About this Book

"In writing this history of the relationship between white man and Indian, William T. Hagan shows how it was doomed at the start by the conflict of cultures and attitudes. The Indians could never be classified as one nation--the tribes ranged from the fiercely warlike Comanches to the Papagos, who regarded war as a form of insanity. Nor was there an "average" white man among the mixture of nationalities, cultures, and religions that the Indians encountered. The great variation on either side prevented any consistency in relationship, and, whereas there were instances of conscientious guardship and corresponding loyalty, the story was more frequently one of callous disregard of Indian rights and acts of great brutality. Mr. Hagen concludes with a review of what has been done lately to redress old wrongs and suggests that the emergence of a Pan-Indian movement from the cultural remnants of tribal living holds out hope that, if allowed to proceed at his own pace, the Indian will one day enter the main stream of American life."--Publisher.