The Invasion of Indian Country in the Twentieth Century: American Capitalism and Tribal Natural Resources

"Fixico's brilliant study. . . is more than an insightful examination of the fraud and violence experienced by the Osage, Creek, and other individuals and nations at the hands of greedy corporations and 'gold diggers'. It covers recent efforts of the Indian governments to gain adequate compensation and protection for their resources. [The Invasion of Indian Country in the Twentieth Century] fills a vast void in our understanding of Indian-white relations." —James Riding-In, Arizona State University

The struggle between Indians and whites for land did not end on the battlefields in the 1800s. When this hostile era closed with Native Americans forced onto reservations, no one expected that rich natural resources lay beneath these lands that white America would desperately desire. Yet oil, timber, fish, coal, water, and other resources were discovered to be in great demand in the mainstream market, and a new war began with Indian tribes and their leaders trying to protect their tribal natural resources throughout the twentieth century. In The Invasion of Indian Country in the 20th Century, Donald Fixico details the course of this struggle, providing a wealth of information on the resources possessed by individual tribes and the way in which they were systematically defrauded and stripped of these resources. Fixico contends that federal policies originally devised to protect Indian interests ironically worked against the Indian nations as the tribes employed new tactics with the Council of Energy Resources Tribes, using the law in courts and applying aggressive business leadership to combat the capitalist invasion by mainstream America. Fixico's analysis of this war being waged throughout the century and today serves as an indispensable reference tool for anyone interested in Native American history and current government policy with regard to Indian lands.