Reddit mentions: The best native american & aboriginal biographies

>it's just surreal that the natives of this land only gained the right to vote in it less than one century ago and it's kind of sickening to think about how archaic this time is.

I don't want to look like I'm forming a pity party, but the Civil Rights Movement didn't really help out Indian Country. We had to have our own round of protests and fighting in the 1970s. Check out the American Indian Movement, the Occupation of Alcatraz Island and especially the Alcatraz Proclamation, among others. What really stunning is that the American Indian Religious Freedom Act didn't come about until 1978, let alone the fact that they had to pass it at all!

>Are there any books, movies, or another form of media that are true stories or realistic fiction that depict American Indians in a way that you find to be interesting and faithful?

Anything by Vine Deloria, Jr. is awesome, although he is more historian and scientist than he is story-teller. A short list of my favorites:

• Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto
  
• God Is Red: A Native View of Religion
  
• Red Earth, White Lies: Native Americans and the Myth of Scientific Fact
  
  If you want to read some great fiction that depicts American Indians accurately, start with Sherman Alexie:
  
  
• Smoke Signals
  
• The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
  
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
  
  Outside of those authors, some popular picks are Black Elk Speaks and Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee.
  
  As far as movies go, any self-respecting Indian has seen the movie Smoke Signals dozens of times. Powwow Highway is a favorite of mine, and Dance Me Outside is movie gold, although it doesn't get enough attention.
  
  >I'm thinking - why hasn't HBO or some big network done a drama that focuses on American Indians? This could be a very interesting book, as well... Or is this idea something even somewhat appealing to you as a young American Indian?
  
  I'm not sure what you are thinking, but I have my own ideas. I'd like to see a series that focuses on a single reservation for each episode, and details the hardships that the people of that reservation deal with on a daily basis. Call it a pity party, but there are children in the United States right now that live in houses with dirt floors and sleep on pallets and go to school on 30-year-old school buses on unkempt dirt roads (and sometimes off-road) where they learn a curriculum outdated for a decade or more........ I can go on and on. Get in your car and drive to Pine Ridge Reservation RIGHT NOW, you'll be convinced that you walked into a third world country in the middle of a war. Its not pretty. The corruption in the tribal government needs to be put in the spotlight, and the part that the Federal and State governments have played in this tragedy need to be righted. That's the facts.

There have been several examples of aboriginal people being taken (willingly or not) back to Europe as curiosities. One who left a diary was Inuit Abraham Ulrikab, one of two men from Labrador who allowed themselves & their families (total of 8 people) to be used as a kind of touring demonstration display in European zoos. They arrived in 1880; all died of smallpox within 5 months. His original diary, written in Inuktitut, is lost, but a German translation survived and was translated & published as The Diary of Abraham Ulrikab - Text and Context. A 2-hour CBC Radio 1 documentary, Abraham's Diary, is available online. Excerpts start in Hour 2 @ 4:48 (apologies for any misspellings - I don't have the text):

