This scholarly history provides a starting place for learning about the impact on Native Americans of the arrival of Europeans and other settlers. It is not one protracted oral history, as the title implies; in fact, neither the scope nor the organization of the book is clear from the book's title. Instead, Bruchac (Bowman's Store, p. 1453, etc.) generously quotes from speeches, letters, journals, reports, and other sources documenting the arrival of and welcome extended to settlers in America; a description of how native people viewed land (not as something to own but something to share); the greed and dominance of the settlers; and the resistance to this brutality by the Native Americans. Included are treaties, reservations, Indian rights, and the activism of the last decades. The writing is clear, but the breadth of the book, encompassing many tribes and a collapsed history, from the first white settlers' arrival to the present, won't allow the book to stand alone for this age group. Bruchac recommends only two books for further reading, there is no map, and the list of speakers is woefully lacking in information--e.g., the century in which a speaker lived is not always included. The volume shows passion; detailed notes on the sources for the many excerpts are quite helpful and make interesting reading in their own right. For use in conjunction with other, more rooted texts. (Nonfiction. 12+)
