We Are an Indian Nation: A History of the Hualapai People (review)

In his foreword to Jeffrey Shepherd's book, former tribal chairman Wilfred Whatoname Sr. writes, "This book tells of what the Anglos did to my people and why my people did what they did to survive" (xiii). With the blessing of the Hualapai Tribal Council, Shepherd has fervently written a book that details the story of this once-isolated tribe in northern Arizona from its origin stories through the turmoil of the twentieth century and beyond.

The book is divided into eight chapters that relate specifically to Hualapai history, utilizing the increasingly common technique of adding Native "voice" to the historical narrative. The history chapters are framed by an introduction and conclusion that situate the Hualapai story within what Shepherd calls the "analytical lenses" of colonialism and nationhood in order to emphasize the survival and resistance of the Hualapai people (6). Shepherd critiques earlier paradigms of tribal historiography while explaining in some detail his reason for writing this work within a scope of decolonization theory. In his conclusions Shepherd discusses the significance of Hualapai history not only for the academy and the American populace, but also for the Hualapai people themselves. Although these two sections are somewhat lengthy and do not quite fit Shepherd's goal of bringing Hualapai voice into the story, his discussions will stimulate the intellectual requirements of researchers working in New Indian History.

Chapter 1 relates Pai origin stories and sets the stage for the book's historical inquiries. This chapter covers an important period in Hualapai history: the Hualapai Wars against the US Army, their forced removal to the Colorado River near Parker, Arizona, and their escape back to their ancestral homelands in 1875. Chapter 2 discusses the arrival of Anglo-Americans into traditional Hualapai lands, which created new socioeconomic conditions and the eventual creation of the Hualapai reservation in 1883. Chapter 3 documents the tremendous social and cultural changes that took place in the early twentieth century, changes that necessitated negotiations with homesteaders, nearby town governments, and large corporations such as the Santa Fe Railway. Chapters 4 and 5 relate this ongoing story of the Hualapais' fight for self-determination, land claims, and the acceptance of neocolonial impositions such as the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The chapter highlights a new style of Hualapai leadership that was required to fight for a modern national identity. Chapters 6 and 7 focus on the postwar era and the Hualapais' battle against the US government's termination and relocation policies. They highlight how the tribe coped with new economic development issues such as water rights and energy development. Finally, chapter 8 provides insight into contemporary issues in the post-self-determination era: globalization, federal deregulation and privatization, education, and tourism.

Shepherd's book offers particularly interesting insights into the twentieth-century sociopolitical history of the tribe. With the exception of the presentation and discussion of Hualapai origin stories provided by tribal members, the early chapters of the book provide little in the way of new insight into Hualapai history and essentially follow the scholarship of previous Hualapai researchers such as Henry Dobyns and Robert Euler (see Walapai and Wauba). A more comprehensive and in-depth historical discussion begins with Shepherd's discussion of the creation of the Hualapai reservation and its implications with regard to identity and the reconstitution of a cultural landscape for the tribe. It is starting with this era—the late nineteenth century—that Shepherd begins to more effectively utilize the tribal voice in his narrative both through oral interviews and historical writings such as tribal correspondence and transcripts from congressional testimony.

As Shepherd moves his narrative through the twentieth century, contemporary issues such as water rights, energy resources, and tourism become intertwined with issues of tribal sovereignty, self-determination, and economic survival. Although their reservation is situated along the Colorado River, for more than a century the Hualapai have struggled to gain...