Native Nations: A Millennium In North America, Kathleen DuVal, c. 2024

Updates

July 21, 2024: this is the reason I have trouble with Kathlene DuVal's fascination with Native Americans -- compare these works with the works of Native Americans, from before 1750 to after 2020.

The Bible
(section added July 21, 2024)

Epic Sagas
(section added July 21, 2024)

See Icelandic literature. Start here. For more, search Icelandic. 

Homer
(section added July 21, 2024)

Search Homer, Odyssey, Iliad.
Robert Graves, The Greek Myths, The Complete Edition.

Greek Dramatists
(section added July 21, 2024)

See The Wooden Horse, multiple links:

• development of the tragedy, first note;
• development of the tragedy, second note;

Anglo-Saxon
(section added July 21, 2024)

400 - 1066: Anglo-Saxon: A History Of The Beginnings Of England.

Original Post: Native Nations

I've gone back and forth on this book, but at the end of the day, the author is living in a completely different universe than the one in which I live when it comes to the history of the Native American. 

A lot of interesting history; explains a lot but her overriding theses simply don't match reality.

Some observations:

• compare the Greek myths to the Native American myths
• compare the written works of the Native Americans at the same time as Homer, Plato
• compare the technology of the Native American with that of the colonists in 1776
• Watt, steam engine, 1776
• horses domesticated by the Spaniards; at best, the Native Americans domesticated the dog
• the author extols the "pure democracy" of the American Indian -- vs the representative democracy of the colonists, and even the constitutional monarchy of the Brits
• the list goes on and on

So my notes below are very "raw."

It turns into a good reference book; a geography book; etc, but the conclusions drawn by the author are, like I said, 180° opposite of what most other anthropologists (?) would conclude.

I'm glad I read the book. Would I recommend it? Depends. Basically, it's "basket weaving."

Other links:

Hudson River.

The 13,400 square mile Hudson River basin lies almost entirely (93 percent) within New York State, but includes parts of Vermont (3 percent), Massachusetts (2 percent), New Jersey (2 percent), and Connecticut (less than 1 percent). The basin is divided into three parts, the upper and lower Hudson River and the Mohawk River basins, because the areas differ significantly in hydrologic characteristics. The upper Hudson River has a drainage basin area of 4,590 square miles. The source of the Hudson River is Lake Tear of the Clouds, a small lake in the Adirondack Mountains 4,322 feet above sea level . The river flows south-southeast out of the mountain region through primarily forestland. At Hudson Falls, the river includes flow from several tributaries and has dropped to an elevation of about 200 feet above sea level. From Hudson Falls to Albany, the river is maintained for commercial traffic at a depth of about 12 feet. From Hudson Falls south, the river flows through forest and farmland to its confluence with the Mohawk River near Troy.

The Mohawk River drains 3500 square miles and is the largest tributary to the Hudson River. Its average flow (near its mouth) is 5,670 cubic feet per second. The Mohawk flows east-southeast from near Rome through mainly forest and farmland(PDF, 1.1MB), although it passes some industrial areas east of Amsterdam.

The lower Hudson River begins at the Federal Dam at Troy, just downstream from the confluence with the Mohawk. Average flow at the Federal Dam is 13,600 cubic feet per second; daily average flow has been as high as 152,000 cubic feet per second and as low as 882 cubic feet per second. The entire 154 miles of the lower Hudson River is tidal and can undergo a reversal in the direction of flow four times a day. The mean water elevation at Albany is 2 feet above sea level, and the average range in tide is about 4 feet. The lower Hudson river is maintained at a depth of at least 32 feet for commercial traffic from the Port of Albany to New York City, but is as deep as 200 feet in places. The lower Hudson River flows south through farmland(PDF, 1.1MB) for 60 miles, but passes through some industrial areas before entering the Hudson Highlands area, where it flows through a deep, narrow channel with steep banks and forested mountain slopes. The river then widens near Haverstraw where it attains a width of 3.5 miles before narrowing as it passes the cliffs of the Palisades and continues south to upper New York Harbor. The lowermost part of the basin has a far greater percentage of residential, commercial, and industrial land(PDF, 1.1MB) than does the rest of the basin.

