American Studies Commons^™

Review Of Aboriginal Title And Indigenous Peoples: Canada, Australia, And New Zealand. Edited By Louis A. Knafla And Haijo Westra., Dwight Newman

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This volume contains a number of intelligent, insightful essays that, as a collection, are meant to offer comparative perspectives on Aboriginal title issues in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. A relatively limited number of the essays actually engage in direct comparison, although David Yarrow's examination ofthe place ofIndigenous jurisdiction in Australia and Canada, Kent McNeil's scrutiny ofthe source and content ofIndigenous land rights in Australia and Canada, and Louis Knafta's superb introduction are welcome exceptions. Most of the other chapters frame a set of comparisons by engaging with issues in a single jurisdiction, although some are also devoted to specific …

Review Of A Dry Oasis: Institutional Adaptation To Climate On The Canadian Plains. Edited By Gregory P. Marchildon., Siân Mooney

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

A Dry Oasis examines past and potential future climate challenges on the Canadian Plains. The book provides extensive discussion, data, and analysis of challenges related to water supply and management within the South Saskatchewan River Basin (SSRB). Past challenges, experiences, and institutional responses are described and used to frame possible future adaptation pathways under expected future climate change. The book provides an excellent grounding in the historical settlement and development of the SSRB, paying particular attention to the ways that the economy, society, and institutions have adapted in response to climatic variability.

Horacepoolaw Photographer,Mentor,Grandfather, Thomas Poolaw

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

There are at least 2,000 silver nitrate negatives in the Horace Poolaw collection, and as many stories to go along with them. If you begin to talk about one image, it leads from that story to the next, and the next, and pretty soon two or three hours have gone by. Rather than discussing in detail the images in the Horace Poolaw collection, I would like to discuss Horace Poolaw the man-a complex yet loving individual who was much more than just a photographer. It is still difficult for me to talk about a person whose influence helped shape my …

Modernity, Multiples, And Masculinity Horace Poolaw's Postcards Of Elder Kiowa Men, Laura E. Smith

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Many Indians in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century commodified aspects of their cultures in order to make a living and sometimes present their identities, history, and artworks in ways that were satisfying to them. Ten vintage postcards from the Oklahoma Historical Society by Kiowa photographer Horace Poolaw (1906-1984) indicate that he recognized popular tastes for Plains Indian male imagery while both participating in that production and working independently of it. Poolaw printed some of his photographs on postcard stock to sell at local fairs in the early to mid twentieth century. In order for the postcards to appeal …

Review Of Wyoming Range War: The Infamous Invasion Of Johnson County By John W. Davis, Ross F. Collins

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

This book offers a thorough indictment of Wyoming Plains cattlemen at the end of the nineteenth century. It is worth asking if we really need another thorough indictment of a group so thoroughly indicted that one more thorough indictment seems like taking yet another swing at a worn-out punching bag. Yes, the Wyoming Stock Growers Association in 1892 was controlled by bad men whose arrogance was reflected in a ridiculous scheme doomed to failure. Asa Shinn Mercer told us that in Banditti of the Plains, published only two years after the Johnson County War. And much of his account …

Review Of Spirit Matters: Ron [Gyo-Zo] Spickett, Artist, Poet, Lay-Priest By Geoffrey Simmins, Leslie Dawn

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Most surveys of modernist art in the Canadian prairie provinces in the 1960s focus on the annual Emma Lake Workshops. These gatherings brought prominent avant-garde artists such as Barnett Newman and Kenneth Noland to Saskatchewan and introduced the controversial American critic Clement Greenberg and his ideas on the development of purity, abstraction, and flatness in painting. Yet not all prairie artists who thought of themselves as modernist followed this path. Many of them have been excluded from published histories.

One such artist is Ron Spickett, the subject of a recent retrospective exhibition curated by Geoffrey Simmins. Simmins's complementary book covers …

Review Of The Death Of Meriwether Lewis: A Historical Crime Scene Investigation By James E. Starrs And Kira Gale, James J. Holmberg

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Was the death of Meriwether Lewis at a backwoods inn on the Natchez Trace on October 11, 1809, suicide or murder? Those on the scene as well as those who knew him best, including Thomas Jefferson and William Clark, all pronounced it a suicide. But was it? Suicide stood as the accepted verdict until the 18408 when the report of the Lewis Monument Committee suggested it was murder. No evidence was given, but once the possibility was raised it grew in popularity and acceptance. Relying on evidence and emotion to reach a conclusion, the two sides in the suicide vs. …

Great Plains Quarterly Volume 31 / Number 2 / Spring 2011

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Contents

Book Reviews

Book Notes

Notes and News

Review Of American Indians And The Fight For Equal Voting Rights By Laughlin Mcdonald, Matthew L. M. Fletcher

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

The continuing relevance of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act in the Deep South is an open question for many people, but the importance of the Act in Indian Country cannot seriously be questioned. Laughlin McDonald's powerful book provides a frontline view of the cases brought by American Indians in Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana, and elsewhere. McDonald, the head of the ACLO's Voting Rights Project, himself litigated these cases to successful conclusion on behalf of his Native clients.

