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.

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.)

Charles Mingus is one of the most important—and most mythologized—composers and performers in jazz history. Classically trained and of mixed race, he was an outspoken innovator as well as a bandleader, composer, producer, and record-label owner. His vivid autobiography, Beneath the Underdog, has done much to shape the image of Mingus as something of a wild man: idiosyncratic musical genius with a penchant for skirt-chasing and violent outbursts. But, as the autobiography reveals, he was also a hopeless romantic. After exploring the most important events in Mingus’s life, Krin Gabbard takes a careful look at Mingus as a writer as well as a composer and musician. He digs into how and why Mingus chose to do so much self-analysis, how he worked to craft his racial identity in a world that saw him simply as “black,” and how his mental and physical health problems shaped his career. Gabbard sets aside the myth-making and convincingly argues that Charles Mingus created a unique language of emotions—and not just in music. Capturing many essential moments in jazz history anew, Better Git It in Your Soul will fascinate anyone who cares about jazz, African American history, and the artist’s life.

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

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.