"Tells how one American Indian tribe survived despite
overwhelming challenges"
In 1870, the Bitterroot Salish Indians--called "Flatheads" by
the first white explorers to encounter them--were a small tribe
living on the western slope of the Northern Rocky Mountains in
Montana Territory. Pressures on the Salish were intensifying during
this time, from droughts and dwindling resources to aggressive
neighboring tribes and Anglo-American expansion. In 1891, the
economically impoverished Salish accepted government promises of
assistance and retreated to the Flathead Reservation, more than
sixty miles from their homeland.
In "Getting Good Crops," Robert J. Bigart examines the full
range of available sources to explain how the Salish survived into
the twentieth century, despite their small numbers, their military
disadvantages, and the aggressive invasion of white settlers who
greedily devoured their land and its natural resources.
Bigart argues that a key to the survival of the Salish, from the
early nineteenth century onward, was their diplomatic agility and
willingness to form strategic alliances and friendships with
non-Salish peoples. In doing so, the Salish navigated their way
through multiple crises, relying more on their wits than on force.
The Salish also took steps to sustain themselves economically.
Although hunting and gathering had been their mainstay for
centuries, the Salish began farming -- "getting good crops" -- to
feed themselves because buffalo were becoming increasingly
scarce.
Raised on the Flathead Reservation himself, the author is
seeking to convey the Salish story from their perspective, despite
the paucity of written Salish testimony. What emerges is a picture
-- both inspiring and heartbreaking-- of a people maintaining
autonomy against all odds.
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