Ruling Pine Ridge
Oglala Lakota Politics from the IRA to Wounded Knee
Published on 30. March 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-0-89672-656-7 (ISBN)
Description
Incorporating previously overlooked materials, including tribal council records, oral histories, and reservation newspapers, ""Ruling Pine Ridge"" explores the political history of South Dakotas Oglala Lakota reservation during the mid-twentieth century. Akim D. Reinhardt examines the reservations transition from the direct colonialism of the pre-1934 era to the indirect colonial policies of the controversial Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) and the advent of the tribal council governing system still in place today on Pine Ridge and on many other reservations. Reinhardt demonstrates how conflicting political values foregrounded by the new governing format led to an aggravation of social divisions on the reservation and eventually came to a head in 1973 with the occupation and siege of Wounded Knee. The siege is best understood, he claims, not as a political stunt of the American Indian Movement (AIM) but as a spontaneous, grassroots protest at least forty years in the making.
Reviews / Votes
A seminal study... academically impressive, substantively informative, and thoughtfully insightful. --Midwest Book Review ""Ruling Pine Ridge reads strong, having captured the essence of OIA/BIA internal colonist control over Pine Ridge throughout most of the twentieth century. In this respect, it is an important historical resource for understanding contemporary political struggles of American Indian reservations and Native Americans."" --James V. Fenelon, Great Plains Quarterly, Summer 2008 ""A work of impeccable and detailed scholarly research (some of which had never been previously accessed by historians), that should be a part of every university library's Native American Studies reference collection, Ruling Pine Ridge is a seminal study that is an academically impressive, substantively informative, and thoughtfully insightful."" --Internet Bookwatch, Sept. 2007 ""Akim D. Reinhardt taps the currents of Native American life...[his] work is essential for anyone seeking insight and understanding of the subterranean currents in Lakota societies from the IRA to AIM."" --William L. Hewitt, Nebraska History, Winter 2007 ""Reinhardt is skilled at drawing personal stories from his sources, weaving them into his narrative, and combining them with other data to support his thesis. Overall, the book is thoroughly researched and carefully and convincingly argued. Unlike many academic writers, Reinhardt also tells a good story, taking us inside events as they unfolded on the Pine Ridge reservation... Still, Ruling Pine Ridge makes a valuable contribution to American Indian Studies, one with both theoretical and practical relevance. Through his rigorous political history of Pine Ridge, Reinhardt exposes the historical foundation of reservation politics throughout the United States."" --Julie Davis, Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Autumn 2007More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Texas
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
9 b/w photos, 5 maps
Dimensions
Height: 228 mm
Width: 154 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
494 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-89672-656-7 (9780896726567)
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Schweitzer Classification