't typically exist. It was an interesting section.
Anyway, I seriously should have taken notes because there was a lot more I found interesting but it is what it is. Good stuff. I can't wait to use this in my classes.
It goes beyond this and raises some very interesting questions. White Americans have always seen Indians through various lenses - savage, child of nature, drunk or something else. However, those stereotypes - the myths - are simply that. The book gives numerous examples of tribes that were anything but gentle towards nature and other examples of tribes who were anything but savage in any way. It is simply the creation of these personas that people today still see Native Americans through - and that's an issue.
Today, reservations, for the most part, have sovereignty (for better and for worse - the book raises several good points as to how sovereignty can also be used for bad things, such as the denial of basic civil rights) and the ability to move forward and create a better future for themselves and the book delves into a lot of detail about how some tribes of done this, some have not at all and others are beginning to. However, if the myths and misconceptions are still in place, can Americans and Indians ever come together as people and not...something else?
The book also goes through some interesting aspects of how Native treatment has been seen in America. Until the early 20th century, little thought was given. Once this started to turn around (especially in the 1930's and onward), this is where people began to create these weird mythologies and almost godlike reverence for the "pristine child of nature" Indian that, in fact, didn't typically exist. It was an interesting section.
Anyway, I seriously should have taken notes because there was a lot more I found interesting but it is what it is. Good stuff. I can't wait to use this in my classes.
November 9, 2009
A fair look at the unraveling story of what it means to be a Native American Indian. The author is very sympathetic to the problems of the indian culture and tribal life but is not blinded by the myths and contradictions that make up much of the modern retelling of the history of the American indian. Instead of telling the same old monotonous, often historically unbalanced, story of "White man bad, Red man good", Bordewich is intellectually more honest then most in his assessment of the problems that face the modern Indian. The first half of the book is highly empathetic while the second half is more realistic in it's assessment about the future survival of the enigmatic Indian.
March 27, 2008
One of the finest books written on United States Indian relations. The author is objective, coming down just as hard on the Native Americans as he does on the US government. I highly recommend this for anyone wanting background and understanding on the subject.
January 26, 2009
This non fiction book is an intelligent discussion and appraisal of where native Americans are in US society today and what their future holds. It is challenging and critical but even handed. An excellent read for those wanting to get beyond the myths of who the native Americans are.
September 7, 2007
read this for my native american history class. it's an eye opener for those of us without much knowledge of the modern native american.
February 4, 2009
Nothing better on contemporary Indians.
Nothing better on contemporary white ranchers who live near contemporary Indians.
Nothing better on contemporary white ranchers who live near contemporary Indians.
September 22, 2020
Reporter-authored in 1996, so the many contemporary (1990-1995) issues/examples are dated in 2020. American Indian tribes have diverse and unique histories, cultures, etc, which are suppressed by cartoon stereotypes of "the Indian".
January 3, 2026
I like how this textbook really gives insights on Indian reservation life and how identity can look for North American Indians. It really helped me with new knowledge I never learned in K-12 schooling.
April 28, 2025
a very good follow up read to Berkhofer's "The White Man's Indian"!
June 23, 2026
Though provoking analysis and easy to read.
May 20, 2024
On a quarter-star rating, probably 4.25, maybe 4.5, tho probably more like 4.25. It is dated in spots, to some degree. But, bumped it up. (A second edition, should Bordewich consider it, with some of the specific areas where this is dated, would be welcomed.)
Two big issues, legally, that I had not heard of?
The first, in 1968, was the Indian Civil Rights Act, basically an LBJ attempt to extend the Civil Rights movement in general to American Indians.
The second, a Supreme Court ruling, Santa Clara Pueblo vs Martinez, which essentially “immunized” tribal governments in many ways and undercut the ICRA.
This was one of three cases in 1978. Oliphant vs Suquamish, long before the likes of Wards Cove, said tribal law had no jurisdiction over non-Indians. Bordewich doesn’t mention it by name along with Santa Clara. The Violence Against Women Act reauthorization addressed this one issue on tribal lands. But, this, while he discusses the idea of tribal jurisdiction in general, not being mentioned by name, gets a ding.
NAGRPA itself, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, is not mentioned a lot by name, but the larger issue of repatriation (and theft, and illicit or backdoor buying of bones, sacred objects and other items needing repatriation) gets plenty, as does the Nebraska state law of 1989 that became a model for NAGPRA. Kennewick Man, which hit the news in 1996, is not mentioned. On non-human remains, such as images or incarnations of divinities? The Zuni things ring true, but this is also an example of the book’s being dated. Shalako, not mentioned in the book, used to be open to non-Zunis, including whites. I attended one as a kid. It’s been “closed” for years. The whole issue of reservation restrictions in the past 30 years would be a chapter by itself.
The chapter on American Indian alcoholism is well written and nuanced as to what causes the high rates. Genetic tendencies aren’t rejected, but the focus is on the social and cultural causes, as well as would-be solutions often being based on Native culture and tradition. The descriptions of Gallup all ring true from my time there. The problem has diminished but not gone away.
Ditto for the chapter on tribal government corruption. I’m totally familiar with the Peter McDonald story. Didn’t realize that Mark Trahant broke most of that.
An issue that runs through several chapters, as an undercurrent, is individual Indian civil rights being subject to the whims of tribal governments. This gets resumed in the epilogue, as does the whole issue of "sovereignty," in light of the U.S. Constitution and Chief Justice John Marshall's rulings.
