Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
May 2002
Abstract
Rather than dealing strictly with the subject of his book's title, Gulliford leads the reader through a variety of background history pertaining to the American government's misuse of its First Nations peoples, their culture, and associated artifacts. While this approach is acceptable for establishing a fundamental framework, a foreword explaining the procedure would have prepared the reader for the thrust of the ensuing discussions. In each chapter Gulliford wades through the negative implications of the criteria he is using before presenting examples of the subject. In fact, there are few examples of each variety of object or site compared with the author's excessive discussions of the violations or political exterminations suffered by American First Nations populations. Had the work been titled "American Genocide, American Desecration" it would have better corresponded with the discussions.
Comments
Published in Great Plains Quarterly, vol. 22, no. 2 (Spring 2002). Published by the Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Copyright © 2000 Center for Great Plains Studies. Used by permission.