Synopses & Reviews
Drawing on interviews, democratic theory, and extensive archival research, Paul C. Rosier tells the story of the Blackfeet Nation during the first half of the twentieth century. At the turn of the century, the Blackfeet, like many Native groups, were suffering from the cultural and economic effects of land loss, poverty, forced education at federal boarding schools, and overt political control by the federal government. By midcentury, however, the Blackfeet Nation had undergone a rapid and complex political and economic transformation. The Blackfeet embraced and largely benefited from the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which promoted tribal sovereignty and administration and halted land loss. The Blackfeet Tribal Business Council became a powerful force both on and off the reservation, and a class system emerged, consisting of wealthy Blackfeet ranchers and oil lessees, the very poor, and a middle class whose fortunes were tied to government and tribal credit programs for livestock, farm, and rehabilitation loans.
How and why did these changes happen? Focusing on the internal political, economic, and ethnic forces shaping the Blackfeet Nation -- and incorporating Blackfeet voices throughout -- Rosier shows how these transformations were not imposed on the Blackfeet but were the result of their continuing efforts to create a community of their own making and to reorganize relations with outsiders on their own terms. In particular, Rosier questions prevailing assumptions about the Indian Reorganization Act and its effects on tribal sovereignty. He argues that the IRA provided useful tools for democratic political reform and for enhancing tribal sovereignty during the "termination"period of the 1950s. This book illuminates two key periods in modern Indian-white relations and broadens our understanding of the meaning of democracy in America.
Review
“Rosier's book is excruciatingly revealing, honest, and important. . . . Rosier's work is an eloquent account of a people who have been though the worst of times and still view every day as one of promise.”—Great Plains Quarterly Scott Meridith - H-Net Reviews
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“In this important new work, Paul Rosier looks deeply into the dynamics of the Blackfeet community as the group adapted to reservation life. . . . This is a thorough, balanced, and conceptually sound analysis.”—Larry Burt, Western Historical Quarterly Larry Burt
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“An outstanding book on one tribes experience of their internal struggles in embracing the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act and the termination era of the early 1950s.”—George Heavy Runner, American Studies Western Historical Quarterly
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"Rosier's book is excruciatingly revealing, honest, and important. . . . Rosier's work is an eloquent account of a people who have been through the worst of times and still view every day as one of promise."-Darrel Robes Kipp, Great Plains Quarterly
(Darrel Robes Kipp, Great Plains Quarterly)
Review
"This book rightfully deserves a prominent place in the Indian New Deal canon."-Theodore Binnema, American Indian Culture and Research Journal. "In this important new work, Paul Rosier looks deeply into the dynamics of the Blackfeet community as the group adapted to reservation life. . . . This is a thorough, balanced, and conceptually sound analysis."-Larry Burt, Western Historical Quarterly(Larry Burt, Western Historical Quarterly)
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"Dense, detailed, and rewarding."-Stephen Cornell, Journal of Interdisciplinary History(Stephen Cornell, Journal of Interdisciplinary History)
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“A long overdue addition to the sparse scholarship on Native political and economic activism in the twentieth century.”—Melissa L. Meyer, American Historical Review George Heavy Runner - American Studies
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“Dense, detailed, and rewarding.”—Stephen Cornell, Journal of Interdisciplinary History Darrel Robes Kipp - Great Plains Quarterly
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“Paul Rosiers superb monograph deals with the intense economic and political efforts of the Blackfeet to collectively emancipate themselves from their own earlier political paradigms, from poverty and dependency, and from the wardship of the federal government. . . . The novelty and originality of this work rests on the focus that Rosier brings to the largely unnoticed and unwritten Blackfeet story of mixed-blood involvement, leadership, and commitment to a tribal future that was broadly inclusive and decidedly Indian.”—William E. Farr, Journal of American Ethnic History Stephen Cornell - Journal of Interdisciplinary History
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“A well-researched, sophisticated political history of the Blackfeet in the early to mid-twentieth century. Shifting tribal history away from the nineteenth-century tribal wars, he presents a portrait of people finding ways to contend with the paternalistic federal government. . . . Rebirth of the Blackfeet Nation is a masterful, sensitive book.”—Scott Meridith, H-Net Reviews William E. Farr - Journal of American Ethnic History
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“This book rightfully deserves a prominent place in the Indian New Deal can --Great Plains Quarterly
Synopsis
Drawing on interviews, democratic theory, and extensive archival research, Paul C. Rosier focuses on the internal political, economic, and ethnic forces shaping the Blackfeet Nation during the first half of the twentieth century. Incorporating Blackfeet voices throughout his study, Rosier shows how transformations were not imposed on the Blackfeet but were the result of their continuing efforts to create a community of their own design and to reorganize relations with outsiders on their own terms. Rebirth of the Blackfeet Nation, 1912-1954 illuminates a pivotal time in modern Indian-white relations and broadens our understanding of the meaning of democracy in America.
About the Author
Paul C. Rosier is a visiting assistant professor of history at Villanova University.