Includes bibliographical references and index.

Peopling the land: debating human origins in America -- Meeting the invaders, 1500-1700 -- Living with strangers, 1700-1783 -- Villagers versus the United States, 1783-1840s: the postwar era -- The struggle for the west, 1840-1890: regional and tribal varieties -- Survival and adaptation, 1890-1930: changing worlds -- From reservations to activism, 1930-1973: the New Deal era and beyond -- Tradition, change, and challenge since 1970: jealousy and backlash.

This concise survey, tracing the experiences of American Indians from their origins to the present, has proven its value to both students and general readers in the decade since its first publication. Now the second edition, drawing on the most recent research, adds information about Indian social, economic, and cultural issues in the twenty-first century. Useful features include new, brief biographies of important Native figures, an overall chronology, and updated suggested readings for each period of the past four hundred years. The author traces tribal experiences through four eras: Indian America prior to the European invasions; the colonial period; the emergence of the United States as the dominant power in North America and its subsequent invasion of Indian lands; and the years from 1900 to the present. Nichols uses both Euro-American sources and tribal stories to illuminate the problems Indian people and their leaders have dealt with in every generation. --Publisher description.