In parts of the United States, many state and local governments quietly excluded Indian people from the suffrage until after World War …

Review Of Historic Photos Of Nebraska Text And Captions By Ted Stryker, Charles A. Braithwaite

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

One of the salient features of Great Plains Quarterly is its inclusion of an extensive array of illustrations, maps, and photographs along with most articles. These images are meant to enhance their essays and enrich the reader's understanding of their contexts. Occasionally, pictures say so much that one wishes for more photographs and less text. That's not a weakness of Historic Photos of Nebraska, which contains 192 photographs in its 216 pages.

This is Turner Publishing's second book focused on the region's photographs; the first was Jeffrey Spencer's Historic Photos of Omaha (2007). Using images selected from the Boys …

Acting For The Camera Horace Poolaw's Film Stills Of Family, 1925-1950, Hadley Jerman

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

During the late 1920s, American technology historian Lewis Mumford drafted these words in a manuscript that would become Technics and Civilization. At the same time, Kiowa photographer Horace Poolaw began documenting daily life in southwestern Oklahoma with the very technology Mumford alleged altered the way humanity saw itself. As Poolaw began making dramatically posed, narrative-rich portraits of family members, Mumford asserted that the modern individual now viewed him or herself "as a public character, being watched" by others. He further suggested that humankind developed a "camera-eye" way of looking at the world and at oneself as if continuously on display. …

Review Of The River Returns: An Environmental History Of The Bow. By Christopher Armstrong, Matthew Evenden, And H.V. Nelles., Ted Binnema, David Vogt

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This book should be read more as a collection of essays on a wide variety of topics related to the Bow River than as a monograph. Each of its thirteen chapters examines an aspect of the history of human interactions with the river, ranging from ranching, forestry, hydroelectricity, and irrigation to urban sanitation, recreational fishing, flooding, and park building. The Bow River is amenable to a discussion of such diverse themes. Its headwaters are among the glaciers of the Rocky Mountains in Banff National Park, but it also flows through the ranching country of the foothills, the major urban center …

Review Of Canada's Indigenous Constitution. By John Borrows., Signa A. Daum Shanks

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This text's major thesis, that "Canada cannot presently, historically, legally, or morally claim to be built upon European-derived law alone," has been mentioned before. Yet in those earlier musings by Borrows and others, such a statement has never been documented so well as it is here. Borrows contemplates that others, besides those sympathetic with Indigenous perspectives, might just admit such a thesis is the case. Moreover, they might also support the creation of social and economic policies that demonstrate such a belief. But observing it in Canada's current legal system-really? Keenly aware of skeptics, Borrows has thought as much about …

Workplace Religious Accommodation For Muslims And The Promise Of State Constitutionalism, Peter Longo, Joan M. Blauwkamp

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This article considers whether state constitutionalism provides greater possibilities for workplace religious accommodation than is currently available to religious minorities within federal law under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We approach this question via a case study of the controversy over religious accommodation for practicing Muslims employed by the JBS Swift and Company meatpacking plant in Grand Island, N E. The case study consists of analyses of the requirements for religious accommodation under federal law, examination of the reasons why religious accommodation under federal law was not achieved in the Grand Island case, and analysis of …

Review Of Pieces Of The Plains: Memories And Predictions From The Heart Of America. By John Janovy, Jr., Mark Hammer

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

John Janovy, Jr., author, parasitologist, and Varner Professor of Biological Sciences at the University ofNebraska- Lincoln, describes his book as "sort of a memoir, but one in which experience is the main character, instead of the writer." Janovy divides this experience into three sections describing his past, his present, and humanity's future.

