Review of The Dakota or Sioux in Minnesota as They Were in 1854

Authors

Herbert T. Hoover, University of South DakotaFollow

Date of this Version

1988

Comments

Published in Great Plains Quarterly WINTER 1988. Copyright 1988 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska—Lincoln.

Abstract

Gary Anderson introduces the reminiscence of a nineteenth-century missionary as a source "unrivaled today for its comprehensive discussion of Dakota material culture and social, political, religious, and economic institutions." With the term "unrivaled," evidently Professor Anderson assigns credence to the work of Pond, for he goes on to say that the missionary attempted "an objective assessment of the Dakota before their intercourse with whites· dramatically changed their society." Thus a prospective reader is likely to gain the impression that The Dakota or Sioux in Minnesota is wholly reliable. A professional historian who has written two volumes on the history of Indian-White relations in eastern Sioux Country recommends it. It is reprinted by a historical society press of high reputation.