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The Book

Note: my initial review of the book was very negative. I was quite wrong. The book is excellent. I highly recommend it. I will leave my original notes in place, as I usually do, but will continue to update. For folks in the midwest -- North Dakota south to Oklahoma, the Plains Indians -- I would start with Chapter 10: Kiowas and the Creation of the Plains Indians. 

For others, I would start with chapter 9, the Cherokee Nation. 

Note: the author's thesis -- she lives in a completely different universe than I when it comes to understanding Native North Americans. 

Note: the author often comes across as a flaming idiot / a flaming nut. She compares the Native North American cities of the 1700s with those of the European continent at the same time, and suggests that the Native Americans had the much better lifestyle -- at least politically and democratically. I think it's important to remind folks, democracy is only one form of government, not necessarily the best for all societies. In fact, one could argue .... A reminder that in the 1700s, Shakespeare was at his zenith. To the best of my knowledge, the Native American literary output in the 1700s trended toward ...

Note: it appears the author attributes the "global/climate change" to the Native Americans embracing democracy and getting there faster and "better" than the Europeans, and by extension, the colonists and Americans.

Native Nations: A Millennium In North America, Kathleen DuVal, c. 2024.

The foreword begins:

In the fall of 2016, the road leading into the camp was lined with flags. Lakotas and Dakotas of Standing Rock had been protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline since early that year, and recently the growing crowd of protesters had spread to this new and larger camp across the Cannonball River.... more than three hundred flags, among them the red, white, and black stripes of the Arapaho Nation, the Northern Cheyenne Morning Star, the purple Hiawatha Belt with four white squares and a tree of peace representing the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, and the sand-colored Navajo Nation flag .... Some people brought American flags too, but the flagpoles flew the flags of the Native nations.

The author's point: Native Americans are still with us. And have a lot of political power. At least in certain spheres. And no doubt, the Native Americans are simply tools for others, particularly eco-terrorists.

The author points out there still exists more than 500 Native nations within the United States today.

The author, based on the foreword, appears to be re-writing history, or as she says in her own words, in her own foreword: "This book contributes to that change in emphasis by showing how Native nations existed in North America long before Europeans, Africans, and Asians arrived and continue to the present day."

".... to that change in emphasis" .... rewriting history. 

The author fails to note, in that paragraph, that like others before them, the "Native" Americans were not so Native. They, also, came from another place. Most immediately from Canada, before that pre-historic Alaska, and before that, Asia. And then one can genetically trace their origins all the way back to Africa. 

[Speaking of migration patterns, there is evidence that Native Americans migrated from the upper Midwest to the Southeast woodlands before migrating west again towards the Tennessee River and the central Mississippi River. Absolutely fascinating.]

Politically, it seems, one must -- if one must -- place a dividing line at the time the "treaties" were signed -- the history before the treaties were signed and the history after the treaties were signed.

The author states that one of the goals of this book "is to reinsert Native American history into world history and that's why I am reading the book. [I can see Native American history as a major part of North American history but I struggle to see much impact on world history by Native Americans.]

LOL. In the very next paragraph, looking back on the year 1492, the author is able to say "global climate changes" (plural) as affecting the Native Nations as much as "climate changes" (plural) affected the rest of the world in 1492. That's interesting: I was unaware of the "global climate changes" (plural) that were occurring in 1492, no doubt aggravated, if not precipitated by a white man, Christopher Columbus.

It seems when faux environmentalists talk about climate change affecting living things, including man, they seem to imply that changes occur relatively quickly and species are unable to cope. In fact, climate changes very, very slowly, giving life time to adapt, and not necessarily by changes in speciation. Species can simply migrate to areas where they can prosper.

After such a great and promising foreword, it is all spoiled by the map on page xxiii: "Places and Peoples Highlighted in This Book."

• Mohawks: far northeast, think Maine
• Ossomocomuck: central Atlantic seaboard, think North Carolina
• Cherokees: the southern spine of the Appalachia Mountains
• Shawnees: just to the immediate northwest of the Cherokees, think Ohio (?)
• Quapaws: south Mississippi River, think Arkansas (?)
• Kiowas: think west Texas
• Huhugam / G'odham: far southwest, just where Arizona and Baja California share a political divisional and artificial line.