Janovy the teacher is never far from each chapter's storyline. Describing his central theme as "education in the broadest sense, a constant learning derived from exploration of things and places," he sets out in the book's pages to engage in a discussion of big ideas just as he …

Review Of The Tallgrass Prairie Center Guide To Prairie Restoration In The Upper Midwest. By Daryl Smith, Dave Williams, Greg Houseal, And Kirk Henderson., Gerry Steinauer

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Tallgrass prairie restoration in the Upper Midwest is the focus of this guide. Its geographic area of coverage includes the eastern fifth of South Dakota and Nebraska and northeast Kansas, a region some ascribe to the eastern Great Plains. Two types of prairie restoration are dealt with: prairie reconstruction, which the authors define as creating prairie from scratch on sites where prairie plants no longer exist; and prairie remnant restoration, defined as upgrading degraded existing prairies. The book comprises five sections: "Reconstruction Planning," "Implementing Reconstruction," "Prairie Restoration and Management," "Special Cases," and "Native Seed Production." There are 16 chapters, each …

Review Of Gasoline, Diesel, And Ethanol Biofuels From Grasses And Plants. By Ram B. Gupta And Ayhan Demirbas., Adam Liska

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

A new book on the production of biofuels by Gupta and Demirbas provides technical insight into the conversion processes that could provide a range of domestic fuels from plant materials to substitute for foreign oil. It focuses primarily on conversion processes for production of cellulosic ethanol, Fischer-Tropsch diesel, pyrolysis bio-oil, and hydrothermal biocrude from biomass resources, as well as "first-generation" grain ethanol and biodiesel from vegetable oil. In addition to a detailed summary of these chemical processes, the book provides a briefer treatment of related matters such as biofuel policy, economics, and environmental issues. The book does discuss the limitations …

Review Of Kansas Politics And Government: The Clash Of Political Cultures. By H. Edward Flentje And Joseph A. Aistrup., Burdett A. Loomis

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Prior to the publication of Kansas Politics and Government, there was no essential book on Kansas politics, policy-making, and institutions. Now there is. It's as simple as that. Anyone who wants to understand the Sunflower State's politics should start here. Most prosaically, this is one more in the Nebraska Press's ambitious series of single-state studies. But Ed Flentje and Joe Aistrup (disclaimer: I write a column for Kansas papers in rotation with them and two other political scientists) have done more than cover the breadth of the state's politics. In their emphasis on political cultures, they provide an effective way …

Review Of The Leadership Of George Bush: An Insider's View Of The Forty-First President. By Roman Popadiuk, Caroline Heldman

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The Leadership of George Bush is infused with a sentimentality exemplified by the book's opening statement describing the Bushes' emotional response to Bush 43's election to the presidency: "George Bush sat straight up, his back rigid but his chest heaving slightly as he sought to hold back tears. Barbara Bush sat quietly, unmovable, a glint of satisfaction and pride sparkling in her eyes." Despite the author's proximity and long-time affiliation, the book provides scant new information about Bush 41 's presidency, mostly because the author fails to connect it with larger literatures on presidential leadership and executive management. Instead, it …

Great Plains Research, Vol. 21, No. 1 -- Editorial Matter

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Front & back covers

Masthead

Table of Contents

News and Notes

Instructions to authors

Review Of Whooping Crane: Images From The Wild. By Klaus Nigge., Paul Johnsgard

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

When asked to review this book I hadn't yet heard of it or its author, a wildlife photographer well known in his native Germany and the author of four photographic books published there, so I was eager to read it. The book is visually impressive, measuring 11" x 12", making it a true coffee-table production. Inside is a well-written 2S-page "primer" on whooping cranes by Krista Schlyer dealing with cranes in myth and legend, crane vocalizations and displays, and breeding biology. She also provides a brief survey of the whooping crane's population history, its near brush with extinction, and the …

Estimation Of Land Surface Evapotranspiration With A Satellite Remote Sensing Procedure, Ayse Kilic, Ian Ratcliffe, Pariskhit Ranade, Kenneth Hubbard, Ramesh K. Singh, Babuarao Kamble, Jeppe Kjaersgaard

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

There are various methods available for estimating magnitude and trends of evapotranspiration. Bowen ratio energy balance system and eddy correlation techniques offer powerful alternatives for measuring land surface evapotranspiration. In spite of the elegance, high accuracy, and theoretical attractions of these techniques for measuring evapotranspiration, their practical use over large areas can be limited due to the number of sites needed and the related expense. Application of evapotranspiration mapping from satellite measurements can overcome the limitations. The objective of this study was to utilize the METRIC^TM (Mapping Evapotranspiration at High Resolution using Internalized Calibration) model in Great Plains environmental …

Review Of 620 Wild Plants Of North America: Fully Illustrated. By Tom Reaume., Mark J. Leoschke

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Beautifully and profusely illustrated with the author's black-and-white drawings, the 12-year project that became this book shows his love for plants. Tom Reaume focuses on a representative selection of primarily native vascular plants of the Great Plains of Canada and the northern United States found in forests, lakes, prairies, rivers, and wetlands. The book appears to be designed as a supplement for an introductory course in plant taxonomy.

