Thomas Powers, who usually writes about foreign and military affairs and intelligence, has a first-rate piece of work on American Indian history in the April 7, 2005, issue of The New York Review of Books. The 5,548 word article may be read online for $3.00.
What makes Powers’ review essay so valuable is that it discusses American Indian history as it has been maintained — both in the recent and in the more distant past — by Indians.
What the old stories tell us is that Indian peoples lived on the edge, were dependent on animals and weather, respected cunning as much as courage, and at night around the fire invented a literature half about coping and half about mysteries, with lots of jokes.
A valuable and informative article. Highly recommended.
Powers also references this stunning online exhibit of Lakota winter counts.