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Half-Sun on the Columbia: A Biography of Chief Moses (Volume 80)
Chief Moses (Sulktalthscosum or Half-Sun) was chief of the Columbias, a Salish-speaking people of the mid–Columbia River area in what is now the state of Washington. This award-winning biography by Robert H. Ruby and John A. Brown situates Moses in the opening of the Northwest and subsequent Indian-white relations, between 1850 and 1898. Early in life Moses had won a name for himself battling whites, but with the maturity and responsibilities of chieftainship, he became a diplomat and held his united tribe at peace in spite of growing white encroachment. He resisted the call to arms of his friend Chief Joseph of the Nez Percés, whose heroic campaign ended in defeat and exile to Indian Territory. Yet their friendship persisted, and after Joseph's return to the Northwest, the two lived out their lives on the reservation, sharing their frustrations and uniting their voices in complaint.
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 1966
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 22, 2019
This is a detailed biography of Chief Moses gathered largely from newspapers from the time period and some interviews. The area in Washngton state was some of the last of the land that the USA took from the Indigenous Nations, so it is more recent than other similar histories. The writing is sturdy if not especially lively. The authors do seem to be doing their best to stay objective. The Indigenous lose their land piece by piece. This time though the US cavalry often were trying to prevent illegal excursions of white miners and settlers into the native lands. Chief Moses often asked for and at times received help from the cavalry. He was friends with Chief Joseph, and both had fought in wars to keep their land, though much of this biography concerns itself with after the wars. Moses, central to the history of the time period, of course had many acqaintances, Indian and white. One of the most interesting was Skolaskin, a San Poil chief, prophet, and kind of mystic who resisted the white incursion. He predicted a large earthquake and devastating winter that devastated the area, due to, as he claimed, the white invasion. Skolaskin was imprisoned in Alcatraz with no charge. Moses, who did not agree with the prophet's methods, had traveled to Washington DC by train and was convinced that ultimately the whites could not be overcome, so best to make the best of a bad situation. Though this is a biography, the authors also include other events from the area and time period. A sheriff of the county had campaigned for office with the motto, "Get Puckmiakin Dead or Alive". So when Puckmiakin saw the sheriff during a Fourth of July celebration, the native jumped on a race horse belonging to Nespelem George. He rode through a crowd of miners and Indians, where in the chaos his horse was killed, he was shot in the arm, and captured. In protest his wife danced "stripped to the waist" on a nearby hillside. The applauding miners released Puckmiakin and the discouraged sheriff turned in his badge. There are not many of these kind of perhaps "tall tales". So often the reading may seem a little dry. However, for research the book has a thorough index of people and places as well as photograph portraits and maps. I read the hard cover first printing of the book (1965, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman).
November 8, 2021
Written in a more narrative style of prose the authors of Half Sun provided a comprehensive description of the life of the leader of this relatively small nation of Indigenous people living in mid to late 19th century in the Columbia River area of what became eastern Washington state. It was based on transcripts of interviews with descendants in late 19th/early 20th century as well as in person interviews which the authors conducted in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s before the book was published in 1965. Other primary sources of information included the diaries, documents, and correspondence of missionaries and army personnel involved with Chief Moses. Additionally, newspaper accounts of events were sometimes quoted.
Other aspects of Half Sun which made it informative were the textured descriptions of such elements of their lifestyles as their food, their clothing, and their ceremonies and rituals. The relationships between the leaders of other tribes and the Chief as well as those he had with the Army, Indian Agents, and missionaries were also well presented. A few maps and a number of photos of Chief Moses, other Native Americans, and some of the army and missionary personnel involved with him over the years enhanced my experience in reading this book.
There is a 13 page bibliography and Ruby and Brown documented their sources with footnotes much of the time. However, there were times when they attributed thoughts and feelings to Moses which seemed logical but without any real documentation. And a few times conversations were quoted but no documentation was provided.
A retired professor of Native American Studies who is a friend of mine opined that the book exhibited its age in some respects. More specifically, it failed to describe some aspects of Native American culture which were not thoroughly studied at that time. For example, Chief Moses as the sole representative of his tribe in its dealings with the government and missionaries was the result of EuroAmerican expectations. Ie, NA nations generally had a number of leaders each of whom was responsible for various aspects of tribal life. But the government and the missionaries only wanted to deal with one leader so as to make things easier for them.
Additionally, in the last one third of the book or so Ruby and Brown on occasion described the Chief’s propensity to drink alcohol. As was the case with most observers of the mid 20th century they failed to note just how problematic his drinking probably had become.
