American Indian Societies: Strategies and Condition of Political and Cultural Survival

Many cultures throughout the world have been and are now confronted with issues similar to those encountered by American Indian societies over the past 400 years. By examining the similarities and differences in social and cultural organization among several American Indian societies, as well as the ways that outsiders have attempted to politically, economically and culturally subordinate American Indians. Champagne has developed a method for explaining the variation in societal strategies for political and cultural survival. Champagne's analysis should be applicable to the study of societies in other parts of the world in order to identify specific internal institutional or external supports that other indigenous societies facing colonizing powers may need in order to retain political and cultural autonomy. This book is volume 32 in Cultural Survival's report series, Cultural Survival, a nonprofit human rights organization described by Newsweek as "the conscience of anthropology," works to raise public awareness of the human rights of tribal groups and ethnic minorities around the world.