Synopses & Reviews
Native American peoples suffer from health, educational, infrastructure, and social deficiencies of the sort that most Americans who live outside tribal lands are wholly unaware of and would not tolerate. Indians are the poorest people in the United States, and their reservations are appallingly poverty-stricken; not surprisingly, they suffer from the numerous social pathologies that invariably accompany such economic conditions. Historically, most tribal communities were prosperous, composed of healthy, vibrant societies sustained over hundreds and in some instances perhaps even thousands of years. By creating sustainable economic development on reservations, however, gradual long-term change can be effected, thereby improving the standard of living and sustaining tribal cultures.
Reservation “Capitalism” relates the true history, describes present-day circumstances, and sketches the potential future of Indian communities and economics. It provides key background information on indigenous economic systems and property-rights regimes in what is now the United States and explains how the vast majority of Native lands and natural resource assets were lost. Robert J. Miller focuses on strategies for establishing public and private economic activities on reservations and for creating economies in which reservation inhabitants can be employed, live, and have access to the necessities of life, circumstances ultimately promoting complete tribal self-sufficiency.
Review
"Robert J. Miller's book examines the legal history of the 'doctrine of discovery,' the Lewis and Clark expedition, and U.S. claims to the Pacific Northwest. After a short introduction that defines the doctrine of discovery, he develops his argument in three stages. First, he outlines the history of discovery as articulated in medieval and early modern Europe and in colonial America and the early national United States. Next, he focuses on Thomas Jefferson, marshalling voluminous documentary evidence to detail Jefferson's views of U.S. government authority over Indians and Indian territory; he discusses the contradiction between Jefferson's idealistic vision of Indians and his actions, which promoted aggressive acquisition of Indian lands and removal or outright extermination of Indians. Finally, the author analyzes the Lewis and Clark expedition as a manifestation of discovery and systematically describes how discovery was applied to the Oregon country between 1803 and 1855. At the end of the book, Miller briefly sketches out the subsequent application of the discovery doctrine in U.S. Indian law through 2005 and explains the ramifications of the book's findings."and#8212;American Historical Review
Review
"This is an important book that every judge, lawyer and anyone else concerned about questions of racial justice in America should read."
Review
"Through its focus on the Doctrine of Discovery, Miller's book offers fascinating new insights into Jefferson's Indian policy, the significance of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and the origins of Manifest Destiny ideology in 19th- century America. Miller forces readers to confront the raw assertion of colonial power embodied in the Doctrine of Discovery, and its consistent deployment by the United States in the guise of law."and#8212;Carole Goldberg, author of American Indian Law
Review
"Miller's book represents the most comprehensive and thoughtful analysis of the American version of the Doctrine of Discovery to date, its role in the voyages of Lewis and Clark, and its continuing importance in the field of federal Indian Law today."
Review
"Professor Miller's treatment of the Doctrine of Discovery shows us that we still have much to learn about how we came to legitimize our jurisdiction over this continent. He illustrates the dense interlacing of law, ideology, and politics at work in the making of the "New World." Everyone who is interested in Indian Law and the West will have to read this book."
Review
and#8220;Miller carefully traces the racist, greedy religiosity of Manifest Destiny . . . used to seize Indian land, especially in Oregon, showing it also as the basis for laws applied to Native Americans that appallingly continue in effect into the present. A must read.and#8221;and#8212;B. A. Mann, Choice
Review
and#8220;To say this book is required reading for those wishing to understand American history is an understatement. Miller has provided an opportunity for readers with varying interests from Constitutional law professor to tribal advocate to public lands users of all types to gain valuable insight into the interconnected web of religion, conquest, human rights, land and equity. . . . This is an important time for this book to be published.and#8221;and#8212;Lincoln (NE) Journal Star
Review
"Miller's book is not only practical but also realistic and timely. It subtly underscores the fact that tribal economic successes to date have occurred when tribes were in control, and he presents that as the basis for the next chapter of economic development in Indian country. This is recommended reading for tribal leaders, planners, Indian and non-Indian entrepreneurs and anyone interested in seeing a glimpse of the economic potential that lies in Indian country."--Douglas Nash, Indian Country Today
Review
"Reservation 'Capitlaism' is worth reading for the opening chapters alone, but Professor Miller also analyzes modern reservation economies, covering a range of tribes from throughout Indian Country with detailed examiniation of specfic tribes. . . . Miller also provides a thorough recitation of the rise of Indian gaming as an economic powerhouse. . . . While Miller's fluid style makes his book accessible to the casual reader, the level of research and extensive endnotes make this book a viable choice as the primary textbook for a course on tribal economic development."--Gavin Clarkson, Great Plains Quarterly
Review
