Editorial Reviews. From Publishers Weekly. Nerburn (Neither Wolf Nor Dog: On Forgotten Chief Joseph & the Flight of the Nez Perce: The Untold Story of an American Tragedy - Kindle edition by Kent Nerburn. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note.
Table of contents
My favorite review of Chief Joseph - Kent Nerburn
This is the tragic story of the Nez Perce, who were given numerous promises to keep or return to their home land which never came to fruition, and the elevation of Joseph who was the chief of one band of Nez Perce as their leader in the eyes of white America. He never stopped fighting to bring the Nez Perce home. There is a series on television entitled "American Greed" in my opinion, there is no stronger illustration of American Green than the greedy acquisition of the homeland of the people indigenous to the American continent, by our predecessors.
Kent Nerburn's telling of this story is heartbreaking. His story is of the families that made up the Nez Perce Nation; it is a story of husbands and wives and their children, no different in love and affection than what I have for my family. Mostly it is a s There is a series on television entitled "American Greed" in my opinion, there is no stronger illustration of American Green than the greedy acquisition of the homeland of the people indigenous to the American continent, by our predecessors. Mostly it is a story of a true, yet often unrecognized, leader in Chief Joseph, a leader who again and again placed his trust in a people and a government that kept only one promise, "We will take your land.
Author, sculptor, theologian, and educator, http: This biography follows current historical thought that Joseph was not a war leader, but rather tried to serve as a protector of his people. A great historical read while spending the summer in western Montana, this book details events of the Nez Perce's brief resistance, their long, to Author, sculptor, theologian, and educator, http: A great historical read while spending the summer in western Montana, this book details events of the Nez Perce's brief resistance, their long, torturous journey from Wallowa Valley, OR to almost reach Canada, and covers their tragic experiences following surrender.
Aug 14, Jason rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: This is a great book written in a purely narrative style, and very easily readable even to someone not interested in any critical analyzation. This is also a sad book about a man who always tried to do right by his people and got sucked into fighting a war he did not want.
He deserves all the praise given to him, but for different reasons than most people think. The saddest part of the book, and I think something that is very revealing about American culture, is how near the end of his life, he w This is a great book written in a purely narrative style, and very easily readable even to someone not interested in any critical analyzation.
Dec 22, Frodo rated it it was amazing. Military and captured 40 miles from their destination in Canada.
I have known the tragic story of the Native Americans only from the victor's point of view. This was an ugly stain on our nation's history as a governing people, but a portrait and testament of dedication and commitment of the native people and Chief Joseph. Oct 18, Anntonette rated it really liked it. This was an enlightening book.
I often pondered while reading it whether we would have had the same level of tragedy in the American story if it had not been for hotheaded young men European and Native American alike. This isn't a clean story of good guys and bad guys. It is the age-old story of cultures clashing, winners and losers, technological advantage, and the violence inherent in being a human. This account illustrates what happens when the darker aspects of humanity are allowed to expr This was an enlightening book.
This account illustrates what happens when the darker aspects of humanity are allowed to express themselves. A tragic event A five star rating for a five star book. Well researched and presented in an unbiased historical context, this book gets 5 stars due to its ability to capture the essence of a people's suffering. The single thread that ran throughout this book is the author's ability to transport this reader and make me feel as if I was there.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in American history, Native American history, or anyone simply interested in one example of how the original o A tragic event A five star rating for a five star book. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in American history, Native American history, or anyone simply interested in one example of how the original owners of North America were pushed aside to create a new country.
Dec 21, Hunter McCleary rated it it was amazing. Too often you get biographies of mythic figures that come up short, leaving the subject less or more than they were. After reading Nerburn's bio I retained my sympathy for what the white man did to Native Americans but also gained some appreciation for efforts by Joseph and many whites to redress these wrongs.
And that in his time the myth of Joseph was mostly manufactured by whites while he stayed true to thinking first of his people. Jun 28, Ardys rated it it was amazing. It is painful to read the story of a people that was brought close to extinction by U. Our story of the occupation and population of this continent is however, unable to be told without recognizing those events, which were repeated in a million scenarios over the past 3 centuries. May 14, Iain rated it really liked it Shelves: A pleasure to read and often difficult to put down.
