"Castile shows that , despite near-universal support, self-determination has suffered from problems arising from implementation, as turning policy into reality on the reservations has proved surprisingly difficult. He examines the challenge of sustaining "progress" in Indian self-determination because of funding problems, contract regulations, and the immovable nature of the federal bureaucracy. He also points to the instability of some tribal governments, along with apprehension among some Indians that self-determination would bring with it the abandonment of federal support for tribal existence."--BOOK JACKET.

The authors of these essays are an interdisciplinary team of anthropologists and historians who have combined the research methods of both fields to present a comprehensive study of their subject. Published in 1979, the book takes an ethnohistorical approach and touches on the history, anthropology, and sociology of the South as well as on Native American studies. While much has been written on the archaeology, ethnography, and early history of southern Indians before 1840, most scholarly attention has shifted to Oklahoma and western Indians after that date. In studies of the New South or of Indian adaptation after the passage of the frontier, southeastern native peoples are rarely mentioned. This collection fills that void by providing an overview history of the culture and ethnic relations of the various Indian groups that managed to escape the 1830s removal and retain their ethnic identity to the present.