The belief in American exceptionalism reached its apex during the 1800s and was expressed as a God-given passport called Manifest Destiny. Among its victims were Native Americans. The Sioux resisted, eventually in desperation resorting to Ghost Dancing and claiming that Indians, not the whites, were the chosen people. The military, political, and legal destruction of Indian culture provided precedent and justification for the empire building that accelerated soon after Sioux resistance was crushed. Frank Fiske was a young boy who observed this confrontation firsthand at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, where Sitting Bull was held, then killed. Fiske recorded the story as he grew and also kept the glorious past of the Sioux alive with his spectacular photographs of the people and their traditions.The story of the Sioux is interwoven with the story of the early years in the life of the multi-talented Fiske, who attended school at Fort Yates with Indian children. He entertained soldiers, cowboys, and Indians by playing the violin, worked as a steamboat cabin boy and helped in the army post's photograph studio. Photography proved to be his specialty and when still in his teens, he opened his own commercial studio. His appreciation of Native American culture led him to photographing the Sioux. Fiske's photographs feature prominently in this book and his photographic techniques are explained.This thought-provoking book documents the dramatic atmosphere where the US Army, Mississippi steamboat captains, missionaries, hard-pressed settlers and a host of other characters converged with the American Indians, during the westward expansion - a critical time in US history when the character of the nation was still being forged.

In Hot Thespian Action! Robin Whittaker argues that new plays can thrive in amateur theatres, which have freedoms unavailable to professional companies. He proves it with ten relevant, engaging playscripts originally produced by one of Canada's longest-running theatres, Edmonton's acclaimed Walterdale Theatre Associates. This collection challenges notions that amateur theatre is solely a phenomenon of the pre-professional past. Whittaker makes an important contribution to Canadian theatre studies with the first North American anthology in 80 years to collect plays first produced by a nonprofessionalized theatre company.

This encyclopedia provides a broad, in-depth, and multidisciplinary look at the causes and effects of warfare between whites and Native Americans, encompassing nearly three centuries of history. The Battle of the Wabash: the U.S. Army's single worst defeat at the hands of Native American forces. The Battle of Wounded Knee: an unfortunate, unplanned event that resulted in the deaths of more than 150 Lakota Sioux men, women, and children. These and other engagements between white settlers and Native Americans were events of profound historical significance, resulting in social, political, and cultural changes for both ethnic populations, the lasting effects of which are clearly seen today. The Encyclopedia of North American Indian Wars, 1607–1890: A Political, Social, and Military History provides comprehensive coverage of almost 300 years of North American Indian Wars. Beginning with the first Indian-settler conflicts that arose in the early 1600s, this three-volume work covers all noteworthy battles between whites and Native Americans through the Battle of Wounded Knee in December 1890. The book provides detailed biographies of military, social, religious, and political leaders and covers the social and cultural aspects of the Indian wars. Also supplied are essays on every major tribe, as well as all significant battles, skirmishes, and treaties.

Ben Arnold (Connor), soldier, gold-seeker, bullwhacker, scout, hunter, cowboy, trader, miner, interpreter, and homesteader, epitomized the restless frontiersman. Through Arnold's recollections, the reader can experience life in the post-Civil War West. "The young Indians did not want to part with the Black Hills at any price, and not until the latter part of September did the treaty finally get under way. The treaty was attended by many renowned chiefs and their prominent followers. They were suspicious of the whites and it seemed evident from the first that the conference would not be able to accomplish its purpose-the bloodless acquisition of the Black Hills. Fortunately for me I had brought over the mail from Running Water and had the opportunity of hearing the treaty. I had given out beef issues to every agency represented and interested in the Black Hills. I knew the chiefs and leading men in every Sioux tribe and was able to converse with them without the necessity of an interpreter.... The situation was so tense that soldiers were sent over from Fort Robinson. Bloodshed seemed eminent. Had a gun been accidentally discharged, the life of every white man present would have been snuffed out instantly." "Arnold was a soldier in the Civil War, deserted on his second enlistment, and re-enlisted under an assumed name for service on the western Indian Frontier. On his way west, he helped to chase the guerrilla Quantrill, saw the smoke of burning Lawrence, traversed the Oregon Trail, and tarried by the way at Fort Kearney, Doby Town, Julesburg, and Fort Laramie. Stationed as a military guard on the telegraph line west of Laramie, Arnold herded horses, hunted bear, became acquainted with Joe Slade and other notorious plainsmen, and saw something of Brigham Young's Destroying Angels. Deserting again, Arnold went to the Snake River, across which he helped to ferry the ceaseless western-bound horde. Stampeding to Virginia City, he described the great Montana gold rush. He visited every trading post along the Missouri and became acquainted with all the characters of note, both white and Indian. Married to an Indian woman, he became skilled in Indian language and customs, took part as interpreter in the making of several treaties, and served as dispatch bearer in the Crook campaign." —Horace Bagley, North Dakota Historical Quarterly

Traces the turns of U.S. Indian policy and the effects of white social attitudes on Indian assimilation.

Vols. 2-5 include the 19th-22d Biennial reports of the Society, 1915/16-1922/23 (in v. 2-3 as supplements, in v. 4-5 as extra numbers.)