> We arrived in Berlin by means of marvelous steam. ... Between some trees nearby to us is a music house, it is a cause for astonishment, really. ... In Berlin, it is not really nice: the air is constantly buzzing from the sound of the walking and driving. ... Some Hublina[sp? Europeans?] make fun of us, but this did not make us tired because their souls are also to be laughed at. I even answered some of them who were talking about us, since they could understand English; some of them were horrified. ... Ulrike [his wife] had locked our house [in the display] from the inside and plugged up the entrance so that nobody would go in, and those who wanted to look into the windows were pushed away with a piece of wood. Our fellow companions, the Fox family, Terrianiak, have stopped being cheerful because they are tired of all the people, and we in the other house have been very patient although we are very tired too. Constantly when evenings come, we pray to be helped; our praying seems to help achieve some peace within us. ... I'm writing here in Prague. We are far away in a country of Catholics in a big city. We are here for two weeks inside a big long house. It is impossible to go out, in case we would be caught by the Catholics. One day in the afternoon at 4 o'clock, countless soldiers came. The big streets were completely filled. They carried fire-lights, as well as lanterns provided with handles, and the horses had fire-lights as well. But oh! they made such beautiful music with the trumpets! It was most delightful to hear! ... In Armstadt[sp?], one of us, Terrianiak's daughter Noggasak, stopped living. ... She [Abraham's smallpox-afflicted daughter Sara] still had her senses while I was there; she even sang the hymn Ich Bin Ein Kleindes Kinderin[sp?], I am a Child so Small. When I was about to leave, she sent her greetings to her mother and little sister. When I left her, she was sleeping. From then on, she did not wake up any more. For this we both had reason to be thankful. While she was still alive [i.e. in hospital], we went away to Paris and traveled the whole day and the whole night through. ... January 8, 1881 [at which point there were 3 dead; 3 ill]. My dear teacher Elsner[sp?], I write to you in a very despondent mood and I'm very distressed about my family because our child Sara, who I love so much, is also not living any more. She died of the evil smallpox, four days after the outbreak of her sickness. She died in Kriefeldt[sp?]; although she had many doctors, all of them really could not do anything. ... [upon himself falling ill] Oh my dear teacher Elsner, all day we cried together that our sins will be taken away by Jesus Christ. We do not doubt that the Lord will hear us. We especially wanted to have Jesus as our doctor. Even Terrianiak, who is now alone, when I say to him that he should convert, desires to give himself to Jesus sincerely it seems. He constantly takes part in our prayers all day, as well as my child Maria, but even her life is doubtful because her face is very swollen. Tobias [his son] is sick too, and although many doctors come, they cannot seem to help. I know very well that there is only one who can help when our death-time comes, and I trust in God that he will answer my prayers and will dry my tears. ... I do not desire Earthy possessions, but this [?] for, to see my relatives again who are back home, to speak to them of the name of the Lord as long as I live.

Edit: Here's another excerpt reprinted in an article in the Nunatsiaq News:

> When we were traveling with steam, we were faster than flying,” Abraham wrote, describing a train journey from Hamburg to Berlin in 1880. “The train was so long that there was a great distance between both ends. We were in the middle in a very nice house (wagon), we could not close the windows in order to see, looking out was impossible because of the wind; my eyes were bad and swollen with seeing, although I hardly stuck my head out...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_burial_mounds_in_the_United_States

The Mississippian culture built cities, only a few of which survived. These kingdoms covered the area of the midwest and most of the American Southeast. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippian_culture) By the time Europeans came, they were already practically gone, but smallpox did the rest of the job for them.

--

One of the problems with discussing pre-Columbian North America is that with South America and Central America, European explorers were largely just hitting the cultures as European diseases were. The explorations into the heart of North America happened after those diseases had already ravaged the area.

The people of the Iroquois confederacy farmed with stone and wood tools (mixing crops to keep the soil from going bad) had a participatory democracy and ideas of freedom that must have been very alien to both Europeans and their southern neighbors.

People like the Comanche don't even show up until the horse is introduced and their quick adoption of it allows them a huge advantage over their neighbors (see Empire of the Summer Moon as a better history, but be prepared - the Wild West was far more brutal than Hollywood has even remotely shown)

Early European accounts are heavily biased and for ages it was assumed as fact. Today historians have to shoulder their way through biased narratives and counter-narratives to try to figure out the truth. As an amateur history buff, I wish them the best of luck.

Not many historians have that nice, rolling narrative style of Mr. Foote. It's so easy to read and it tells the story in a compact, but intimate way with a focus on the people and their motives.

To answer your question I would look at histories written by journalists such as Barbara Tuchman - Guns of August. I also like S.C. Gwynne's Empire of the Summer Moon, Hampton Sides Blood and Thunder, and Ghost Soldiers. Lot's of good narrative histories out there - just keep looking and share any new good ones with Reddit! Good luck!

I think that is largely correct. My sense is that the criticisms of Ohler's book also criticized his tone and the potential negative impact his would could have. Polemic doesn't often foster dialogue.

Other common criticisms of popular history are that it often fails to credit the work of academics and that it is often incorrect or not very nuanced. For example, Empire of the Summer Moon is a very popular book about the Comanche nation. Many of the main points had very recently in the extensively researched and truly brilliant book Comanche Empire. Moreover, Empire of the Summer Moon included inaccuracies that would likely have been caught during the editing of an academic book.

There are academics who see the value of popular history writing because it can so effectively share important material to a general readership. Guns, Germs, and Steel is an example of a book some academics admire. I read it and 1491 because a professor I respected recommended them.

Full disclosure, I'm an academic who works in cultural history and literature. I think about these issues a lot. I'm glad to see them discussed in a wide open forum.

It's been a long time since I read Black Elk Speaks. It's not fiction, but I still remember it as a great book. It's short and well worth the time. http://www.amazon.com/Black-Elk-Speaks-Oglala-Premier/dp/1438425406/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292062391&sr=8-1.

The Tony Hillerman series already mentioned is a good book (at least the first one) and a a light read in the mystery and detective vein.

Both of these are books that were in the syllabus of a Native American Literature class I took and the only two I can remember off the top of my head.

Yeah, I would have said that it's absolutely worth it if you did the JD-MEM from the start, since I think you can finish that in three years. Another thing to consider is that your entire first-year law curriculum is going to be completely unrelated to environmental law, which I could see being frustrating for someone who's more interested in the policy side. The environmental law course offerings were pretty impressive, though.

Getting a high score on the LSAT is harder for some people than it is for other people. I would suggest taking a timed practice test as a diagnostic, just to get a feel for your starting point and your weak areas. After that, all I did was take a bunch of practice tests. I also went through this book, which was incredibly helpful for the logic games. Once I got the system down, I almost never missed a games question. It has been a while since I took the test, though, so I'm sure there are people here who have taken it more recently who could give you better advice.

I'm a teacher at Tsurumi University and I'm making this lecture open to guests who are interested in American history, particularly Pocahontas. Camilla Townsend is a Rutgers University history professor who has written a book about Pocahontas and also a book about Malintzin. The lecture will be in English, but content will be somewhat simplified for my Japanese speaking students. Message me if you're interested in coming, and I'll give you more details. It's free. Tsurumi University is on the Keihin-Tohoku Line, just one stop after Kawasaki if you're coming from Tokyo. Cheers.

After posting this, I found this deal.

This is a three volume set by Dee Brown that includes

• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
  
• The Fetterman Massacre
  
• Creek Mary's Blood
  
  For $4.99. I have not read The Fetterman Massacre and Creek Mary's Blood, but for $2 more, it seems like a great deal.

You should check out this book: http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060

I had a customer recommend it to me. I've only gotten a few chapters in, but it's pretty well written and I'm liking it.

I’ve been reading an amazing book about Polynesian settlement. You should check it out. It’s fascinating and a really good read. The problem is it’s led to a google earth and Wikipedia binge where I’ve learned about islands formed by a god doing goatse to captain cook to the physics of sailing and now I’m ready to leave my family and buy a sailboat.

The best place to get information about native and indigenous Americans is to go to the source. Books by native/indigenous Americans using their own voices to tell stories about encountering Europeans in North America for the first time, as well as talking about their own culture and traditions can be found here:

Giving Thanks

The Very First Americans

Native American History for Kids

Getting to Know the Native American Indian Tribes

1621 - National Geographic

Four Seasons of Corn

Author page for Joseph Bruchac (His Squanto book is "not recommended" but he is an authorized writer of native American stories)

American Indians In Children's Lit - Thanksgiving Books to Avoid (there is a comment on this list that shares several titles and authors that may also be beneficial to this subject).

A sorrow in our heart, by Alan Eckert is good. I was obsessed with Native American culture as a growing teen and loved this book about Tecumseh. He is one of my favorite people I have studied about. Also, his tribe has a lot of local history to where I grew up.

https://www.amazon.com/Sorrow-Our-Heart-Life-Tecumseh/dp/055356174X

Most but not all. There are some really interesting stories about the encroachment of settlers on Comancheria in this book which tells of the last great Indian tribe that went up against the white settlers.

I'm in law school-

1. Corporate law, or any transaction field of law is very difficult to get into with the way the legal market is right now. I'd say over 50+% of all 3rd year students are struggling to find anything at graduation, must less a job in a transaction field. This is exacerbated for areas like corporate because the majority of corporate legal work is done at "biglaw" firms, which are the highest paying and most prestigious places to go after law school.
   
   
2. Because of that, and because of the esoteric highering model of biglaw firms going after the best schools, while shunning lower ranked schools (see here for a ranking of the top-50 schools by biglaw hiring rate), I would argue that you'd be wasting an enormous amount of time and money by going to law school unless you attend one near the top.
   
   
3. Fortunately or unfortunately, law school admissions is very very heavily dependent on your "numbers" (that is, your GPA and your LSAT score). See for instance- http://gulc.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats. The graphs will give you an idea first of how closely correlated numbers are with admissions, and second what kind of stats you'll need to be competitive at the harder schools. You can also start seeing things like how Northwestern loves a high LSAT + work experience while UVA loves gpa.
   
   
4. My advice would be to talk to people in the profession about what the profession is like; get general knowledge and try and educate yourself as to whether or not you want to be a corporate lawyer. If you decide you do, take the LSAT, and study for it like crazy. The LSAT is a very learnable test, and spending tons of time working through the powerscore bibles (which, unlike what you'll find with the CPA, is actually the universal consensus credited study guide) and taking 25-30 practice tests (they publish actual old exams for pretty cheap) you can go from being awful to doing quite well. Granted, this alone is going to take 2-3 hours of study a day for about 4 months; but you'd be a fool not to put in the time because a single LSAT point can be the difference between admission and waitlist/rejection from the school you want to get into.
   
   All in all, it's a long and arduous journey, so best of luck to you.

I've just finished an incredible book of a man I knew nothing of but found fascinating. It was Quanah Parker and focused on his people (the Comanches) who were among the biggest and most violent tribes of all. They constantly fought with almost any other tribe and were among the first to truly master the horse.

https://www.amazon.ca/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060

A great read and exactly what you're asking about, is covered in this book.

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History

and it is absolutely fascinating and well written.

You should read Plenty Coups its hilarious, sad, wise and pretty enlightening.

Not directly about the Predators, but former Pred Jordin Tootoo has a book that I've heard is pretty good.

I''ve always found it funny that historically, Sioux Native Americans called black people "Black Wasichu" because they only ever saw them with white people. Wasichu is their word for "White Person", so Black Wasichu effectively means "Black White Person"

​

Edit: Source, for those interested in Native history. (Great read)

This guy's story is really interesting. Parker's Fort, where his mother was captured and the rest of his family slaughtered, is a well kept state park. There was a book written about him, Empire of the Summer Moon, that was a Pulitzer finalist and great read. You can't imagine the violence and turbulence in his world as the Comanche fought the Anglos and Spanish/Mexicans.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.co.uk

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I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

I'm currently reading 'Empire of the Summer Moon' by S.C. Gwynne. Read the blurb here to see what it's about - it's really interesting and I'm loving it.

I REALLY wish this was the highest comment, because everyone in this thread would love Empire of the Summer Moon. It reads a lot like science fiction. When the colt revolver emerges it feels like something Tony Stark invented.

It. Is. A. Must. Read.

I would recommend Encounters with Star People by Ardy Sixkiller Clarke. Amazing collection of American Indian stories, spanning multiple generations.

It's a lot more complex than you might think. I'm not an expert by any means, but it's worth reading some history books to learn more. One I just read that was very interesting was Empire of the Summer Moon

Obviously not a great deal of history of the American Indians or Native Americans(for the PC crowd) before the 1500's but the Comanche Indians fit the bill.

This is a great book about them, vicious as can be.

http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060

Allan W Eckert has a lot of great books. Some historical fiction, but very accurate from what I've heard. Not only about Native Americans themselves, but also of the frontiersmen who interacted with them. Being from SW Ohio, the subjects about which he writes are very close close to where I live, which adds another layer of interest.

A few of my favorites are:

Blue Jacket: War Chief of the Shawnee https://www.amazon.com/dp/1931672202/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_VRCDCb25ES80X

A Sorrow in Our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh https://www.amazon.com/dp/055356174X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_WSCDCb0REGDMA

The Frontiersmen: A Narrative https://www.amazon.com/dp/0945084919/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_OTCDCbV1AJ3VN

Study for the October LSAT. Kill it. Apply as soon as your score comes out (if not before).

Make sure your recommendations are great. These matter more than people think. Make sure your personal statement is great. This matters more than people think.

As far as studying the LSAT, probably get the Powerscore Logical Reasoning Bible and the Powerscore Logical Games Bible to study from. Also get a bunch of preptests. If your score plateaus for a while and you can't seem to get past it, hire a tutor. Starting at a 167 means its unlikely you will need to take a course.

