Native American Sourcebook

With the advent of European colonization, the North American landscape and the indigenous cultures that inhabited it changed irrevocably. While a large part of Native Americans' past has been marked by struggles for equality and sovereignty, a survey of the early history of various tribes reveals prosperous societies that managed to live peaceably with each other and a parade of various interlopers. This volume examines the trajectory of Native American cultures over the centuries, detailing how they have retained their longstanding values and traditions in the face of war, disease, resettlement, and assimilation.

Even as contact with European cultures eroded indigenous lifestyles across North America, many Native American groups found ways to preserve the integrity of their communities through the arts, customs, languages, and religious traditions that animate Native American life. While their collective struggles against a common cause may create the semblance of a shared past, each Native American community has a unique heritage that reflects a singular history. The ancient cultural legacies that both distinguish and unite these diverse tribes are the subject of this engrossing volume.