The Shawnees and Their Neighbors, 1795-1870

This is my favorite Shawnee history text because it comprehensively pulls together a timeline, collateral world events, and a superbly detailed bibliography. And it accomplishes all of this on a scholarly level while also maintaining my interest. A.k.a.… It’s not boring. I don’t fall asleep after three pages. He weaves a tale that includes inconvenient, unpredictable, and often misrepresented facts. For example, many people would like to lump the Shawnee as a singular group or they might like to look to today’s federally-recognized three bands. Professor Warren goes backward to lay out the multiple bands, tell where they originated from, explain what motivated them to move at various times in history, and help us understand why they were distinct from each other. I also appreciate his continual reference to the Shawnee as a transformative culture, surviving through constant reinvention. It’s too simple to say they moved here or there, or that they married white settlers. He helps us understand how survival sometimes depended upon assimilation into a white, Christian society or sometimes how this even went so far as to include accepting slaves as a sign of your prominent, American status. On the other hand he also makes truthful assertions about non-native spouses who many times even after their Shawnee spouse passed away were added to Shawnee agency rolls without having a particular cultural connection. He doesn’t go so far as to hazard an opinion. This is where he keeps it factual. But one is allowed to infer that some people were added to the rolls because doing so afforded them a land allotment. This is a complicated story to tell particularly by a non-native or specifically a non-Shawnee historian. But his work is greatly shored up by his long-term, personal connections with Shawnee families whose photos and stories he takes great care in sharing. Life is not a cut and dry, black and white scenario. Of course a 400 year history is going to have lots of twists and turns and contradictions. I’ve read this book twice now and my copy is filled with notes in the margins, highlights, and little Post-it notes on the edges. Anyone interested in an authentic history of American Indian life can appreciate this book.

One of the best scholarly work on the Shawnee people. It includes their experiences from the Ohio River Valley through the migration to Missouri and Kansas. It includes specific Shawnee families and their influence on the tribe. This work gives a great detail on removal and Shawnee reaction to it. What I really enjoyed is the emphasis on the relationships not only between the Shawnee and the U.S. Government but also their fellow tribes living around them. I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking to go beyond a basic history of Algonquin people. Because of the specific families mentioned it might even be helpful for those looking to connect their own personal story of their ancestors. Again, highly recommend this book.

I purchased this book as a gift. A friend has been trying to learn more about his heritage. He's only just started reading the book, but thus far he's enjoying it and recites things he finds very interesting. Which by the amount he recites... I'd say it's a lot.