My other criticism of Half Sun is that it is a victim of its own success, so to speak. More specifically sometimes the descriptions are so lengthy as to become a bit tedious and/or redundant. The final few chapters are more of a somewhat rote accounting of day to day events with no analysis of what these were implied about either Chief Moses or the state of affairs between Native Americans and so called civilized society in the late 19th century. IMHO, the last 75 pages or so could have been consolidated to make the book more effective.
Overall, however, I would recommend it for readers who want a textured and in depth description of the difficulties Native Americans had to cope with as their lands were stolen, their lives were lost to violence and illnesses like small pox, and their culture was profoundly impacted.
Other aspects of Half Sun which made it informative were the textured descriptions of such elements of their lifestyles as their food, their clothing, and their ceremonies and rituals. The relationships between the leaders of other tribes and the Chief as well as those he had with the Army, Indian Agents, and missionaries were also well presented. A few maps and a number of photos of Chief Moses, other Native Americans, and some of the army and missionary personnel involved with him over the years enhanced my experience in reading this book.
There is a 13 page bibliography and Ruby and Brown documented their sources with footnotes much of the time. However, there were times when they attributed thoughts and feelings to Moses which seemed logical but without any real documentation. And a few times conversations were quoted but no documentation was provided.
A retired professor of Native American Studies who is a friend of mine opined that the book exhibited its age in some respects. More specifically, it failed to describe some aspects of Native American culture which were not thoroughly studied at that time. For example, Chief Moses as the sole representative of his tribe in its dealings with the government and missionaries was the result of EuroAmerican expectations. Ie, NA nations generally had a number of leaders each of whom was responsible for various aspects of tribal life. But the government and the missionaries only wanted to deal with one leader so as to make things easier for them.
Additionally, in the last one third of the book or so Ruby and Brown on occasion described the Chief’s propensity to drink alcohol. As was the case with most observers of the mid 20th century they failed to note just how problematic his drinking probably had become.
My other criticism of Half Sun is that it is a victim of its own success, so to speak. More specifically sometimes the descriptions are so lengthy as to become a bit tedious and/or redundant. The final few chapters are more of a somewhat rote accounting of day to day events with no analysis of what these were implied about either Chief Moses or the state of affairs between Native Americans and so called civilized society in the late 19th century. IMHO, the last 75 pages or so could have been consolidated to make the book more effective.
Overall, however, I would recommend it for readers who want a textured and in depth description of the difficulties Native Americans had to cope with as their lands were stolen, their lives were lost to violence and illnesses like small pox, and their culture was profoundly impacted.
February 18, 2022
Robert Ruby and John Brown published this biography of Chief Moses in 1965, some 66 years after the Chief's death. Using government records, newspapers, and personal accounts, the authors reconstructed the life of a man for whom several Washington State landmarks are named and a few legends have been told. It was a life of daily tedium, ceremonial joy, strategic planning, distress, and accomplishment. This biography also chronicles the history of the Columbia people and neighboring tribes the inland plateau of eastern Washington and north-central Idaho.
The authors strove to balance the histories of Native American-Government relations, pioneer settlement, and forgotten promises. I believe they succeeded in providing the reader with insight into both Anglo and Native American life after the treaty-making of 1855, and relating how drastic and quick were the changes wrought on Indigenous cultures by Anglo settlements and new technology. The story, strongly told from a Native American perspective, is rich in detail and an evocative telling of Chief Moses's struggles to hang onto valued traditions and resources in the face of greed and racially-based policies. Not all the bad guys were white and not all the good guys were Indians, which was a strength of the book. It is an informative and careful study and I'm glad I read it.
The authors strove to balance the histories of Native American-Government relations, pioneer settlement, and forgotten promises. I believe they succeeded in providing the reader with insight into both Anglo and Native American life after the treaty-making of 1855, and relating how drastic and quick were the changes wrought on Indigenous cultures by Anglo settlements and new technology. The story, strongly told from a Native American perspective, is rich in detail and an evocative telling of Chief Moses's struggles to hang onto valued traditions and resources in the face of greed and racially-based policies. Not all the bad guys were white and not all the good guys were Indians, which was a strength of the book. It is an informative and careful study and I'm glad I read it.
September 17, 2022
Found this book in a used book store in Bend Oregon. Its a journalistic style biography of chief Moses, with lots of newspaper, government documents and interviews. I was particularly interested in the descriptions of how the land looked during that time (Niagra sized waterfalls on the Columbia) and what plants were important (camas and bunchgrass). What were the Wenatchee fisheries?
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews