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Francis Paul Prucha
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The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians (Abridged Edition) Paperback – Abridged, April 1, 1986

by Francis Paul Prucha (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 57 ratings
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The Great Father was widely praised when it appeared in two volumes in 1984 and was awarded the Ray Allen Billington Prize by the Organization of American Historians. This abridged one-volume edition follows the structure of the two-volume edition, eliminating only the footnotes and some of the detail. It is a comprehensive history of the relations between the U.S. government and the Indians. Covering the two centuries from the Revolutionary War to 1980, the book traces the development of American Indian policy and the growth of the bureaucracy created to implement that policy.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    426 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    University of Nebraska Press
  4. Publication date
    April 1, 1986
  5. Dimensions
    6.03 x 1.12 x 8.98 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0803287127
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0803287129
  8. Lexile measure
    1450L
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

'The author's detailed analysis of two centuries of federal policy makes The Great Father indispensable reading for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of American Indian policy.' - Journal of American History.

About the Author

Francis Paul Prucha, S.J., a leading authority on American Indian policy and the author of more than a dozen other books, is an emeritus professor of history at Marquette University.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Nebraska Press; Abridged edition (April 1, 1986)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 426 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0803287127
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0803287129
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1450L
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.3 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.03 x 1.12 x 8.98 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 57 ratings

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Francis Paul Prucha

Francis Paul Prucha

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
57 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Emily
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful copies in great condition - excellent read.
Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2023
Verified Purchase
Condition is precisely as described. The Quality of the delivery packaging was top notch. I would highly recommend shopping from fables books. Prucha is a great writer and the prologue is entrancing. I cannot wait to pick this apart over the next year.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Used as a textbook
Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2023
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This was one of the first books I got in my Masters in Legal Studies in Indigenous Peoples' Law at University of Oklahoma. It nicely sums up each "Era" of U.S. government relations with Native people--Assimilation, Termination, Self-Determination, etc. A good go-to book for scholars of Native American history or law.
One person found this helpful
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Richard Ellison
5.0 out of 5 stars A Species of Paupers Know Better
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2013
Verified Purchase
Frances Paul Prucha, S.J.,Professor, elite man of letters, amassed a dynamic two volume masterpiece in researching and writing this incredible story of the American Indian - a people that General W.T. Sherman declared "...will all have to be killed, or be maintained as a Species of Paupers", as reported by Robert Penn Warren. What Sherman should have said, "...will all have to be educated and assimulated into American society at large or live in sad surroundings for the rest of their lives".

Dr. Prucha's classic work, The Great Father, is matchless in researching and writing in only two volumes about every major relationship and treaty between the United States with every Native American tribe. And beautifully expressed as the iconic history that it is. No wonder that it has become a "dream" reference book for anyone writing about our first Americans or for anyone wanting to know more about them.

Richard W. Ellison, Novelest
[...]
4 people found this helpful
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Theresa Young
4.0 out of 5 stars Prucha's Indian History: The Most Neutal Book I Ever Read
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2011
Francis P. Prucha's The Great Father is a comprehensive study of the permanence of a paternalistic attitude and the continuing notion of cultural superiority in white/Indian relations in the United States over two hundred years. His survey of the federal government's motives, policies, and results is a neutral account of the events; he makes no ground breaking assumption or thesis. He methodically details the efforts of government agencies, private efforts, and religious groups in the shaping of official policy within the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The result was a "determination to do what was best for the Indians according to white norms, which translated into protection, subsistence of the destitute, punishment of the unruly, and eventually taking the Indians by the hand and leading them along the path to white civilization and Christianity."
Prucha picks 1880 as the dividing line in official policy because it marks a shift from acculturation efforts backed by the military into a reform movement era centered on assimilation. Paternalism in the Colonial period is centered on protection, a child like image of the tribes existed and they needed to be saved from the lying, manipulative British/French/Spanish. George Washington began a long standing tradition of passing out peace medals at delegation meetings to secure trust with the tribes in negotiations. This traditional exchange became a necessary tradition because an image of the president (The Great Father) was usually on one side and an image of shaking hands or similar image was on the other. The peace medal played a dualistic role being a propaganda item and also a valuable gift. When the Indian Office took over increased duties once performed by the President, symbolic items like the peace medal became rare and the bureaucratic system grew and grew.
In the 1830's President Jackson and his heavy handed policy of removal was the culmination of efforts since the Louisiana Purchase to expand white settlement to the Eastern shores of the Mississippi River. The Indians suffered dearly in this era, but Prucha tends to minimize the hardships and gloss over the forced marches performed by many tribes in this decade. He describes them, but in such a neutral voice, it almost seems like a disregard for the suffering. The stampede of Christian reformers began in the 1840's and continued long after the Civil War. The first sign (to the outside world) of a need for major reforms was the massacre at Sandcreek in 1864. Despite a white flag, prominently displayed Black Kettle's band was gunned down by General Chivington. Prucha feels Sandcreek was never forgotten and became a symbol of the erroneous official Indian Policy before 1880.
After 1880 the Military played a much smaller role in the management and control of reservations; they were no longer needed because the Plains Tribes way of life and the buffalo were gone forever. The reservation and assimilation era culminated around education according to Prucha. Independent groups like the Women's National Indian Association and the Indian Rights Association now could lobby on behalf of the tribes and successfully helped gain the issue national attention. The reformers sought to Americanize the Indians. It was felt the process of owning private property (the Dawes Act 1887) would transform them and wash away the Indianess. Their children became more American at schools, learning academics half the day and an industrial skill in the afternoons. Prucha explains how tribes in America became wards of the state, dependent (in his mind) on Federal funds to survive. He feels the efforts to assimilate tribes failed and the government continues to act in a paternalistic fashion.
5 people found this helpful
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Janie Chamberlain
5.0 out of 5 stars Transparent
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2019
Verified Purchase
One of the most amazing books I've read
Tells the truth instead of skipping over the details people don't want to hear, but it's the truth and it should be widely known
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M. M.
5.0 out of 5 stars as described
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2020
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glad to have item. will always purchased used books whenever possible.
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Kathryn
5.0 out of 5 stars I needed this book for my law class. Shipment ...
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2018
Verified Purchase
I needed this book for my law class. Shipment was on time and the product was as described. Thank you!
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Caroline Sherman
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2018
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I really enjoyed this book, thanks.
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