American Apartheid

In American Apartheid: The Native American Struggle for Self-determination and Inclusion, author Stephanie Woodard provides a compelling and balanced account of the structural barriers that Native Americans face today, as well as their battle to overcome them. The barriers Woodard reports on include unyielding federal control of myriad details of reservation life-especially economic decisions, tribal and personal-which slows and even prevents the formation of Native economies. Woodard details the ways in which states and counties curtail Native voting rights, which, in turn, keeps tribal members from participating in policy-making surrounding education, employment, rural transportation, infrastructure projects and other critical issues affecting their communities. This system of apartheid has staggering consequences, as Woodard shows that Natives are, per capita, the population group that is most likely to be shot by police, suffer violent victimization by outsiders, be incarcerated and have their children taken away. Indigenous people also battle constantly to protect the sacred sites and landscapes that hold their cultural memories and connect their spirituality to the nation's mountains, plains, waterways and coastlines. At the same time, Woodard offers vivid pictures of diverse Native American communities that embody resilience, integrity and the survival of ancient cultures. The personal recollections of her interviewees are stories of values and valor, often in the face of exceptional difficulties. The richly detailed work, filled with many Native voices, is based on Woodard's nearly two decades of reporting on reservations and in urban-Indian communities.