Or the Hopi Snake Dance, the occupation of Wounded Knee village, or the Seminole Freed-men claim, you have never before seen those and myriad other historic episodes from these perspectives. In this first-of-its-kind anthology, American Indian scholars examine crucial events in their own nations' histories. On the one hand, these writers represent diverse tribal perspectives. On the other, they share a unifying point of view grounded in ancestral wisdom: the Cosmos is a live being, Earth is our Mother, the North American tribes are engaged in national liberation struggles, and Indigenous realities are as viable as any other. Fanciful? Read this book and see whether you still think so. Susan A. Miller of the Seminole Nation is a freelance writer living in Lincoln, Nebraska. James Riding In of the Pawnee Nation is an associate professor of American Indian Studies at Arizona State University.

Anthropologist Robert K. Thomas once said that "colonization is the deprivation of experience," because it essentially robs indigenous peoples of the ability to understand and face change on their own terms. Not only does colonization displace Native peoples, but colonizers also attempt to construct a narrative in which Native sacred histories, languages, and ceremonies are irrelevant in a changing world. It is the ultimate form of trespass because it destructively encroaches on Native time, space, and knowledge. Susan A. Miller and James Riding In have put together a superb reader on this historical process as applied to Native North Americans. Every student of Native American Studies as well as world and American historiography should have this book in his or her library. Right on target with its truth seeking and truth telling.

This anthology must be commended for its intelligence, courage, integrity, and grace. Book jacket.