North American Indigenous Warfare and Ritual Violence

by Richard J. Chacon (Editor), Rubén G. Mendoza (Editor)

Despite evidence of warfare and violent conflict in pre-Columbian North America, scholars argue that the scale and scope of Native American violence is exagerated. They contend that scholarly misrepresentation has denigrated indigenous peoples when in fact they lived together in peace and harmony. In rebutting that contention, this groundbreaking book presents clear evidence—from multiple academic disciplines—that indigenous populations engaged in warfare and ritual violence long before European contact. In ten well-documented and thoroughly researched chapters, fourteen leading scholars dispassionately describe sources and consequences of Amerindian warfare and violence, including ritual violence. Originally presented at an American Anthropological Association symposium, their findings construct a convincing case that bloodshed and killing have been woven into the fabric of indigenous life in North America for many centuries.

The editors argue that a failure to acknowledge the roles of warfare and violence in the lives of indigenous North Americans is itself a vestige of colonial repression—depriving native warriors of their history of armed resistance. These essays document specific acts of Native American violence across the North American continent. Including contributions from anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, and ethnographers, they argue not only that violence existed but also that it was an important and frequently celebrated component of Amerindian life.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction
Richard J. Chacon and Rubén G. Mendoza

1.  Traditional Native Warfare in Western Alaska
Ernest S. Burch Jr.

2.  Barbarism and Ardour of War from the Tenderest Years”: Cree-Inuit Warfare in the Hudson Bay Region
Charles A. Bishop and Victor P. Lytwyn

3.  Aboriginal Warfare on the Northwest Did the Potlatch Replace Warfare?
Joan A. Lovisek

4.  Ethnohistoric Descriptions of Chumash Warfare
John R. Johnson

5.  Documenting Conflict in the Prehistoric Pueblo Southwest
Polly Schaafsma

6.  Cahokia and the Evidence for Late Pre-Columbian War in the North American Midcontinent
Thomas E. Emerson

7.  Iroquois-Huron Warfare
Dean R. Snow

8.  Desecrating the Sacred Ancestor Chiefly Conflict and Violence in the American Southeast
David H. Dye and Adam King

9.  Warfare, Population, and Food Production in Prehistoric Eastern North America
George R. Milner

10.  The Osteological Evidence for Indigenous Warfare in North America
Patricia M. Lambert

11.  Ethical Considerations and Conclusions Regarding Indigenous Warfare and Violence in North America
Richard J. Chacon and Rubén G. Mendoza

References
About the Contributors
Index

Genres: History, Native American

294 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2007

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A balanced account of violence in pre-Columbian America. The revisionist, Rousseauian fantasy of the noble savage is laid to rest by this volume. While cultures are different and some are better than others, violence brought on by envy, pride, anger, jealousy, etc. are shared by all humans. Some civilizations may have the wherewithal and weaponry to pile up more bodies, but all human beings have murder in their hearts. To believe that native Americans were different, would require one to believe that they were not human, which would be an insult to them. The sooner we admit that all human hearts are dark, the sooner we can stop trying to save ourselves by making others appear to be more evil than us. But that would take humility while humans are more comfortable with pride...probably the biggest generator of violence. As humans, we're all in the same sinful boat. We all need a savior from outside of us. Creating a fantasy about the "good old days before Columbus" just makes it that much harder to admit that need.

This is an important and courageous book.

[Brett C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a well-written and well-researched compendium of North American indigenous warfare and ritual violence. Each chapter presented a regional- and aboriginal-specific group by different scholarly experts. These included:

1. Native western Alaskan peoples
2. Cree-Inuit in the Hudson Bay region
3. Pacific Northwest (potlatch groups)
4. Chumash peoples of California
5. Pueblo peoples of the Southwest
6. Cahokia Midcontinent
7. Mississippian civilization
8. Iroquois-Huron peoples
9. Chiefdoms and chieftains of the Southeastern

Though these were different case studies it was presented clearly and concisely. The narrative informed the reader with definitions of war (pg 4), "socially organized armed combat between members of different territorial units (communities or aggregates of communities)". Chapter 1 gave examples of intersocietal violence as seen in three courses of action:

• terrorist foray: deliberately and secretly entering a territory stealing food, damaging, & harassing
• surprise attack: ambush & nighttime raid
• open battle: two societies, or of two sets of allied groups, meeting in decisive confrontation.

Lastly there were two very thorough analyzes presented. The first was about warfare, population, and food production in prehistoric North America. North American indigenous peoples transformed from hunter-gathers to basic, low-scale agricultural groups. This included native cultigens and introduced cultigens (maize and beans). Until late in the first millennium AD, virtually all of the cultivated plants native weedy species that yielded great numbers of nutritious starchy and oily seeds. The slow road to agriculture shifted from what was collected to what was tended & cultivated. (pgs 182-201)

The second was osteological & forensics studies to exam skeletal injuries related to intergroup violence: cranial/nasal/tooth fractures, broken ribs, projectile wounds (spears, arrows, darts) embedded in bones, and outer hand & forearm fractures from parrying blows to the face and upper body. Ritual violence was categorized as trophy-taking with decapitation, corpse mutilation, cut marks on skulls from scalping, disarticulated body parts, defleshed, and cannibalism in some cases. (pgs 202-221)

From prehistoric to pre-Columbian times, weapons and lethality increased from the prehistoric axe/club to bow-and-arrow technology (600-900 AD). The health effects of violence and warfare progressed on various societies as well. This was seen that later peoples suffered from iron-deficiency anemia, various infectious diseases, and they were a highly stressed population when their overall health was compared to that of prehistoric peoples.

Perhaps the major impact of long-term, chronic violence is its destabilization of a society's subsistence strategies, political and social patterns, and general lifeways. This pattern of low-scale, continuous, and persistent violence can destroy or entirely transform a society long before it kills large numbers of the society's members. pg 139

Each chapter study examined the uniqueness to each tribal or chiefdom group. This included the specific views of warfare, religious and spiritual pillars, interactions of surrounding groups, and other societal items (hierarchical, political, internal economic, etc.).

All authors agreed that indigenous violence progressed as time went on due to growth of individual societies. Violence and warfare existed in prehistoric times and exponentially grew with roughly 500 AD to 1100 AD being the second growth period and 1100 AD to the arrival of the Europeans being the final period.

There is a correlation between a higher level of intergroup violence and the establishment of more complex sociopolitical systems. Higher levels of violence sustainable when societies are in a position to institutionalize such violence. pg 143

This was very informative and academically supported narrative. In my opinion it was a really cool book overall. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in North American indigenous peoples and their violent interactions. Thanks!