Wow, 75% of the continental US not highlighted in this book, nor Alaska, nor Hawaii. Not even the Lakotas and Dakotas who were highlighted in the opening lines. Not the Arapaho, the Cheyenne, the Iroquois or the Navajo ... or the Sioux! The Fighting Sioux! -- for that matter -- not highlighted.

When I see "Mohawks" highlighted, one can almost guess where the author first "met" Native Americans in her grade school and middle school readings. The Last of the Mohicans comes to mind.

I would argue Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee was my introduction to American Native Nations. 

Quick: name four famous "Indian Chiefs." I'll start: Geronimo.

Others not mentioned: Sitting Bull; Custer. 

***********************
The Problem

This is what the author had in mind: using the Native American stories as "case studies" to "show how the definitions of power and means of exerting it shifted over time (and over geography) but the sovereignty and influence of Native peoples remained a constant -- and will continue into the future."

But many folks, like me, would pick up the book to study the history of Native Americans. 

Two completely different themes, and somehow the book has not clicked with me.

It bothers me that King Philip's War was not mentioned; it's not even in the index.

Geronimo is mentioned once on the book, in passing. Mostly as "name-dropping.

"Custer's Last Stand" also not mentioned.

The importance of Sakajawea in opening the Louisiana Purchase? Not mentioned.

The author only uses the stories on which East Coast students were raised; nothing for those of us west of the Mississippi.

I'll start with Chapter 9: The Nineteenth-Century Cherokee Nation.

Chapter 9: The Nineteenth-Century Cherokee Nation

No notes initially. My first handwritten notes began with

Chapter 10: Kiowas and the Creation of the Plains Indians

Begins with 1883, the "Summer That They Cut Off Their Heads." 

Along with the Kiowas, their major antagonist: the Osages. 

Western Plains: Kiowas

Cities:

• Santa Fe
• St Louis
• San Antonio
• Laredo
• Chihuahua

Eastern Native Nations and US citizens pushing the Osages westward -- into Kiowa hunting grounds -- see p. 383 -- the Shawnees, Delawares, and Cherokees

[Shawnees: Chapter 8 -- Tenskwatawa (prophet) and chief Tecumseh.]

Osage: originally Ohio River valley (?) -- Ohio River, p 170.

Indians

Osage - Kiowa -- THE HORSE -- p. 405

With a few decades, became horsemen and fully nomadic -- p. 408

• Kiowas
• Crows
• Cheyennes
• Lakotas
• Comanches

By contrast, Osage, Pawnees and Wichitas -- women kept farming.

Trading centers:

• Pueblo communities
• Mandans, Hidatsas, and Arikaras
• UMR (upper Missouri River)

Plains Bison hunters <--------> reciprocal economies -- Mandans, Pueblo, Wichitas

Horses:

• late 17th century or early 18th century
• from Rocky Mountains/western Montana, Kiowas to Northern Plains

Kiowas moved at the invitation of the Crow Indians.

Crows had been Hidatsas but when the horse arrived -- some migrated to the Plains -- re-creating themselves as Nomadic Crows -- others remained on the UMR -- p. 409.

Kiowas and Crows (horses) -- allies on the Plains. 

Crows had been Hidatsas

• Nomadic Crows
• some remained Hidatsas
• Kiowas arrived at invitation of Crows

Horses and Kiowans: completely changed with horses -- p. 410

The story of the Kiowas begins -- p. 411. -- A horse medicine society.

Spaced out over long distances -- completely changed their perspective -- forged clearer identities / national identities.

Kiowas: just as the Shawnee diaspora -- p. 411.

Plains Apaches -- northernmost of the Apaches -- see wiki -- p. 411.

-- probably fled the Pawnee and Comanche warfare of the 1720s. 1730s -- p. 411.

Plains Apaches remained a (very small) separate nation with onw language / protected by the Kiowas -- sometimes referred to as the Kiowa Apaches.