I will have something more extensive on my blog due to personal history as noted above.
For people in the US, let alone abroad, who have little real understanding of American Indian issues, this sympathetic yet realistic book is worth a read.
Two big issues, legally, that I had not heard of?
The first, in 1968, was the Indian Civil Rights Act, basically an LBJ attempt to extend the Civil Rights movement in general to American Indians.
The second, a Supreme Court ruling, Santa Clara Pueblo vs Martinez, which essentially “immunized” tribal governments in many ways and undercut the ICRA.
This was one of three cases in 1978. Oliphant vs Suquamish, long before the likes of Wards Cove, said tribal law had no jurisdiction over non-Indians. Bordewich doesn’t mention it by name along with Santa Clara. The Violence Against Women Act reauthorization addressed this one issue on tribal lands. But, this, while he discusses the idea of tribal jurisdiction in general, not being mentioned by name, gets a ding.
NAGRPA itself, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, is not mentioned a lot by name, but the larger issue of repatriation (and theft, and illicit or backdoor buying of bones, sacred objects and other items needing repatriation) gets plenty, as does the Nebraska state law of 1989 that became a model for NAGPRA. Kennewick Man, which hit the news in 1996, is not mentioned. On non-human remains, such as images or incarnations of divinities? The Zuni things ring true, but this is also an example of the book’s being dated. Shalako, not mentioned in the book, used to be open to non-Zunis, including whites. I attended one as a kid. It’s been “closed” for years. The whole issue of reservation restrictions in the past 30 years would be a chapter by itself.
The chapter on American Indian alcoholism is well written and nuanced as to what causes the high rates. Genetic tendencies aren’t rejected, but the focus is on the social and cultural causes, as well as would-be solutions often being based on Native culture and tradition. The descriptions of Gallup all ring true from my time there. The problem has diminished but not gone away.
Ditto for the chapter on tribal government corruption. I’m totally familiar with the Peter McDonald story. Didn’t realize that Mark Trahant broke most of that.
An issue that runs through several chapters, as an undercurrent, is individual Indian civil rights being subject to the whims of tribal governments. This gets resumed in the epilogue, as does the whole issue of "sovereignty," in light of the U.S. Constitution and Chief Justice John Marshall's rulings.
I will have something more extensive on my blog due to personal history as noted above.
For people in the US, let alone abroad, who have little real understanding of American Indian issues, this sympathetic yet realistic book is worth a read.
February 11, 2013
As a nonfiction writer myself, I return to this book to study the quality of the writing, which is vivid, insightful, and brilliant -- creative nonfiction at its best. The author also wields irony with a gentle hand. He shares his unique personal perspective as he takes us along on his explorations and asks tough questions, often leaving the reader to make up his/her own mind.
As far as content, his is an eye-opening perspective that I appreciate -- that our common culture has romanticized native american spirituality without fully appreciating the native american. We have simplified "the noble savage" without understanding the individuality and variety of native american cultures and peoples. This book provides vivid snapshots to fill in a few gaps.
I suspect not everyone will rate this book highly based on whether they agree with his premise or not, but this is an extremely well-written book.
As far as content, his is an eye-opening perspective that I appreciate -- that our common culture has romanticized native american spirituality without fully appreciating the native american. We have simplified "the noble savage" without understanding the individuality and variety of native american cultures and peoples. This book provides vivid snapshots to fill in a few gaps.
I suspect not everyone will rate this book highly based on whether they agree with his premise or not, but this is an extremely well-written book.
March 25, 2012
What ages would I recommend it too? – Fourteen and up.
Length? – Several days read.
Characters? – Memorable, several characters.
Setting? – Historical and Modern United States.
Written approximately? – 1996.
Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? – Yes. What will happen next? Will other minority's follow their lead?.
Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? It would be nice to have a website with links to updated information.
Short storyline: This book focuses on how Native Americans view themselves, others, and how the European Americans view them. It covers several aspects of their lives, and several different accepted, and unhistorically documented tribes.
Notes for the reader: This is an example of how history can be rewritten, as well as how we rewrite it every day.
January 7, 2009
It's not all feathers and beads in this book. Through this book, Bordewich is determined to destroy the main stream view of American Indians; he does this through a number of specific cases like, for instance, the Lumbee's struggle to gain federal recognition in a time when a certain "standard" for an American Indian predominates American culture. A must read for anyone interested in what defines a "true Indian."
November 6, 2012
What an amazing eye opening book! There was so much I didn't understand and that broke my heart reading. I couldn't believe the way some native americans are treated just because they are native! I really feel this book should be on everyone's bookshelf.
November 25, 2016
Must read for anyone interested in the complexities that indigenous cultures living in the land of their conquerors face. It is complicated on both sides, and this book explains many aspects of the history that is not taught in our common history courses.
March 10, 2008
A book I am reading for a college course. Some parts are very insighful. Overall a bit of a tough read for me...
April 18, 2008
wow. one of the best books I've read in a long time.
June 8, 2012
Excellent perspective into Indian Reservations!
July 19, 2016
Thoroughly researched. A good entry point into contemporary Native American policy and concerns from a balanced perspective.
October 9, 2011
Very VERY interesting book about American Indian issues....highly recommend!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews