Book Review: 'Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians'

Monday, April 30, 2012  

"Ojibwe historian and award-winning author Anton Treuer offers a balanced, frank and enlightening look inside Indian culture, shattering stereotypes that swing between romanticism (embodied in fictions like "The Last of the Mohicans" and "Dances With Wolves") and racism (seen in most films where Indians are depicted as bloodthirsty savages rightfully shot down by the U.S. cavalry).

What Treuer makes clear is the eye-opening diversity of Indian cultures, the large differences between and within tribes about languages, religious practices, casinos, economic development and more. What's true for one Indian, such as Treuer, who grew up on the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota, may not be true for others.

Treuer asks and answers more than 100 questions, some quite basic ("What is a powwow?") and others less so ("Why does the FBI investigate murders on some reservations?"). The answer Treuer offers to "What is Indian religion?" is reflected in many of his responses, which is that it depends on which Indian group you're talking about: "Because there is so much diversity in Indian country," Treuer writes, "there is no such thing as Indian religion. Customs and traditions vary significantly from tribe to tribe.""

Get the Story:
NONFICTION: "Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask," by Anton Treuer (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 4/29)