Family Life in Native America

by James M. Volo, Dorothy Volo

Overview

This volume provides insight into the family life of Native Americans of the northeast quadrant of the North American continent and those living in the adjacent coastal and piedmont regions. These Native Americans were among the most familiar to Euro-colonials for more than two centuries. From the tribes of the northeast woodlands came "great hunters, fishermen, farmers and fighters, as well as the most powerful and sophisticated Indian nation north of Mexico [the Iroquois Confederacy].

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313337956
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/30/2007
Series:	Family Life through History
Pages:	424
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

James M. Volo, PhD, has been teaching physics, physical science, and astronomy for the past 39 years. He received his bachelor's from City College in New York, his masters from American Military University, and his doctorate from Berne University. He has taught on the Graduate level for more than 15 years and authored several reference works regarding U.S. military, social, and cultural history. In addition, he has consulted on TV and movie productions. Among his published works are Blue Water Patriots: The American Revolution Afloat (Greenwood, 2006), Daily Life in Civil War America (Greenwood, 1998), Family Life in the 19th Century (Greenwood, 2007), the Popular Culture of the Antebellum Period (Greenwood, 2004), and the Encyclopedia of the Antebellum South (Greenwood, 2000). Several of which were co-authored with his wife Dorothy Denneen Volo. Presently, Dr. Volo teaches at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Dorothy Denneen Volo is a math teacher at Norwalk Public Schools in Norwalk, Conn. She is co-author of Family Life in 17th and 18th Century America (Greenwood, 2006), Daily Life during the American Revolution (Greenwood, 2003), and many other Greenwood titles.

Table of Contents

Preface     vii
Introduction: First Contacts with Native America     xi
An Overview of the Native American World     1
An Environmental Geography of the Northeast Woodlands     3
The Structure of Woodland Society     21
The Indian Family as Villagers     41
Native American Kinship Systems     43
Child Rearing from Birth to Marriage     69
A World Wrought from Nature     89
The Bountiful Earth Mother     131
The Indian Family and the Spiritual World     155
Native American Ceremonies and Rituals     157
The Tomahawk and the Cross     187
The Indian Family in Conflict     207
Wilderness Warfare     209
The Fur Trade     231
Intertribal Trade and Conflict     247
The Indian Family as Diplomats     279
Dispossessing the First Nations     281
The Indian Alliances     297
Fighting Back: The Dark and Bloody Ground     335
Epilogue: The Small Wars and Manifest Destiny     347
North American Indian Lifestyles     353
Maps     375
Selected Bibliography     383
Index     387

Editorial Reviews

[A] richly detailed, well-documented survey that includes descriptions of the environment in which the Indians lived; their family, village, and tribal structures; native spiritual beliefs; and Indian warfare; as well as an examination of the changes brought by contact, trade, and warfare with Europeans. . . . The book's attention to detail, strong analysis, and limited focus will reward researchers with a wealth of information.” —School Library Journal

“The authors depict Native American life in a clear, comprehensive, and interesting style for general adult readers.” —MultiCultural Review

From the Publisher