This book is a useful reference for those interested in the flora of the northern Great Plains and adjacent regions. I highly recommend it for college and university libraries where botany and …

Review Of Raptors Of New Mexico. Edited By Jean-Luc E. Cartron., Brian Millsap

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

As a raptor specialist, I eagerly look forward to the publication of state and regional books on birds of prey, typically rich with hard-to-find locally flavored information on distribution and biology. With the publication of Raptors of New Mexico, my home state has joined the ranks of the handful of states blessed with such volumes, and in fine form. This is an impressive work both in size and content, but the first thing anyone will notice are the photographs-hundreds, most top-notch, many capturing moods, scenes, and places unique to New Mexican raptors. In many ways the book is a showcase …

Review Of Bridging The Divide: Indigenous Communities And Archaeology Into The 21st Century. Edited By Caroline Phillips And Harry Allen., Larry J. Zimmerman

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

An outgrowth of demands for ethical treatment and repatriation of their ancestral remains, Indigenous Archaeology (IA) reflects the desire of Indigenous peoples to have a say in how stories of their pasts get told. Too often, Indigenous people claim, archaeologists have discounted oral tradition in favor of scientifically derived histories, histories that may discount or contradict millennia-old beliefs. IA is different, done for them, sometimes by them, and usually in complete collaboration with them. Their questions are central to research agendas and interpretations. IA is controversial because some archaeologists see collaboration as infringement on academic freedom, as movement away from …

Review Of Cougar: Ecology And Conservation. Edited By Maurice Hornocker And Sharon Negri., Oranit Gilad

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Historically, cougars (mountain lions, pumas, or panthers) had an extensive distribution throughout the Americas, ranging from British Columbia in North America to Patagonia at South America's tip. As a native species and a large obligate carnivore, the cougar has a complex relationship with the human population in the Americas. This current book-the product of multiple authors, all with hands-on experience in cougar work, and written in a clear manner appropriate to most audiences-is an important addition to the scientific literature in the field of carnivore conservation in the New World. As a product of many authors, Cougar: Ecology and Conservation …

Using Euro-American Hunting Data To Assess Western Great Plains Biogeography, 1806-35, Cody Newton

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Historic accounts from the 19th-century western Great Plains contain significant information on Plains ungulates and other animals, particularly as they relate to provisioning the Euro-American travelers. Using data derived from these accounts, a quantitative assessment of the hunting success of the Pike, Long, Glenn, and Dodge expeditions of the early 19th century is presented to ascertain the conditions of these species in the region. These data are then used to assess historiographic models of bison overhunting. This analysis indicates that the western Southern Plains and western Central Plains had differing trajectories of overhunting explained by temporally variable human and environmental …

Review Of Hell Gap: A Stratified Paleoindian Campsite At The Edge Of The Rockies. Edited By Mary Lou Larson, Marcel Kornfeld, And George C. Frison., Jack W. Brink

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Every Plains archaeologist has heard of the Hell Gap site. But few could tell you much about it. All that changes with the publication of this needed, dense, thorough collection that chronicles the life and content of this singularly important archaeological site. With 20 papers and 13 appendices, this book takes a monumental step forward in furthering our knowledge of nearly the entire Paleoindian sequence of occupation on the western Plains. Hell Gap is the type site for three Paleoindian point styles: Goshen, Hell Gap, and Frederick, and contains at least six other cultural complexes: Folsom, Midland, Agate Basin, Alberta, …

Review Of Kiowa Military Societies: Ethnohistory And Ritual. By William C. Meadows, Gregory R. Campbell

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Drawing on over a decade of research, in combination with archival and published anthropological and historical literature, William C. Meadows provides a detailed ethnographic account of Kiowa military societies and their historical development. Employing a perspective spanning from the prereservation era to the present, Meadows describes each military society'S origins, structures, rituals, ceremonies, functions, and associated music, dances, songs, and material culture within the context of the Kiowa military society system. Beginning with Rabbits Society in the first chapter, he graphically portrays the Mountain Sheep Society, Horse Headdress Society, the Black Legs Society, Unafraid of Death or Skunkberry Society, Scout …

Health And Fertility Implications Related To Seasonal Changes In Kidney Fat Index Of White-Tailed Jackrabbits In South Dakota, Dustin Schaible, Charles D. Dieter

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

White-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus townsendii) populations in the Northern Plains have been in a general decline for the past decade or longer. A suggested reason for this population decline was reduced body condition of individual jackrabbits due to habitat changes. In order to evaluate body condition, we determined the kidney fat index of 314 white-tailed jackrabbits harvested in 44 counties throughout South Dakota. We removed and weighed kidneys and all perirenal fat associated with the kidneys from collected jackrabbits. We measured kidney weight to determine times of high metabolic activity as indicated by an increase in mass. Body condition was …