Indian Tribes of Oklahoma: A Guide (Volume 261)

by Blue Clark

Oklahoma is home to nearly forty American Indian tribes, and includes the largest Native population of any state. As a result, many Americans think of the state as “Indian Country.” For more than half a century readers have turned to Muriel H. Wright’s A Guide to the Indian Tribes of Oklahoma as the authoritative source for information on the state’s Native peoples. Now Blue Clark, an enrolled member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, has rendered a completely new guide that reflects the drastic transformation of Indian Country in recent years. As a synthesis of current knowledge, this book places the state’s Indians in their contemporary context as no other book has done. Solidly grounded in scholarship and Native oral tradition, it provides general readers the unique story of each tribe, from the Alabama-Quassartes to the Yuchis. Each entry contains a complete statistical and narrative summary of the tribe, encompassing everything from origin tales and archaeological research to contemporary ceremonies and tribal businesses. The entries also include tribal websites and suggested readings, along with photographs depicting prominent tribal personages, visitor sites, and accomplishments.

Genres: Native American

416 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[David]

Reading this for context while reading(ish) the current book club choice Braiding Sweetgrass. This book will go to the "started-parked" shelf because I don't intend to read it all. The sections I've read so far seem to give very perfunctory accounts of the various tribes -- but when you're dealing with so many, perhaps that's to be expected.

[Thomas Isern]

A reference work, organized by tribe. I haven't read the whole book, but I've read a number of chapters. Mainly I've been considering it as a possible model for application in North Dakota, where the study of resident tribes is mandated for teacher training. The format is good, with certain elements (name origin, government, and so on) standardized at the front of each chapter. The prose is pedestrian, but competent. People with Oklahoma connections (and I am one such) will be interested to learn the origins of some of the lesser-known tribes gathered into Oklahoma by removal and reservation policies.

[James Thompson]

Great summary of the current state of the tribes at the time of the writing. It was interesting to see where the wealth congregated.