I already returned it to my library, but I looked it up for you. It's Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia by Christina Thompson. Amazon has it for about $14, and I'm sure any major library would have it, too. It really helped me understand the geography of the Pacific islands, as well as who the Polynesian people are.

"Empire of the Summer Moon" is a great read about her and her son, the last tribal leader of the Comanche

Edit: here's the link, I'm on mobile and can't figure out the high-speed way to rename links... https://www.amazon.com/dp/1416591060/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Mr50xbSRZVZCR

Empire of the Summer Moon

Great book about this sort of thing.

This website which documents fallacies should be a good start.

This is a great no nonsense book on logical reasoning actually meant for preparation for the LSAT,law school entrance exam, but serves the purpose really well.

I highly recommend two books:

1. Empire of the Summer Moon by SC Gwynne
   
   Amazon
   
   Tells the story of the Comanche, horse nomads and the most proficient mounted warriors North America has ever seen.
   
   
2. Blood and Thunder by Hampton sides
   
   Amazon
   
   Tells the story of the Navajo, as well as the American/Mexican/Spanish expansion into the west. I really took a lot from this for my frontier world.

Turns out my community college has a fuckton of books about American Indians.

Empire of the Summer Moon is very engaging and very disturbing. There's a copy of The Great Father I want to dive into when I have a month or so of free time. Plus a bunch of assorted books about assorted peoples (Very little on the Shoshone though.)

LG Bible and the corresponding Workbook. Really focus on learning how to break them down, not on the time, because if you don't understand the problems there's no way you're going to finish them quickly.

Once you feel more confident about it, use the released exams as practice, especially the most recent ones. You can buy them in bundles on Amazon, or get them individually from LSAC. Don't just extrapolate your grade, actually try to figure it out.

Absolutely! I´m reading it right now (just a few pages left). It´s a very good read, it´s written by an american indian herself (Ardy Sixkiller Clarke). Here´s the link.

The Comanche were specifically a brutal, rapey, slavery, genociding tribe as they existed in 1775 and were just getting started. It would be a bit like a Mongol Superman, but without all of the effeteness, nicety, and devotion to morality the Mongols were known for.

Source:
http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060

Some suggestions:

Oral History/Stories

• The Sons of the Wind: The Sacred Stories of the Lakota - Dooling
  
  
• American Indian Myths and Legends - Erdoes, Ortiz
  
  
• American Indian Trickster Tales - Erdoes, Ortiz
  
  Historical/Educational material
  
  
• Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Contitions of North American Indian; Vol. I & II - Catlin
  
  
• Major Problems in American Indian History - Hertado, Iverson
  
  
• We are Still Here: American Indians in the Twentieth Century - Iverson
  
  
• American Indian Politics and the American Political System - Wilkins, Stark
  
  Native Authors
  
  
• Custer Died For Your Sins - Vine Deloria Jr.
  
  
• Standing in the Light - Young Bear, Theisz
  
  
• The Way to Rainy Mountain - Momaday
  
  
• Prayers of Smoke
  
  
• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West - Brown
  
  Non-Native Authors
  
  
• Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder - Nerburn
  
  
• The Wolf at Twilight: An Indian Elder's Journey through a Land of Ghosts and Shadows - Nerburn
  
  
  Region Specific
  
  
• Lakota Society - Walker
  
  
• The Lakota and The Black Hills - Ostler
  
  
• Black Elk Speaks - Neihardt
  
  And just for fun, a Movie
  
  
• Dreamkeeper - Steve Barron
  
  Feel free to point out any mistakes, I'll add more should I think of them.
  
  These are just suggestions.

My favorite non-fiction book of all time is Empire of the Summer Moon. Early Texas history and Native American history at its finest.

To begin with, I'll tell you my methods are regarded by my friends as unorthodox.

I began with going online onto a blog which had some LSAT questions. I got like 3/5 right, and I was like fuck, what have I gotten myself into? I'm poor, so I immediately decided to study on my own. I bought this, this, and this. After taking like ten tests, I decided to spring for the Logical Reasoning Bible and Logic Games Bible. Overall, I read through those two bibles from cover to cover doing the exercises through and through, not trying to cheat myself of any material. I did it for a month, cause that's all the time I had, but I wish I had spent at least a month and a half. That consisted of four hours of studying (three of which were taking a diagnostic and re-checking wrong answers and another one or two reading the bibles) every day on the weekdays and six or seven on the weekends with no breaks.

