Boundaries Between

Before the arrival of Euro-Americans, Southern Paiutes foraged the arid hills and valleys of the area now called southern Utah, Arizona north of the Grand Canyon, southern Nevada, and southeastern California. By all the 'rules' of history and anthropology, such a small-scale, foraging culture should have disappeared long ago but the Southern Paiutes survive, and theirs is a story that unsettles assumptions about the role that social complexity, power, and culture play in the dynamics of human history. This story is told in "Boundaries Between", a long-awaited, definitive ethnohistory of the Southern Paiutes. Skillfully combining contemporary oral histories, meticulous archival research, an astute critical perspective on Indian-white relations, and accessible prose, "Boundaries Between" relates the history of the Southern Paiutes from their first contacts with European trappers and traders in the late eighteenth century through the end of the twentieth century. It is a history that proceeds from encounters with Mormons, miners, and the military to the modern-day struggles of Native people over the Federal policy of termination and the control of their environment. As Martha Knack makes clear, the Southern Paiutes were in many ways unique: They rarely fought against the United States; were dispersed over a wide area and often not viewed as a single people; and, only infrequently falling under BIA jurisdiction, were often denied legal recognition as Indians. Impressive in its scope, compelling in its power of observation and interpretation, this work not only restores a remarkable people to their rightful place in Western history, but it also stands as a landmark achievement in the field of ethnohistory. Martha C. Knack is a professor of anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is the author of "As Long as the River Shall Run: An Ethnohistory of Pyramid Lake Reservation", Nevada and coeditor of "Native Americans and Wage Labor: Ethnohistorical Perspectives".

Table of Contents:
Contents: List of Illustrations Preface and Acknowledgments 1. Questions and Issues 2. From the Beginning 3. Fathers, Fur Trappers, and Travelers 4. Mormons Meet Paiutes 5. Paiutes Meet Mormons 6. The Military, Miners, and Moapa 7. Land, Water, and the Federal Government, 1890-1934 8. Social and Political Relations within and across Reservation Boundaries 9. The Great Depression and World War II 10. Land Claim and Termination 11. Neglect and Reinstatement, 1955-1995 12. Boundaries and Transitions Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Martha C. Knack is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is the coauthor of As Long as the River Shall Run: An Ethnohistory of Pyramid Lake Reservation and coeditor of Native Americans and Wage Labor: Ethnohistorical Perspectives.

Review :
"Knack's book makes a valuable and readable contribution to the history of that region and to the literature on ethnic boundary maintenance."--Robert Bee, The Journal of American History "Knack's elegant study is the definitive work on Southern Paiutes and a major contribution to the theory of ethnohistory and cultural exchange."--Marcia Clouser, Journal of the West "This is the combination that we need to assure the continued vitality of ethnohistory. An ethnohistorical work must be good ethnography and it must be good history. Martha Knack has done both and has completed the task with insightful interpretation that helps soften the "boundaries between" ethnology and history."--James Goss, Western Historical Quarterly "Boundaries Between is an insightful, thoroughly researched, and well-written ethnohistory that . . . should have broad appeal to scholars who are interested in Indian/non-Indian relations in western North America. . . . Having spent more than twenty-five years of her career studying the Southern Paiute, Martha Knack has established herself as a leading authority on the ethnohistory of this Numic-speaking group."--Brooke S. Arkush, Ethnohistory "[Knack's] focus on interethnic issues puts Boundaries Between on the summit of current ethnohistory: it does not get any better."--Utah Historical Quarterly "In this groundbreaking study of Southern Paiute ethnohistory, Martha Knack provides a direly needed corrective to such marginalization. . . . A landmark achievement in Great Basin ethnohistory. It should become a standard reference, an essential starting point for scholars interested in this poorly understood region of the American West."--Ned Blackhawk, New Mexico Historical Review "Outstanding work. Twenty-eight years 'in the field' and in some of the U.S.'s most prestigious research libraries have yielded definitive ethnohistorical information."--Choice "This excellent work describes how the flexible Southern Paiutes have maintained boundaries between themselves and various groups of outsiders for more than two centuries, while at the same time crossing these boundaries to take advantage of the possibilities afforded by the newcomers."--American Historical Review