RED POWER: The American Indians' Fight for Freedom

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1971

It just seems to a lot of Indians that this continent was a lot better off when we were running it."" Vine DeLoria's concluding words to this book, which consists of circa twenty-five position pieces, reports and recommendations, summarize the central purpose -- namely the Indians' right to be self-governing. Mr. Josephy, a long-standing contributor to Indian affairs (The Indian Heritage of America, 1969), contributes an introduction in which the statistics differ from Burnette's (p. 399) but the objective is the same. The Indian is a bondsman subjected to deplorable conditions and injustices while also the victim of his own ""egocentric predicament in action."" The latter is from a stimulating piece and one of the most substantive here, by deceased legal philosopher Felix S. Cohen. There are personal appeals from the Hopi Chieftain's testament on our ""good and peaceful way"" to Clyde Warrior's eloquent statement at the National Indian Youth Council: ""We are not free. We do not make choices. Our choices are made for us; we are the poor."" At some length there's Josephy's own study with recommendations to President-elect Nixon (1969) and Nixon's 1970 Message to Congress, first acclaimed by Josephy as ""historic in tone and intent"" and in the subsequent paragraph repudiated: ""The message, however, was no more than a statement of intent"" and left much to be applied. And how? HEW gave out ten million dollars last year to ""non-Indians to study Indians. Not one single dollar went to an Indian scholar or researcher to present the point of view of Indian people."" An important collation of documents which will implement here, supplement there.

Pub Date: June 1, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: American Heritage

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1971

Categories: NONFICTION