Gender issue: Kiowas / horsemen -- p. 415.

Chapter 4: Mohawk Peace and War
The Hiawatha Belt

The five Haudenosaunee Nations: also known as the Iroquois Confederacy -- the Iroquois League.

Wampum: p. 125.

1616: Dutch bought Manhattan Island from Munsees (Algonquian-speaking groups) --> most merged with Lenapes to become the Delawares, p 126. 

The author rationalizes "the $24" the colonists paid for the island.

[Abenaki scholar -- p. 126.]

Five Nations expanded! p. 127.

Mohawks and The Great Peace, p. 127

M-O-O-C-S.

Peacemakers, p. 128.

Iroquois -- perjorative term?? p. 129

Couldn't eat with sharp objects -- p. 130. This says it all.

Haudenosaunee -- matrilineal, p. 132.

politically correct author -- p. 132 -- women's role

Enemies With Guns -- p. 133

Hominy: corn meal --> "quick grits"

Mohawk River runs into the great Skaunataty -- Native American name --

• called the North River by the Dutch
• the Hudson River by the English

Mohawk River --> Lake (Samuel de) Champlain --

Then flows into St Lawrence River and then into the north Atlantic.

Hudson River is tidal -- changes direction of flow four times a day!!!

Samuel de Champlain -- p. 138.

Introduction of guns -- p. 139.

Change of politics in North America -- p. 139 -- culture, politics, opens local rivalries, customs, geography

Chapter 2: The "Fall" of Cities and the Rise of a More Egalitarian Order

p. 41 

About 1300: Huhugam (Hohokam) great chief Siwani 

south-central Arizona; Sonora, Mexico

link here.

Around the year 1300, the Huhugam great chief Siwani ruled over a mighty city near what is now Phoenix, Arizona. His domain included adobe-and-stone pyramids that towered several stories above the desert; an irrigation system that watered 15,000 acres of crops; and a large castle. The O’odham descendants of the Huhugam tell in their oral history that Siwani “reaped very large harvests with his two servants, the Wind and the Storm-cloud.” By Siwani’s time, Huhugam farms and cities had thrived in the Sonoran Desert for nearly 1,000 years. But then the weather refused to cooperate: Drought and flooding destroyed the city, and Siwani lost his awesome power, driven away by an angry mob.

Descendants: O'odham. Pima Indians.

By 1400: Cahokia, Moundville, and the Huhugam were all abandoned

had nothing to do with Christopher Columbus -- he wouldn't show up for another century -- p. 42.

Climate change -- p. 42.

Starting about 1250, the Little Ice Age began; would last six centuries -- p. 42 -- did not "lift" until the mid-19th century -- p. 42

Medieval Warm Period --> five degrees lower with the Little Ice Age

Snow and ice; Thames froze; global famine

17th century: coldest and driest; decades of the Little Ice Age (17th century: 1600s -- Shakespeare)

gradually across Native North America -- folks distrusted centralization, hierarchy, inequality; turned away from urbanization and political and economic centralization to build new ways of living -- p. 43

Native North American --> larger cities disappeared

Just the opposite of what was going on in Europe -- Europe went the other direction --> urbanized; cities as signs of civilization

p. 44: very interesting take on DEMOCRACY -- wow!

Chapter 2 is her thesis -- the rest of the book: case studies..

So many memes -- how many times have I heard the squash, corn and beans story -- p. 54 -- 

Wow, by page 73 -- Kathleen Duval is living in a different universe than I -- Wow!!

I'll continue to update notes.

Two things with regard to this book

• her thesis: great cities in North America --> disappeared about the time the colonists were coming over, but had nothing to do with the colonists
• the rest of the book: case studies -- great histories;

My first thought: this is why "pure" democracies don't work -- we need representative government -- republics, parliamentary forms of government, ---

• Republic: no monarchy and no hereditary aristocracy
• UK: constitutional monarchy; House of Lords with hereditary peers
• France: a republic; currently the 5th Republic
• Canada: parliamentary democracy
• the US: a republic

The pure form of direct democracy exists only in the Swiss cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus.