Great Plains Indians

David J. Wishart is a professor of geography at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He is the author or editor of many books, including Encyclopedia of the Great Plains (Nebraska, 2004), and The Last Days of the Rainbelt (Nebraska, 2014).

“Essential reading for any westerner. Great Plains Indians is a magnificent encapsulation of a story we all need to know.”-Elizabeth Fenn, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People  “Excellent style-probably the most readable synthesis I have encountered. Masterful in its economy, without sounding trite.”-Bonnie Lynn-Sherow, author of Red Earth: Race and Agriculture in Oklahoma Territory “David Wishart covers an astonishing range of time and territory in this brief introduction to the history of Plains Indians. Beginning with the earliest human migrations to the region, Wishart takes readers through Native cosmology and subsistence patterns, European incursions and indigenous dispossession, before arriving at the present moment, characterized by the bleak realities of reservation life mixed with the hopes represented by a resurgent population awaiting political mobilization.”-Andrew R. Graybill, author of The Red and the White: A Family Saga of the American West"Very informative."-Donald Raker, Journal of the Iowa Archeological Society "[Great Plains Indians is] packed with worthwhile information and observations on Indian life during the centuries before European settlement and up to present times."-Omaha World-Herald "[Wishart's] clear and succinct overview of Plains culture and history will enlighten the casual reader."-Publishers Weekly "These are the stories of how the United States came to be what it is today, and they should be known to all Americans."-W. Raymond Wood, Annals of Iowa "David Wishart's book is a very accessible introduction to the indigenous cultures of the North American Great Plains."-John Truden, Chronicles of Oklahoma "[Great Plains Indians] will serve as an excellent, concise, and informative introduction to many facets of Plains Indian cultures, past and present, and should also serve as a conduit into additional studies. . . . A recommended volume for anyone interested in Plains Indians and the ongoing history of Native-U.S. relations that adds to the scholarship of the U.S. West and Borderlands of adjacent regions."-William C. Meadows, New Mexico Historical Review "[Great Plains Indians] is written in an accessible manner and is up to date. It is a great introduction for those interested in knowing more about Plains Indian history and land and provides a foundation for undergraduate classes to think through current affairs in Indian Country."-William Bauer, Kansas History "Great Plains Indians by Nebraska geography professor David J. Wishart details the proud and fraught history of the original inhabitants of the plains. This broad view of the various peoples that tread the land tracks their trajectory from nomadic hunters to resolute resisters of European American expansion into their territory."-John Tolley, Big Ten Network

• List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: Plains Indians in the 2010 Census Chapter One. Since Time Immemorial Chapter Two. Land and Life around 1803 Chapter Three. A Century of Dispossession Chapter Four. Against All Odds Bibliography Index