Synopses & Reviews
Volume 232 in the Civilization of the American Indian Series In The Indian Southwest, 1580-1830, Gary Clayton Anderson argues that, in the face of European conquest and severe droughts that reduced their food sources, Indians in the Southwest proved remarkably adaptable and dynamic. Groups such as the Jumanos and Coahuiltecans, decimated by warfare, Spanish slave-raiding, and disease, either temporarily joined Spanish missions or assimilated into other tribes. Others, including the Caddos and Wichitas, survived the Spanish onslaught by remaining on its fringe, migrating in order to survive and expanding their involvement with other tribes. Yet others, such as the Comanches and Apaches, incorporated remnant bands and individuals, experienced population increases, and developed stronger economic systems. By 1780, when Spanish settlements on the southern plains faced economic stagnation, Indian tribes who had forged new alliances and trade networks enjoyed a thriving exchange-based political economy.
Synopsis
The Indian Southwest, 1580andndash;1830 demonstrates that, in the face of European conquest, severe drought, and disease, Indians in the Southwest proved remarkably adaptable and dynamic, remaining independent actors and even prospering. Some tribes temporarily joined Spanish missions or assimilated into other tribes. Others survived by remaining on the fringe of Spanish settlement, migrating, and expanding exchange relationships with other tribes. Still others incorporated remnant bands and individuals and strengthened their economic systems. The vibrancy of southwestern Indian societies today is due in part to the exchange-based political economies their ancestors created almost three centuries ago.
Synopsis
In The Indian Southwest, 1580-1830, Gary Clayton Anderson argues that, in the face of European conquest and severe droughts that reduced their food sources, Indians in the Southwest proved remarkably adaptable and dynamic.
About the Author
Gary Clayton Anderson, Professor of History at the University of Oklahoma, is author of The Conquest of Texas: Ethnic Cleansing in the Promised Land, 1820andndash;1875. His book The Indian Southwest, 1580andndash;1830: Ethnogenesis and Reinvention won the Angie Debo Prize and the publication award from the San Antonio Conservation Society.