Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power (The Lamar Series in Western History)

This is a fascinating view of Lakota History, It explains the varying bands and tribes and the interactions of each with the whites / US Government. I was aware that the Lakota had moved west from the Missouri basin but had not realised that it was so recent (close to) the troubled period of the late 19th century. The writing is easy to read. I.e. not a boring academic tome. Definitely worth the price and I will be searching for the authors work on the Comanche.

Best overview of Lakota and surrounding Native Americans from 1500s to 1900s. Really covers their culture, their political efforts with US government and much else. Very readable and informative!

Tacitly just a history book about the Lakota tribe, this book delves deep into daily tribal life, economics and trade, diplomacy and war strategy. Pekka Hamalainen states at the beginning why the Lakota are such an interesting people to study: They emerge as superbly flexible people who went through a series of geneses from pedestrian foragers to sedentary farmers to equestrian hunters to nomadic pastoralists, each a precarious attempt to carve out a safe place in a world where European newcomers had become a permanent presence. They come to life as fiercely proud people who easily embraced outsiders, turning their domain into a vibrant ethnic jumble. Perhaps most strikingly, they emerge as supreme warriors who routinely eschewed violence, relying on diplomacy, persuasion, and sheer charm to secure what they needed—only to revert to naked force if necessary. When the overconfident Custer rode into the Bighorn Valley on that June day, they had already faced a thousand imperial challenges. They knew exactly what to do with him. And: That is where, supposedly, all the pivotal imperial rivalries over North America took place, France vying for supremacy with England on the eastern seaboard; Spaniards, Comanches, Mexicans, and Americans jostling for position in the Southwest; and Russians pushing down the Pacific Coast in search of pelts and challenging Spain’s claims to California. The interior world was a sideshow, too marginal to stir potent imperial passions, too vast and vicious for proper colonies. It was Thomas Jefferson’s imagined Louisiana whose settlement would take a thousand generations. This book is essential for understanding American history. How about the congruence of these seemingly different cultures? Neither Lakotas nor Americans compromised their core convictions about themselves and the world. Convinced of the essential rightness of their respective beliefs and principles, they created a yawning mental crevasse where two expansionist powers could fit. They valued, desired, sought, and fought for different things and often talked past one another, which, ironically, made them compatible. It was only when nature itself failed to sustain both that coexistence became impossible. Lakotas used every possible tool in their efforts to keep what they held most sacred. When dealing with the French, they could be happy to submit to a paternalistic relationship. With the relatively weak Spanish, they could take a more privileged position. And with the British, they could be violent: They killed one of the traders, cut his heart out, and ate it, and they boiled and ate Memeskia in front of his relatives. The attack was a sensation, and it sent British traders fleeing from the Ohio Country in panic, leaving behind a firmer French-Indian alliance Amazingly, the Lakota co-opted the Europeans strengths by somehow becoming great shooters and horseman (interestingly the arrival of the "magic dogs" was a million year exodus for the now domesticated horse that was made extinct during the Pleistocene). Their decentralization also allowed them to outlast smallpox long enough for the Americans to strategically offer up a vaccine. Disease comes up many times in this story. British General Cornwallis was forced to surrender at Yorktown due to his African Americans succumbing to malaria and France's New World Empire was abandoned with their troops suffering from yellow fever. The United States become the local hegemon post the War of 1812 (known by the Dakota's as “Pahinshashawacikiya,” “when the Redhead begged for Our help.”) and the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. The Lakota would go own to dominate their Paha Sapa, lush in vegetation and a desired spot for Bison herds. The US, after Eastern domination of Indian lands, would find a much tougher opponent. The successful Union generals now in power would use coercion, annuities, threats, betrayal, environmental destruction and war leading up to famously unsuccessful military campaigns ("Warriors shouted that the wašíčus should have brought more Indians to do their fighting for them). Ultimately the destruction of bison heard and the massacre at Wounded Knee (“a people’s dream died there”) were the final steps in Lakota submission. To dispel the notion of unintelligent savage, it is amazing to hear the diversity of quotes about Lakotas. All of them with a grain of truth as they used every tool they had available to them: -A German traveler was struck by the mental shift. In St. Louis he had heard the Sioux being denounced as “the treacherous enemies of all white,” but a journey upriver revealed a different image: “the more loyal of the aborigines under the care of the American government.” -Clark denounced them as “the vilest miscreants of the savage race, and must ever remain the pirates of the Missouri.” -U.S. agents denigrated Lakotas as irredeemable savages “determined to exterminate” their neighboring tribes. - Lieutenant James Gorrell wrote, “Certainly the greatest nation of Indians ever yet found.” “They can shoot the wildest and largest beasts in the woods, at seventy or one hundred yards distance,” -Red Cloud fit the bill. The New York Times heralded him as “a perfect Hercules,” “a man of brains, a good ruler, an eloquent speaker, and able general and fair diplomat,” “undoubtedly the most celebrated warrior living on the American Continent,” who commanded ten thousand people and two thousand warriors. -“A powerful and warlike people, proud, haughty, and defiant; will average six feet in height, strong muscular frames, and very good horsemen.” They were, he warned, “capable of doing much harm.” Truly a fascinating history told by a great story teller.