Recommended for anyone interested in the Frontier West or Indian Wars.
KIRKUS REVIEW
My only reservation is that it has no footnotes and yet often presents the thoughts and feelings of individuals The author explains his techniques, but be aware that this is a readable narrative and not unbiased. Sep 14, Nancy Allen rated it it was amazing. An American Tragedy - for sure. This book brings one to tears as the Nez Perce lose everything they hold valuable as a result of broken promises and pressure to become Christians and adopt white ways.
Jan 31, Rita rated it it was amazing. Very good readable book, told from the viewpoint of the Nez Perce. Very sad story of what happened to these people.
- Refine your editions:.
- La pornocratie (French Edition).
- See a Problem?;
- Chief Joseph the Flight of the Nez Perce: The Untold Story of an American Tragedy by Kent Nerburn?
- Not Too Far To Have Never Been.
- Chief Joseph & the Flight of the Nez Perce!
- Civil Support, Joint Publication 3-28!
Sep 06, Eli rated it really liked it. This reads like a novel, not like a history, though it was researched like a history. Dec 04, Clark Hays rated it really liked it. This book about the flight of the Nez Perce has been on my shelf for a while now, but the protests in Standing Rock got me thinking about issues facing the tribes of the First Americans, so I dusted it off.
The author paints a much different picture — that of a man who tried his best to keep his people together and safe under horrific conditions bitter cold and starvation and in the face of constant betrayal by the whites in power — as other more prominent Nez Perce leaders made a combination of bad and ill-fated decisions leading to their capture.
- SIMILAR BOOKS SUGGESTED BY OUR CRITICS:!
- 4 editions of this work!
- Journal de route (Témoignages de la Shoah) (French Edition).
The story become truly tragic after their capture as the Nez Perce were shuttled farther away from their treaty lands and deeper into the fetid heart of Indian Territory where depression and disease took their toll. He was tireless in his efforts to reclaim their rightful land, given to them, at least twice, by treaty. Instead, he died in exile on the Colville reservation, far from his home. Some of his people, those who adopted white ways and embraced Christianity, were able to return to a sliver of their former ancestral homes, but he remained a man between two worlds, trying to take a pragmatic stance of working with the whites while honoring the traditions of the Nez Perce.
Sadly, that only served to weaken his standing in both communities. The author does a fine job of capturing the cultural, religious and political currents swirling around this sad chapter in America, and is convincing when writing about tribal life. It is breathtakingly beautiful country and I can understand why Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekht fought for it and never gave up trying to return. Apr 06, Holly rated it it was amazing Shelves: A beautiful, well-crafted history. Nerburn doesn't romanticize and doesn't shy away from objectively examining events when they reach criminal levels.
Most appreciated was his historical contextualization of the recent Custer debacle and how it influenced the US Army during the Nez Perce pursuit. He also e A beautiful, well-crafted history. He also examines the ripple-effect of the Civil War and it's negative impact on decision making in Washington regarding the treatment of Indian peoples. Nerburn doesn't seem to excise either the Nez Perce or the US Army from their own particular contexts, and this makes for a remarkable read. The book opens appropriately enough detailing the Nez Perce world and culture.
We meet Lewis and Clark through their eyes, we meet the first missionaries, settlers, miners, all brands of foreigner with an enlightening and fair approach. The reader becomes so familiar with the Nez Perce that we can later sympathize deeply with certain experiences, whether it be their attempt to process their first encounter with heavy artillery of the US Army, their first forced train transport, or a sprawling city.
We also see the Nez Perce through the soldiers eyes themselves, especially those who had very close contact with them prior to surrender Furthermore, Nerburn brings the frontier to life in an honest conveyance of the converging clash of culture;it is an important human experience. As a historical work, Nerburn avoids footnotes and relies rather on end notes divided by chapter.
This method suits the read because many times I wondered how I was getting so close to these figures of the past: Feb 17, Anthony rated it really liked it. Another revealing look at early America, and its hidden and well kept secrets of the ugly side of its history, and how an indigenous group of people were marginalized, uprooted, mistreated, and robbed of their land, resources, wealth and culture all in the name of manifest destiny.