"Robert Miller's Reservation 'Capitalism' promises to be the definitive book on Native American entrepreneurship. This is both a legal and policy primer on the impact of financing contemporary business in Indian Country. Perhaps the most original and significant impact of the book is the early and historic treatment of more than four hundred years of interaction between the two cultures culminating in the twenty-first-century economic and technological changes on reservations. Professor Miller examines the fiscal and economic tools that tribes can--and indeed must--use to help their people reach the level of economic prosperity that will help the Indian Nations sustain their lives, families, communities, cultures, and economies."--Rennard Strickland, Phillip Knight Distinguished Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus, University of Oregon; Senior Scholar in Residence, University of Oklahoma Law Center
Review
"Miller's Reservation 'Capitalism' is a manifesto of big-picture thinking about the problem of the 21st century for Indian country--diversifying and growing reservation economies. Miller brings together law, history, economics, and culture in a brilliant work that speaks to Native and non-Native policymakers and lawyers as much as it does to scholars."--Matthew L. M. Fletcher, professor of law and director of the Indigenous Law and Policy Center, Michigan State University College of Law
Review
"Professor Miller's book is a timely, realistic, and practical work that should be studied closely by tribes as well as individuals--Indian and non-Indian--who have an interest in operating a business in Indian country. It provides a positive and hopeful prognosis for the economic well being of Indian tribes and their members."--Seattle Journal for Social Justice
Review
"Robert Miller delivers first-rate advice on the politics, law, and economics of reservation development. Indian nations--indeed, all nations--can learn from this book's insights. . . . Robert Miller has pulled together an impressive range of scholarly theory, real world experiences of Native leaders, and data. As a result, this book provides a mountain of sound advice to tribal, state, and federal policymakers. The advice is delivered without apology by an author who lives and respects his subject."--Professor Joseph P. Kalt, codirector, Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development
Review
andquot;Fr emont's report contains great adventure stories that will appeal to both scholars and to serious readers.andquot;andmdash;Martin J. Manning, Journal of American Culture
Synopsis
Native America, Discovered and Conquered takes a fresh look at American history through the lens of the Doctrine of Discoveryand#8212;the legal basis that Europeans and Americans used to lay claim to the land of the indigenous peoples they and#8220;discovered.and#8221; Robert J. Miller illustrates how the American colonies used the Doctrine of Discovery against the Indian nations from 1606 forward. Thomas Jefferson used the doctrine to exert American authority in the Louisiana Territory, to win the Pacific Northwest from European rivals, and to and#8220;conquerand#8221; the Indian nations. In the broader sense, these efforts began with the Founding Fathers and with Thomas Jeffersonand#8217;s Corps of Discovery, and eventually the Doctrine of Discovery became part of American law, as it still is today.and#160;Miller shows how Manifest Destiny grew directly out of the legal elements and policies of the Doctrine of Discovery and how Native peoples, whose rights stood in the way of this destiny, were and#8220;discoveredand#8221; and then and#8220;conquered.and#8221; Millerand#8217;s analysis of the principles of discovery brings a new perspective and valuable insights to the study of Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, the Louisiana Purchase, the Pacific Northwest, American expansionism, and U.S. Indian policy. This Bison Books edition includes a new afterword by the author.
Synopsis
In 1842 John C. Frand#233;mont led a party of twenty-five men on a five-month journey from Saint Louis to the Wind River Range in the Rocky Mountains; his goal: to chart the best route to Oregon. In 1843 Frand#233;mont was commissioned for another expedition, to explore the Great Salt Lake, Washington, eastern California, Carson Pass, and the San Joaquin Valley, places that did not yet belong to the United States.
His journals from these expeditions, edited in collaboration with his wife, Jessie Benton Frand#233;mont, and published by Congress, thrilled the nation and firmly established Frand#233;montand#8217;s persona as the Great Pathfinder. Part descriptive survey, part rousing adventure story, Frand#233;montand#8217;s account was far more than a travelerand#8217;s guide. His tales of courage and wit, descriptions of beautiful landscapes, and observations about Native Americans strengthened Americansand#8217; sense of a national identity and belief in Manifest Destiny. Still a fascinating page-turner today, Frand#233;montand#8217;s report documents the opening of the West even as it offers a firsthand look at the making of the American myth.
Anne F. Hyde provides an introduction to this signature American story that contextualizes the report, outlines Frand#233;montand#8217;s rise and fall, and shows how, for better or worse, this explorer exemplifies the nineteenth-century American spirit.
and#160;
About the Author
John C. Frand#233;mont (1813and#8211;90) was a military officer who served in the Mexican-American War, took part in the Bear Flag Rebellion, and fought in the Civil War. He was also one of the first two senators from California and the first presidential candidate for the Republican Party in 1856.and#160;Anne F. Hyde is a professor of history at Colorado College and the author of Empires, Nations, and Families: A History of the North American West, 1800and#8211;1860 (Nebraska, 2011), winner of the 2012 Bancroft Prizeand#160;and finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize.and#160;