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American Indian Children of the Past

Victoria Sherrow

Summary The author details life of the Native American Indian child, region by region, describing the life of the village and family in times before the arrival of the White Man. Starting off with the tribes of the Northeast woodlands, including the Seneca, Iroquois and the Ojibwa tribes, she works her way through the North American continent, stopping to visit the Southeastern tribes (Choctaw, Caddo, Cherokee, Creek, etc.), Southwestern tribes (Pueblos, Navajo, Hopi, Apache, etc.), Plains Indian tribes (Sioux, Cheyenne, Comanche, Blackfoot, etc.), Far West tribes (Paiute, Shoshone, Ute, etc.), and ending her journey with the Northwest Coastal tribes (Chinook, Tlingit, Bella Coola, etc.). For each region, Ms. Sherrow describes the general lifestyle of the primary tribes, and includes sections on homes and shelters, food gathering, games and recreations, spirituality, childhood and 'coming of age'.   Each section is easy to read and highlights some of the important lifestyles of each tribe. Blow guns used by the Cherokee and other Southeastern tribes, Kachina dolls of the Pueblo Indians, corn grinding of the Hopi women, are just some of the bits of information the author includes. Along with the text, actual photographs of the clothing, housing, and tribal life occur throughout the book. These pictures are those taken back in the eighteen and nineteen hundreds, before the influence of the White Man entered and changed the lifestyles forever.  As this is a book about the early lifestyles and growing up in their native culture, the author sidesteps most of the conflicts and issues that occurred, allowing the reader to focus on the lifestyle. In her conclusion, she does mention the problems starting to arise from the American government and some of the effects their regulation had on the lives of the Native Indian children, but for the most part she focused on the pure Indian lifestyle.

Justification for use " Why is this book applicable to your teaching field? This book is a great support book for the areas of the American Indian cultures, either as part of the American History, Texas History or Social Studies courses for the middle school.  It allows a more in-depth look at how the Native Americans lived, pre-European interference. It is written in easy to read format and written specifically TO the student between the ages of 10-14.

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"Whole Indian Nations have melted away like snowballs in the sun before the white man's advance. They leave scarcely a name of our people except those wrongly recorded by their destroyers. Where are the Delewares? They have been reduced to a mere shadow of their former greatness. We had hoped that the white men would not be willing to travel beyond the mountains. Now that hope is gone. They have passed the mountains, and have settled upon Tsalagi (Cherokee) land. They wish to have that usurpation sanctioned by treaty. When that is gained, the same encroaching spirit will lead them upon other land of the Tsalagi (Cherokees). New cessions will be asked. Finally the whole country, which the Tsalagi (Cherokees) and their fathers have so long occupied, will be demanded, and the remnant of the Ani Yvwiya, The Real People, once so great and formidable, will be compelled to seek refuge in some distant wilderness. There they will be permitted to stay only a short while, until they again behold the advancing banners of the same greedy host. Not being able to point out any further retreat for the miserable Tsalagi (Cherokees), the extinction of the whole race will be proclaimed. Should we not therefore run all risks, and incur all consequences, rather than to submit to further loss of our country? Such treaties may be alright for men who are too old to hunt or fight. As for me, I have my young warriors about me. We will hold our land." Chief Dragging Canoe, Chickamauga Tsalagi (Cherokee)