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Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong by Paul Chaat Smith (2009, Hardcover)
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About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherUniversity of Minnesota Press
ISBN-100816656010
ISBN-139780816656011
eBay Product ID (ePID)71757097
Product Key Features
Book TitleEverything You Know about Indians Is Wrong
Number of Pages192 Pages
LanguageEnglish
Publication Year2009
TopicEthnic Studies / Native American Studies, Native American
IllustratorYes
GenreArt, Social Science
AuthorPaul Chaat Smith
Book SeriesIndigenous Americas Ser.
FormatHardcover
Dimensions
Item Height0.9 in
Item Weight13.5 Oz
Item Length8.7 in
Item Width5.7 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceTrade
LCCN2008-055791
Dewey Edition22
ReviewsFrom Publishers Weekly In this acerbic collection of essays, Comanche cultural critic and art curator Smith ( Like a Hurricane ) riffs on the romantic stereotypes of Indian as "spiritual masters and first environmentalists," as tragic victims of technology and civilization, as primal beings brimming with nomad authenticity, their every artifact a gem of folk art. Such tropes, he complains, hide the riotous complexity of the modern Indian experience, which he visits in pieces that explore his grandfather's Christian church, Sitting Bull's savvy manipulation of his media image (he had an agent) and the author's own Comanche forebears, who were both "world-class barbarians" and avid adopters of the white man's gadgetry. These loose-limbed essays range all over the landscape, from Hollywood westerns to the 1973 siege of Wounded Knee to (somewhat obscurely) the contemporary Indian art scene. Smith doesn't entirely square his view of Indians as "just plain folks" with his advancing of a unique Indian cultural perspective, but his keen, skeptical eye makes such ironies both amusing and enlightening., From Publishers Weekly In this acerbic collection of essays, Comanche cultural critic and art curator Smith (Like a Hurricane) riffs on the romantic stereotypes of Indian as "spiritual masters and first environmentalists," as tragic victims of technology and civilization, as primal beings brimming with nomad authenticity, their every artifact a gem of folk art. Such tropes, he complains, hide the riotous complexity of the modern Indian experience, which he visits in pieces that explore his grandfather's Christian church, Sitting Bull's savvy manipulation of his media image (he had an agent) and the author's own Comanche forebears, who were both "world-class barbarians" and avid adopters of the white man's gadgetry. These loose-limbed essays range all over the landscape, from Hollywood westerns to the 1973 siege of Wounded Knee to (somewhat obscurely) the contemporary Indian art scene. Smith doesn't entirely square his view of Indians as "just plain folks" with his advancing of a unique Indian cultural perspective, but his keen, skeptical eye makes such ironies both amusing and enlightening.
Dewey Decimal323.1197
SynopsisIn this sweeping work of memoir and commentary, leading cultural critic Paul Chaat Smith illustrates with dry wit and brutal honesty the contradictions of life in "the Indian business."d Raised in suburban Maryland and Oklahoma, Smith dove head first into the political radicalism of the 1970s, working with the American Indian Movement until it dissolved into dysfunction and infighting. Afterward he lived in New York, the city of choice for political exiles, and eventually arrived in Washington, D.C., at the newly minted National Museum of the American Indian ("a bad idea whose time has come"d) as a curator. In his journey from fighting activist to federal employee, Smith tells us he has discovered at least two things: there is no one true representation of the American Indian experience, and even the best of intentions sometimes ends in catastrophe. Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong is a highly entertaining and, at times, searing critique of the deeply disputed role of American Indians in the United States. In "A Place Called Irony,"Smith whizzes through his early life, showing us the ironic pop culture signposts that marked this Native American's coming of age in suburbia: "We would order Chinese food and slap a favorite video into the machine--the Grammy Awards or a Reagan press conference--and argue about Cyndi Lauper or who should coach the Knicks."In "Lost in Translation,"Smith explores why American Indians are so often misunderstood and misrepresented in today's media: "We're lousy television."In "Every Picture Tells a Story,"Smith remembers his Comanche grandfather as he muses on the images of American Indians as "a half-remembered presence, both comforting and dangerous, lurking just below the surface."d Smith walks this tightrope between comforting and dangerous, offering unrepentant skepticism and, ultimately, empathy. "This book is called Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong, but it's a book title, folks, not to be taken literally. Of course I don't mean everything, just most things. And "8you' really means we, as in all of us."d, In this sweeping work of memoir and commentary, leading cultural critic Paul Chaat Smith illustrates with dry wit and brutal honesty the contradictions of life in "the Indian business." Raised in suburban Maryland and Oklahoma, Smith dove head first into the political radicalism of the 1970s, working with the American Indian Movement until it dissolved into dysfunction and infighting. Afterward he lived in New York, the city of choice for political exiles, and eventually arrived in Washington, D.C., at the newly minted National Museum of the American Indian ("a bad idea whose time has come") as a curator. In his journey from fighting activist to federal employee, Smith tells us he has discovered at least two things: there is no one true representation of the American Indian experience, and even the best of intentions sometimes ends in catastrophe. Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong is a highly entertaining and, at times, searing critique of the deeply disputed role of American Indians in the United States. In "A Place Called Irony," Smith whizzes through his early life, showing us the ironic pop culture signposts that marked this Native American's coming of age in suburbia: "We would order Chinese food and slap a favorite video into the machine--the Grammy Awards or a Reagan press conference--and argue about Cyndi Lauper or who should coach the Knicks." In "Lost in Translation," Smith explores why American Indians are so often misunderstood and misrepresented in today's media: "We're lousy television." In "Every Picture Tells a Story," Smith remembers his Comanche grandfather as he muses on the images of American Indians as "a half-remembered presence, both comforting and dangerous, lurking just below the surface." Smith walks this tightrope between comforting and dangerous, offering unrepentant skepticism and, ultimately, empathy. "This book is called Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong , but it's a book title, folks, not to be taken literally. Of course I don't mean everything, just most things. And 'you' really means we, as in all of us."
LC Classification NumberE98.C89S64 2009
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- 22 Feb, 2018
Time for some insight
I bought this book because a reviewer in The New Yorker, Peter Schjeldahl, said that reading it “does indeed make me feel smart.” It’s a fairly short collection of essays by Paul Chaat Smith, the curator of the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC. Smith gives his candid view of major events in the American Indian Movement, critiques many of the tropes, or conventional misconceptions, of American Indian history, and makes frequent allusions to his good friend Irony. (This is a big plus!) Because Smith is an art curator, many of the essays are oriented to the field of art, artists, and the staging of art exhibitions, but he gives a good sense of the conflicts the artists feel – both internally and overcoming expectations of the Native American Artist. This is a quick and enjoyable read that may well give the “average” non-Native American some needed perspective. It’s definitely food for thought.Verified purchase: YesCondition: New
