The Indian Heritage of America

JOSEPHY, Alvin M. Jr.
The Indian Heritage of America.
1st edition. Penguin Books, 1968.
399p., paperbound.

Alvin Josephy presents a realistic portrait of the Indians of the American continent from prehistoric times to the present century. Instead of the stereotype of the feathered Red Indian warrior, the reader is given the chance to appreciate the social, historical and linguistic variety of the major Indian tribes and peoples between Alaska and Patagonia. The author also describes the European conquest of the Americas and pays tribute to the durability of Indian culture and values. [Modified from the book’s back cover blurb]

Contents

• Acknowledgements — 9
• Illustrations — 11
• Maps — 13
• Stereotypes and the Real Indian — 15
• The Diversities of Indians — 21
• “Indianness” — 33
• The White Man’s Debt to Indians — 41
• Early Man in the Americas — 47
• Agriculture and the Rise of Population — 58
• The Native Peoples of the Far North — 66
• The Indians of the Subarctic — 74
• The Tribes of the North-west Pacific Coast — 82
• The Tribes of the North-east Woodlands — 89
• The Tribes of the South-eastern United States — 107
• The Plains Indians — 117
• The Peoples of the Great Basin — 130
• The Indians of the Plateau — 137
• The Native Peoples of California — 143
• The Indians of the South-west — 151
• The Indians of Northern Mexico — 186
• Indian Civilizations of Middle America — 192
• Indians of Central America and the Caribbean Area — 222
• Indian Civilizations of Ecuador and the Central Andes — 237
• The Indians of the Southern Andes — 253
• The South American Tropical Forest Tribes — 259
• The Marginal Nomadic Indians of South America — 272
• The Impact of the White Man on Indians — 280
• The White Man’s Conquest of the Indians: Latin America — 288
• The White Man’s Conquest of the Indians: The United States and Canada — 297
• Indians Today and Their Fight for Survival — 347
• Bibliography — 369
• Index — 387