I've heard Kaplan is shit. A good friend of mine took Blueprint, and did really well his second time, but knowing him, he would have done so studying himself. If you're going to be using the prep books, I recommend, if you can, doing so at least three months in advance of the June test. The thing is that if you fuck up, you wanna retake Sep/Oct as opposed to retaking Dec. Because admissions are rolling, you're at a huge disadvantage having your app done in December. So your 11th year around March is when you wanna start looking at it. April and May would have to be intense but seeing as finals can be around that time, I would suggest February and March.

In the end, whatever works for you. Just know that Dec applicants are at a huge disadvantage compared to October ones. Also, I was told by students in the admission committee that they look for students who've taken time off after their undergrad. Cal's ratio is 60% who haven't and 40% who have, so keep that in mind. I went straight, because I didn't trust myself.

Black Elk Speaks by John Neihardt.

Interesting account of Native American spiritualism by a Lakota medicine man.

I'm reading Gwynne's book Empire of the Summer Moon about Cynthia Ann and Quanah Parker and the Comanche tribes in Texas. Astonishing and captivating read for those interested in early Texas history.

here's a start:

A Sorrow in Our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh

you should be able to find it at any library.

This is the best book about those times that I've ever read.

Cynthia Ann Parker's son was Quanah Parker. The John Wayne movie The Searchers was either 'loosely based' or 'suggested by' the Parker kidnapping, depending on how you want to view the movie.

Check this book out. Camanches were gnarly

Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne

amazon

For most people, logic games. I didn't have trouble with them at all, probably because I worked through The Logic Games Bible like a maniac. Totally worth it. I only missed 1 question on the logic games section - the last one, because I ran short on time and guessed.

Cynthia Ann Parker was the daughter of White settlers on the Texas frontier in the early 1800s. Her family had built a fort in Central Texas, where the Comanches had massacred them. I think most of the Whites were killed. She was taken hostage as an eleven year old girl in 1836.

When the Comanches took her in, she was treated with about as much respect as a foreign invading hostage could possibly have. She was raised as a daughter by the couple she was given to, and when she grew up she became the wife of Peta Nocona, one of the more powerful war leaders. She pretty much lost all of her original White culture and very much became assimilated as a Comanche. For years, decades, the Texans were trying to find her.

Eventually after Peta's death in the Battle of Pease River she was recaptured (as an adult) by the Texas Rangers, where she was returned to her birth family, her uncle Isaac Parker. She did not adjust well at all and several times tried to flee back to the wilderness. Eventually she went on a hunger strike and died in the 1870s. Her son Quanah Parker became very well known and has a small town in North Texas named after him (Quanah, TX).

Ninja edit: Empire of the Summer Moon, by S.C. Gwynne goes into much detail about her, as well as the general story of Texas and the Comanches during that time period. Great book, I recommend it.

According to the book Empire of the Summer Moon, during the American Civil War the Western Frontier was actually pushed back quite a bit because the soldiers that had been guarding it were called back East to fight the civil war and the Plains Indians seized the opportunity to take back some of their land. So yes, going West at the time likely would have sent you into a different line of fire.

While the exact same scenario is for obvious reasons unlikely in a hypothetical American Civil War 2, it isn't hard to imagine various warlords and militant groups arising to fill the power vacuum in remote areas. The Taliban and ISIS both pretty much started out that way.

I can't tell you what tribe the declaration of independence was referring to, but Empire of the Summer Moon does a good job of describing the atrocities of the Comanche.

https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060

In addition to the many rape stories as well as the killing of children, there were others like how they would cut your eyelids off and tie you down on your back staring into the summer sun until you baked to death.

The Comanche

Empire of the Summer Moon goes into great detail about it, but basically the Comanche would wreck the shit out of anyone until Texas Rangers learned how to fight them and got their hands on the first commercial revolvers in the 1840s.

The various groups who fought them (Spanish, Mexicans, Texans) with muzzle loading firearms got ripped to pieces by guys on horseback with bows and 14ft lances (that they used to kill Buffalo, so skewering people was easy). They also had shields covered in Buffalo hides that could stop bullets. They were so good at riding that they could lean sideways on their horse and fire their bow over the horse's back or under the horse' neck while on the move (using the horse's body as a shield).