The Indian Man: A Biography of James Mooney

by L. G. Moses

Overview

The Indian Man examines the life of James Mooney (1861–1921), the son of poor Irish immigrants who became a champion of Native peoples and one of the most influential anthropology fieldworkers of all time. As a staff member of the Smithsonian Institution for over three decades, Mooney conducted fieldwork and gathered invaluable information on rapidly changing Native American cultures across the continent. His fieldwork among the Eastern Cherokees, Cheyennes, and Kiowas provides priceless snapshots of their traditional ways of life, and his sophisticated and sympathetic analysis of the 1890 Ghost Dance and the consequent tragedy at Wounded Knee has not been surpassed a century later.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803282797
Publisher:	UNP - Bison Books
Publication date:	06/01/2002
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

L. G. Moses is a professor of history at Oklahoma State University. He is the author of Wild West Shows and the Images of American Indians, 1833–1933.

Editorial Reviews

“James Mooney, most and deservedly remembered for his classic book on the Ghost Dance, also played a prominent role in protecting the rights of early Native American Church members, which cost him heavily in his profession. . . . Moses points out flaws in Mooney’s work and even-handedly evaluates his standing in the field but shows his work to be invaluable and his character highly creditable.”—Darrell Rice, The Watonga Republican

The Watonga Republican - Darrell Rice

"Moses has admirably assembled the sparse facts about Mooney's life to produce a coherent, interesting biography, from which it is possible to ascertain those areas where Mooney was a captive of the biases of his era as well as those in which his outlook was clearly ahead of his time."—American Historical Review

American Historical Review

“James Mooney, most and deservedly remembered for his classic book on the Ghost Dance, also played a prominent role in protecting the rights of early Native American Church members, which cost him heavily in his profession. . . . Moses points out flaws in Mooney’s work and even-handedly evaluates his standing in the field but shows his work to be invaluable and his character highly creditable.”—Darrell Rice, The Watonga Republican

— Darrell Rice

The Watonga Republican