If you have ever wondered about the Indian tribes who lived in the American Southeast at the time of the European settlement (1500 to 1840) this book is for you. You might think it’s an easy question, but it’s not. Surprisingly, there is much more information available on the prehistoric peoples of the region than on the Indian tribes encountered by literate Europeans and Americans.
Bonnie McEwan, who is director of archaeology at Mission San Luis in Tallahassee, Florida, has assembled an outstanding group of scholars to integrate the archaeological, historical, and ethnographic evidence in the most comprehensive study of these cultures ever published. Clearly, the lack of an interdisciplinary approach has limited our understanding of these tribes, and this volume takes a giant step forward in correcting that problem. Eleven of the nation’s top historical archaeologists tackle 11 of the Indian nations that occupied the territory from Florida to Texas. They include some of the best known, but little-understood American tribes—the Cherokee, the Natchez, and the Caddo. Most of their descendents now live in Oklahoma, to which they were removed by land hungry Americans in the 19th century.
These are the tribes that first come in contact with an alien civilization and an alien religion. But it was perhaps alien germs that changed their way of life most drastically, as populations plummeted. Even the most determined natives were unable to resist these massive changes, which are ably documented in this distinguished volume. It’s an overdue addition to the unhappy history of a Native and European collision.– Mark Michel
