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A review by amarj33t_5ingh
In the Hands of the Great Spirit: The 20,000-Year History of American Indians by Jake Page
5.0
In the Hands of the Great Spirit was my first comprehensive introduction to the Native American peoples. It was love at first sight.
Page traces the history of the early humans who settled the American continent in Prehistory; their cultural, religious and societal development and their proliferation across North America. The latter forms the backbone of his narrative as he charts the tragic interaction of these indigenous peoples with the Occident and what subsequently transpired.
One can easily see that compressing the most essential of historical points in a 480 page compendium is bound to have its own recurring challenges. While Page treads already broken ground-Geronimo, Sitting Bull etc-he also explores lesser known figures such as Joseph Medicine Crow and the Pueblo Pope.
The most conspicuous element of In the Hands of the Great Spirit besides its scope is the fluidity of its prose. It is comprehensible for expert and lay alike owing to its avoidance of heavy jargon and this makes it a page turner given that Page narrates rather than relates; something which involves the reader in a mental learning process rather than constantly depending on the author's own perceptions (we forget that Page is the narrator here after all given the value of what he narrates).
Overall, in the grand scheme of things, Page makes no secret of the fact that the history of any society can only be effectively explored through the history of its great men and women. He is a Carlylean in this sense, selecting to focus on the leaders of various Native American peoples and their achievements/failures to chart the fate of subsequent generations rather than kowtowing to the post-structuralist line of contemporary factors and contemporary factors alone influencing a people and history being the study of these factors .
This is an invaluable piece of literature and should grace the bookshelves of all amateur and expert historians alike.
Page traces the history of the early humans who settled the American continent in Prehistory; their cultural, religious and societal development and their proliferation across North America. The latter forms the backbone of his narrative as he charts the tragic interaction of these indigenous peoples with the Occident and what subsequently transpired.
One can easily see that compressing the most essential of historical points in a 480 page compendium is bound to have its own recurring challenges. While Page treads already broken ground-Geronimo, Sitting Bull etc-he also explores lesser known figures such as Joseph Medicine Crow and the Pueblo Pope.
The most conspicuous element of In the Hands of the Great Spirit besides its scope is the fluidity of its prose. It is comprehensible for expert and lay alike owing to its avoidance of heavy jargon and this makes it a page turner given that Page narrates rather than relates; something which involves the reader in a mental learning process rather than constantly depending on the author's own perceptions (we forget that Page is the narrator here after all given the value of what he narrates).
Overall, in the grand scheme of things, Page makes no secret of the fact that the history of any society can only be effectively explored through the history of its great men and women. He is a Carlylean in this sense, selecting to focus on the leaders of various Native American peoples and their achievements/failures to chart the fate of subsequent generations rather than kowtowing to the post-structuralist line of contemporary factors and contemporary factors alone influencing a people and history being the study of these factors .
This is an invaluable piece of literature and should grace the bookshelves of all amateur and expert historians alike.