Ethnohistory

""Blood Politics offers an anthropological analysis of contemporary identity politics within the second largest Indian tribe in the United States--one that pays particular attention to the symbol of "blood." The work treats an extremely sensitive topic with originality and insight. It is also notable for bringing contemporary theories of race, nationalism, and social identity to bear upon the case of the Oklahoma Cherokee."--Pauline Turner Strong, author of "Captive Selves, Captivating Others: The Politics and Poetics of Colonial American Captivity Narratives

Recent historical events make it clear that the world is in for a long-term continuation of ethnic rivalries that have been going on for centuries. The short-term hegemony of the European empires, the Soviet Union, and the United States temporarily subdued some of those conflicts, but older identities are now reasserting themselves. The most complicated, diverse ethnic setting is in Africa, where several thousand languages provide powerful identities to as many ethnic groups. The Peoples of Africa provides a brief description of more than 1,800 individual ethnic groups living today in Africa.

In 1991, the centrifugal forces of ethnic nationalism destroyed the Soviet Union. Religious and ethnic issues will be the defining principles of political life in East Europe, Transcaucasia, and Central Asia for the next decade. Yet when most Americans and Europeans read, for instance, of the Ossetians and Ingush, they have no idea who these peoples are or why they are fighting. This volume will provide a ready reference for students, researchers, and librarians who are trying to sort out the political and social struggles in that part of the world. Focusing on ethnolinguistic groups rather than peoples with purely religious orientations, Olson provides entries on over 450 ethnic groups, with appropriate cross-references. Each entry concludes with references, and the volume includes a selected bibliography of English-language titles. The volume also includes a chronology, several appendixes providing statistical information, and an appendix essay on Islam in Russia and the Soviet Union.

Writing from the Indian point of view is a central concern to historians today. Not only are new sources needed to understand native peoples, but new questions must be asked questions based in a deep knowledge of the languages and cultures of Native Americans. The seven essays in this volume present innovative approaches to revising Indian history and understanding native peoples on their own terms.

The relationship between American Indians and European colonialists has come under increasing scrutiny as the myth of America as virgin land has been shattered. Steele continues this reassessment and argues that recent research in ethnohistory, sociology of contact and military history invites a complete overhaul of North American military history.

In an intensive exploration of the changes experienced by the Comanche's and Caddoans during Spain's occupation of the Southern Plains (1689-1921), McCollough focuses on the relationship between political and economics conditions and patterns of settlement, production and social reproduction.