Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Phil Bellfy’s “Merciless Savages (NOT): A how to guide to help you write and talk respectfully about American Indians” provides a culturally appropriate approach for addressing the Indigenous population. He applied humor and honest critical references in this book. The Declaration of Independence referred to the Indigenous…
Reviewer by Sharon Brunner Author Robert Downes revealed in his book “Raw Deal: The Indians of the Midwest and the Theft of Native Lands” a vast amount of debauchery at the hands of the U.S. government, interlopers and greedy entrepreneurs. Downes mentioned the names of some of the tribes in…
Review by Jon C. Stott. “Kill the Indian and Save the Child.” This nineteenth-century “altruistic” motto was used by White government and church officials to explain their “saving” of supposedly inferior native children by inculcating supposedly superior cultural and spiritual values in the children under their care at Indian boarding…
Review by Mack Hassler “Therefore it was called Babel because there the Lord confused the language of all.” Genesis 11:9 Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson (2024) God is, I think, often disappointed in his chosen people as they scatter but never gives up on them. This beautiful book is…
Review by Tyler R. Tichelaar Jennifer McGraw has compiled a treasure trove of information about Father Marquette’s life, burial, and various unburials and reburials in The Unsolved Mysteries of Father Marquette’s Many Graves. The story of Father Marquette’s graves—yes, multiple graves—ranges from his death in 1675 to the most recent…
Indians and Other Misnomers of the Upper Great Lakes: The True Indigenous Origins of Geographic Place Names, by Phil Bellfy (Modern History Press, Ann Arbor, MI 2023), 154 pages pbk, $25.95. Brockway Mountain Stories: The History of Brockway Mountain Drive and Keweenaw Mountain Lodge, by Paul LaVanway (Mudminnow Press, Copper…
Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Phil Bellfy’s book Three Fires Unity: The Anishnaabeg of the Lake Huron Borderlands provided a revolutionary view of the Three Fires confederacy and a history of multiple Native American tribes, the British, the French and the rising American population. Bellfy has a residence in Sault Ste. Marie,…
Review by Deborah K. Frontiera Throughout human history, stronger civilizations have taken over weaker or indigenous peoples and have then attempted to erase their existence after claiming anything of value. Yet, many of these cultures managed to endure, redefine themselves and, often, demand their culture, artifacts, and rights be returned…
Review by Sharon Brunner, MSW Kasey R. Keeler and her book American Indians and the American Dream: Policies, Place, and Property in Minnesota presented a revolutionary view behind the Native Americans’ inability to pursue home ownership in rural, urban and suburban areas in Minnesota as a result of white American…