Highly recommend Pekka Hämäläinen’s “Lakota” which brings to life the multidimensional Sioux - Lakota Indians, a major historical actor who impacted the destiny of several regional and global powers. Also recommend Peter Cozzens book “The Earth Is Weeping.” 50 years ago, Mr. Dee Brown’s “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” fashioned the contemporary Indian narrative casting the Indians victims of European and American imperialism - the Howard Zinn version of history. Unfortunately for writers like Brown and Zinn, history is not always black or white; there is often much nuance and subtle context which is easily lost to narrative and agenda. Hämäläinen does a great job calling “balls and strikes” evenhandedly for both teams. Hämäläinen’s book provides a fascinating journey following the Lakota from marginal players during the French - Indian era (Lakota were on the receiving end of Iroquois power) to Great Plains hegemon by the American Civil War. Like the American push to the Pacific, the Lakota rise to empire was messy and often violent - many tribes that stood in the Lakota’s way were vanquished, absorbed, or enslaved. History is often ironic. Despite some minor stumbles, Hämäläinen’s Lakota remains solid until the end. The ghost of Dee Brown unfortunately surfaces in the Epilogue and a powerful sovereign is cast as victims in 20th century America...for me, the book ends on an disappointing sour note. Minus the Epilogue, the book would have received 4.5 Stars - yes, the Epilogue was that bad. A final thought: The book prompts many questions that are tough to answer. The most obvious (that applies to all contemporary powers): how should the United States have done different during its push west? This books is a combination of Friedman’s “Lexus and Olive Tree” and Huntington “Clash of Civilizations” both operating in the background. The history of man is one of conqueror and conquered; winner and looser which is ongoing and continues today. Despite the ending, I highly recommend Pekka Hämäläinen’s “Lakota”.

After reading this exhaustively researched tome of truth, one cannot help but book your next trip to visit the Black Hills of South Dakota and pay ones respects to Chief Crazy Horse and the Lakota - Sioux nations. Be sure to keep a book of tissues handy. Reading this will help you understand how America was built upon the genocide of 56 million people and the enslavement of another race. The best we can do is make things better and remind ourselves that we all must agree to a set of ground rules that were codified by the Constitution which in itself would not have been written without the direct help of the Iroquois who offered the Iroquois Articles of Confederacy. Yes, they were in the room where it was written.

Having read “Comanche Empire” I knew I had to read this book. .My general impression is that the Comanche rule over vast land masses was triggered by incessant violence, horsemanship, and raiding, to establish wealth and dominance until the loss of buffalo, widespread disease, and, finally, organized plans of extermination by Texans wiped the tribe away. Unlike the lack of any central authority over Comanche people, the fascinating history of the Lakota people reflects a massive number of members constantly building a ferocious image as quick to violence as a lever to bolster its decades of success in holding off the inevitable end of its hunting culture and as stewards of land. Leaders like Red Cloud in particular are featured as shrewd in manipulating government officials, no less U.S. Presidents, in stalling off numerous deceits, broken promises, and corrupt maneuvers to end the vast power and military threat that the Lakota nation had amassed over centuries, not just decades.. My constant criticism is really a backhanded compliment..The author has provided such exhaustive detail that one must imagine he included every inch of his research, to leave nothing out..The saving grace to me is his writing skill, which presents the material so graphically and cogently that the temptation to skim never really gets going very far. Over and over, as reading, I asked myself how did he find the time to tell so much? To our good fortune, he somehow did so

A great book. I'm intrigued by the fact that a young Finnish professor at Oxford should have fallen in love with the northern native American culture when he was a young student in Helsinki and has come now to write a book that should help set the record straight: The Sioux (in particular the Lakotas) were a large Indian nation, cultured and fierce defenders of their values. They killed Custer and his arrogant invaders in self defense. We should all learn to share in their tragedy and to do what we can to pay amends for the continuing abuse of their land - I mean the Dakota and Keystone pipe lines. It's a great adventure book.

This is a remarkably well documented history of the Lakota Sioux over several centuries. The texture is rich. Trbal history, behavior, family structure, political and intertribal warfare are all discussed without sugar coating brutality or racal hostility to whites impinging on their territory by history and treaty. It does require a commitment to log term reading as it is encyclopedic in its reach. Engagingly witten and I am glad to have my knowledge extended even more. easily a 5 star read. Cactus Ken