Review of The Political Economy of North American Indians Edited by John H. Moore

Authors

Larry Burt, Southwest Misouri State University

Date of this Version

1995

Comments

Published in Great Plains Quarterly 15:3 (Summer 1995). Copyright © 1995 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Abstract

This book consists primarily of essays that were first delivered before the Twelfth International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences held in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, in 1988. Billed as Marxist in perspective, it seeks to show that Indian history should be seen more as economic conflict than cultural clash.

In the introductory piece the editor provides an excellent overview of the history of political economy in general and its use in anthropology in particular. The articles that follow vary widely in length, scope, and quality. All somehow explain the motivation behind governmental policy, as well as developments within Indian communities, as matters of production, trade, and consequent politics, rather than accept any officially or openly stated causation. Some offer convincing and detailed analyses in demonstrating economic roots, while others seem only to make the claim or strain credibility by avoiding consideration of openly stated motivations that cannot always be ignored.