Daily Life of Native Americans in the Twentieth Century

Donald Fixico, one of the foremost scholars on Native Americans, details the day-to-day lives of these indigenous people in the 20th century. As they moved from living among tribes in the early 1900s to the cities of mainstream America after WWI and WWII, many Native Americans grappled with being both Indian and American. Through the decades they have learned to embrace a bi-cultural existence that continues today. In fourteen chapters, Fixico highlights the similarities and differences that have affected the generations growing up in 20th-century America. Chapters include details of daily life such as education; leisure activities & sports; reservation life; spirituality, rituals & customs; health, medicine & cures; urban life; women's roles & family; bingos, casinos & gaming.Greenwood's Daily Life through History series looks at the everyday lives of common people. This book explores the lives of Native Americans and provides a basis for further research. Black and white photographs, maps and charts are interspersed throughout the text to assist readers. Reference features include a timeline of historic events, sources for further reading, glossary of terms, bibliography and index.

"[F]or students in middle and high school and general readers, shows what life was really like for ordinary people....[t]hroughout history." - Multicultural Review, "Fixico presents an introduction to the big picture of Native American life in the 21st century while also providing the historical context for the primary issues faced by the members of some 500 Indian tribal groups living on 200-plus reservations and in every major city in the western U.S. Coverage includes family and women's roles; economics and urbanization; language and education; aspects of material life; aspects of political and public life; recreational life, outdoors, and sports; religious practices and morality; art, artifacts, music, and entertainment; Native Americans in literature and the media; nature, environment, home spaces, and resources; humor; the gaming industry; and health care. The text reveals the complexities of sustaining the communities and practices of a minority group while also working, living, and playing in a mainstream world." - Reference & Research Book News/Art Book News Annual

DONALD FIXICO is Distinguished Foundation Professor of History at Arizona State University. He is the author of numerous articles and several books including Termination and Relocation: Federal Indian Policy, 1945-1960 (1986), The Invasion of Indian Country in the Twentieth Century American Capitalism and Tribal Natural Resources (1998), The Urban Indian Experience in America (2000), and The American Indian Mind in a Linear World: Traditional Knowledge and American Indian Studies (2003).