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E-book
Author Graber, Jennifer, 1973- author.

Title The Gods of Indian Country : religion and the struggle for the American West / Jennifer Graber
Edition First edition
Published Oxford, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press, [2018]
©2018

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Description 1 online resource (xxii, 288 pages, 8 pages of plates) : illustrations (some color), maps
Contents Pt. One. Open lands -- 1803 to 1837 -- 1838 to 1867 -- pt. Two. Closed lands -- 1868 to 1872 -- 1872 to 1875 -- 1875 to 1881 -- pt. Three. Divided lands -- 1882 to 1892 -- 1893 to 1903 -- Epilogue
Summary "During the nineteenth century, white Americans sought the cultural transformation and physical displacement of Native people. Though this process was certainly a clash of rival economic systems and racial ideologies, it was also a profound spiritual struggle. The fight over Indian Country sparked religious crises among both Natives and Americans. In The Gods of Indian Country, Jennifer Graber tells the story of the Kiowa Indians during Anglo-Americans' hundred-year effort to seize their homeland. Like Native people across the American West, Kiowas had known struggle and dislocation before. But the forces bearing down on them-soldiers, missionaries, and government officials-were unrelenting. With pressure mounting, Kiowas adapted their ritual practices in the hope that they could use sacred power to save their lands and community. Against the Kiowas stood Protestant and Catholic leaders, missionaries, and reformers who hoped to remake Indian Country. These activists saw themselves as the Indians' friends, teachers, and protectors. They also asserted the primacy of white Christian civilization and the need to transform the spiritual and material lives of Native people. When Kiowas and other Native people resisted their designs, these Christians supported policies that broke treaties and appropriated Indian lands. They argued that the gifts bestowed by Christianity and civilization outweighed the pains that accompanied the denial of freedoms, the destruction of communities, and the theft of resources. In order to secure Indian Country and control indigenous populations, Christian activists sanctified the economic and racial hierarchies of their day. The Gods of Indian Country tells a complex, fascinating-and ultimately heartbreaking-tale of the struggle for the American West."-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCO, viewed March 12, 2018)
Subject Indians of North America -- Religion.
Indians of North America -- Great Plains -- History -- 19th century
Ethnic conflict -- United States -- Religious aspects -- History -- 19th century
Indians of North America -- Government relations -- History -- 19th century
Kiowa Indians -- History -- 19th century
Kiowa Indians -- Religion
HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- Southwest (AZ, NM, OK, TX)
HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY)
Religion
Indians of North America -- Religion
Ethnic conflict -- Religious aspects
Indians of North America
Indians of North America -- Government relations
Kiowa Indians
Kiowa Indians -- Religion
SUBJECT West (U.S.) -- Church history -- 19th century
West (U.S.) -- Religion -- 19th century
Subject West United States
Great Plains
United States
Genre/Form Church history
History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780190279622
0190279621
9780190279646
0190279648