Through Indian Eyes

by Reader's Digest Association

A thoughtful history of North America from the perspective of its native peoples draws on the traditions, reminiscences, and legends of diverse Native American tribes to explore the history of these peoples and their way of life over the last five centuries. 35,000 first printing.

Genres: History, Native American, Nonfiction, Reference, American History, Historical, Education

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. is a global media and direct marketing company based in Chappaqua, New York, best known for its flagship publication founded in 1922, Reader's Digest. The company's headquarters are in New York City, where it moved from Pleasantville, New York.

The company was founded by DeWitt and Lila Wallace in 1922 with the first publication of Reader's Digest magazine, but has grown to include a diverse range of magazines, books, music, DVDs and online content.

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well...it seems that American Indians were frequently a ruthless, vicious people. On the other hand, so were the French, Spanish, British and (eventually) Americans. Also, in both cases, very much good to admire. In the end, it's clear that there were lessons that we could have learned that were squandered and, probably, lost to time.

The book is a reasonably well-balanced overview of the tribes and nations of the American Indian, organized geographically which helped contain the stories. One of the difficulties that I have with books such as this (and this is just probably me) is wrapping your arms around the timescales involved because in some cases you turn the page and it's eighty or a hundred years later before something happens. Compressed as it is, it's difficult to grasp that. Not sure what can be done about it.

For those that would like the Reader's Digest version of this Reader's Digest book, it is:

1. Native Americans live peacefully or not so peacefully.
2. White men arrive.
3. White men leave.
4. White men come back to trade, fight and/or proselytize.
5. Native Americans buy goods, have their land stolen and die of alcoholism and disease.
6. Native Americans are mistreated for 500+ years.
7. Native Americans assert themselves economically and politically.

Three things I learned that I didn't know before:

1. Native Americans fought in George Washington's army during the Revolutionary War. I probably knew this already, but hadn't remembered.
2. Benjamin Franklin based much of his contribution to our Constitution from studying, and copying, the operations of the native Iroquois League.
3. Not something I learned, just realized: Foreigners infected Native Americans with their diseases, inadvertently killing them by the tens of thousands. Native Americans did not infect the interlopers because, well, I'm guessing because they didn't have diseases to spread.

Note that it's a coffee table book, so hard to hold up and read 380 pages!

[Brad Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given that it is from Reader's Digest, I thought it would be a lot of the standard white-washed BS that has been told about natives throughout my life. Instead it was a solid summation of the brutal history of the native conflict with the invading whites up to modern day. The brutality off the treatment received by the native population was not watered down. This book took the high-level view, and would bring it down to specific examples and stories to make it more personal.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really informative reading about the history of the Indian people.

[Randy Daugherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Attempting to tell the history of the Native Americans is a daunting task and one not complete in one book. What this does do is give as a condensed history of the tribes and their encounters with French, Spanish and English. It includes many paintings, pictures, and the rich stories of various players.
It tells the story of survival, living with not just on the land. Their fight to preserve a way of life, the broken treaties and the greed of the settlers ever needing more land.
This book was given to me by a friend and a great read, a book to keep around for reference and as a conversation piece.

[Deseroka Littlewing]

While just beginning this book, so far it seems to have a "grip" on the differences between the Nations/Tribes. Let me get a bit further in & I'll see how much truth is actually there as far as the story of how this continent was "settled".

Through Indian Eyes: The Untold Story of Native American Peoples

[Jay Traub · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book to have around to thumb through on the coffee table. It would be excellent if dentists and doctors and such places had books like this in their waiting rooms. From what I remember, it has lots of beautiful pictures and is interesting to read, though not engaging enough for a protracted time (subjective of course, but I never read it for more than an hour length and usually in 10 to 30 minute doses). While it is interesting, the articles are more like glimpses into the time. If you are looking for depth, this isn't quite the right read, but it still offers insights that make for an interesting read.

[Bob Conner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly entrapping, this is one of those books I'll be keeping around for continued reference. If you've ever wondered what manifest destiny meant to the Native Americans whose lives and cultures were destroyed by it, this will give you some small amount of insight into another shameful era in human history.

I really enjoyed the glimpse into the culture of the tribal people who once populated the entire western hemisphere as they give us a glimpse of true history - a history, not the fairy tales we're accustomed to hearing and reading about.

[Cws]

XOS-970R

[Rachel Heaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skimmed it

[Aliah]

This book explores Native American history. The cover is dull but has some color. The author's voice is excited and the writing style is to explain Native American culture. The plot is of that of an Indian and what they believe and their customs. The characters are described in mass detail. The development of the characters is lengthy but eventually gets to the full details of their lives. The length is long and drawn out in large proportions. The quality of the content is extravagant. It has great content that gives the reader better insight into the lives that the Native Americans once lived. This had great imagery. You could really see yourself in the presence or even the Indian themselves. The tone and the mood of the book is exciting. The author is excited to tell of their views on this subject and the people in the book.