Well researched, this read will shed light on the misrepresentation and distortion of the Native American and the real history of a proud people. Jul 05, David Donaldson rated it it was amazing. I've read some other reviews concerned with accuracy of such a liberal narrative.
Maybe some parts were overly-improvised. Nevertheless, this a very readable account of a journey flush with hardship. When traveling through the lands of the west, I cannot help but see ghosts. And by that I mean the memories in the landscape. It invokes a sense of wonder. Who were the people that lived here? What was their story? And where are they now. This book is the story of the Nez Perce. Among questionable c I've read some other reviews concerned with accuracy of such a liberal narrative.
Questions?
Among questionable circumstances, they fled their homeland hoping for freedom among vast tracts of land in the west. With the US military on their heels, they traversed rugged terrain and nearly made an escape. Cornered and broken, they surrendered only to be catapulted into a system of neglect and downright discrimination.
I moved out west because of the glory of the natural landscape. I can only imagine what it would be like to live with that glory going generations back. Only to have it taken from you by strangers who neither respect the land or your people.
It makes me very sad to think of that separation between people and the land. The broadest selection of online bookstores. The links will take you to the Web site's homepage. From there you can navigate to the title you are interested in. Interest-specific online venues will often provide a book buying opportunity. Click here for a list of interest-specific sites grouped by category. If you are located outside the U.
Hidden in the shadow cast by the great western expeditions of Lewis and Clark lies another journey every bit as poignant, every bit as dramatic, and every bit as essential to an understanding of who we are as a nation -- the 1,mile journey made by Chief Joseph and eight hundred Nez Perce men, women, and children from their homelands in what is now eastern Oregon through the most difficult, mountainous country in western America to the high, wintry plains of Montana.
There, only forty miles from the Canadian border and freedom, Chief Joseph, convinced that the wounded and elders could go no farther, walked across the snowy battlefield, handed his rifle to the U. The story has been told many times, but never before in its entirety or with such narrative richness. Drawing on four years of research, interviews, and 20, miles of travel, Nerburn takes us beyond the surrender to the captives' unlikely welcome in Bismarck, North Dakota, their tragic eight-year exile in Indian Territory, and their ultimate return to the Northwest.
Nerburn reveals the true, complex character of Joseph, showing how the man was transformed into a myth by a public hungry for an image of the noble Indian and how Joseph exploited the myth in order to achieve his single goal of returning his people to their homeland. It is a grand saga of a pivotal time in our nation's history. Its events brush against the California Gold Rush, the Civil War, the great western pioneer migration, and the building of the telegraph and the transcontinental railroad.
Once you have read this groundbreaking work, you will never look at Chief Joseph, the American Indian, or our nation's westward journey in the same way again. Thanks for signing up! The legend served as a counterpoint to the saga of buckskin clad pioneers and of the heroic self-sacrifice of Custer and the 7th Cavalry at the Little Big Horn. It became part of the myth of the American frontier, a way to acknowledge the nobility of Native Americans without contradicting the rest of the story. Like most myths, the story of Chief Joseph was partly true.
Joseph, or Thunder Rising in the Mountains as he was known to his own people, was indeed a noble man. Indeed, the escaping Indians had lacked a formal command structure, decisions being made by consensus among the principal warriors. Army had been repeatedly defeated by a handful of warriors fighting to protect their wives and children. Although the Nez Perce committed several brutal attacks on white civilians in the initial fighting, they generally fought with a disciplined restraint normally expected of professional troops.
In one case, the Nez Perce bought food from a white settlement during their attempted flight to freedom rather than raid the town. Likewise, their compassionate treatment of wounded cavalry troopers won the admiration of their adversaries. The conduct of the U.
Army, on the other hand, was a text book exercise on the wrong way to fight a war. The use of warriors from tribes hostile to the Nez Perce and unruly frontier volunteers insured that atrocities would be inflicted against Nez Perce woman and children, thus compounding the difficulties faced by the ill-prepared regular troops.