IGX

Anyone have recommendations on good books about the American Indians of the West? How they lived, how they hunted, how they made shit. Etc..

Ideally, this would be authentic facts weaved into an engaging tale.

I have one at home that I read about 20 years ago. It is exactly what you are describing, but I cannot
remember the title.

I'll try to remember to find it tonight and let you know tomorrow.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... MuoneDoDkw

I just remembered the title.

I know a potential resource, the the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, WY. I've never seen more plains Indian info. The link is to their library but I'm sure they have more.

Save The Last Bullet For Yourself abouut the Little Bighorn. Written by a Dr. who lived around the Souix in the early 20th century, who talked to Souix veterens of the battle.

Really got into the cultural differences in warfare between the plains tribes and us. They were doomed from the start as to them warefare was very ritualistic and winning to them usually fell short of real victory. Little Big Horn in a lot of ways was a fluke.

Custer really fucked up, bad.

DARTH wrote:Save The Last Bullet For Yourself abouut the Little Bighorn. Written by a Dr. who lived around the Souix in the early 20th century, who talked to Souix veterens of the battle.

Really got into the cultural differences in warfare between the plains tribes and us. They were doomed from the start as to them warefare was very ritualistic and winning to them usually fell short of real victory. Little Big Horn in a lot of ways was a fluke.

Custer really fucked up, bad.

---------------------------------------------------
One of the first books I ever read was about Custer. I was in the second grade and had just discovered the pleasures
of reading for myself, not what I was forced to read at school.

The book, in hindsight, was a bit of a puff up piece for Custer. That said, the author mentioned that Custer fell
for one of the oldest Indian tricks when he pursued a small party of Indians all the way into the trap of the
Little Bighorn,

BucketHead wrote:Anyone have recommendations on good books about the American Indians of the West? How they lived, how they hunted, how they made shit. Etc..

Ideally, this would be authentic facts weaved into an engaging tale.

'Honey in the horn' is pretty good.

Black Elk Speaks
About a Lakota Medicine Man.

Empire of the Summer Moon
About Quanah Parker (the last great Comanche Chief) and the Comanches.

Indian Yell
Ties together alot of threads about the war against the Plains Indians.

Saga of Chief Joseph
About the great Nez Perce Chief.

I enjoyed Black Elk Speaks. Cool book.

Rolling Thunder by Doug Boyd is a fun read though I don't think it is more about shamanic stuff.


Tom Brown Jr.'s books might be a good place to check. I enjoyed reading a number of his books even though there is question as to whether his purported teacher, Stalking Wolf ever existed.

Episodes of F Troop are good sources of info

Thanks everyone

+1 for Empire of the Summer Moon. Great study of how dominant the Commanches were until they ran in to the repeating rifle.

A friend and former professor helped to author this one. Pretty good. Grandmother's Grandchild: My Crow Indian Life

Somebody's got buck fever.

As a full blooded Injun, I'm ashamed to say the extent of my knowledge of this stuff goes about as far as F-Troop.

One book I can recommend is 'Blood And Thunder' by Hampton Sides, about Kit Carson and all of the economic forces that culminated in the Navajo being incarcerated at Bosque Redondo for a few years around the 1880's.

I'm very good friends with a fellow artist friend who is a descendent of Quanah Parker. He says that Empire of The Summer Moon is mostly bullshit. I've never queried fully about it as I plan to read it myself and then quiz him. I'm interested to find out if they cover any of Quanah's experience with peyote and his activism to bring it to the Comanche. I've become suddenly interested in these things since having been through 3 peyote ceremonies this year already. It's intense shit. A 14 hour prayer service sitting in a 2' x 2' square, mashed in a smokey tipi with other Navajos and Cheyenne. I found Marine Boot camp to be more pleasant than a peyote ceremony, but the insights into yourself without any ego is worth the pain.

I'm working on re-learning my Navajo language as well so I'm sure I'll learn about these things. Anyway, it's something to do.

Peace,
Monty

I'm interested to find out if they cover any of Quanah's experience with peyote and his activism to bring it to the Comanche.

Monts,

The Peyote use is covered a bit towards the end of the book. If I recall, it was after the Comanche ended up on the Rez without much to do that the use really took off.

Wait, do you guys mean that Indians deadlifting 500+ lbs at some fort being studied by naturalists was bullshit.

GOD DAMN IT!

Blood and Thunder is a great fucking book.

And Monts isn't the use of the word Navajo frowned upon?

nafod wrote:Episodes of F Troop are good sources of info

:snigger

I forget the magazine but I read an article about the training of Apache warriors from boyhood and it was pretty fucking bad ass real life Ninja/Green Beret shit.


Things like blindfolding them to make their hearing more accute, walking with a mouthful of water (lots of peoples do this one), ways they train them to walk silently, wrestling and their fighting training ect.

DARTH wrote:I forget the magazine but I read an article

Well that's helpful.

DARTH wrote:I forget the magazine but I read an article about the training of Apache warriors from boyhood and it was pretty fucking bad ass real life Ninja/Green Beret shit.


Things like blindfolding them to make their hearing more accute, walking with a mouthful of water (lots of peoples do this one), ways they train them to walk silently, wrestling and their fighting training ect.

I had a Anthropology professor in college who had done quite a bit of field work with the Crow (including working as a tribal cop for a number of years) He said flat out, Plain Indians are liars through and through. Never believe a word a Crow tells you about historic practices unless speaking in their native tongue or thoroughly drunk, preferably both.

protobuilder wrote:

DARTH wrote:I forget the magazine but I read an article

Well that's helpful.

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