Review of Gathering the Potawatomi Nation: Revitalization and Identity, by Christopher Wetzel

Keywords

book review, Potawatomi Nation, Christopher Wetzel

Abstract

Indigenous people in the United States have long had a unique relationship to the federal government that has resulted in the "quasi-sovereign" status of many tribal groups. Increasingly, Native Americans have used the language of nationhood to describe their unique political circumstances. However, use of the term "nation" by indigenous groups clearly differs from that of other groups whose aspirations specifically include nation-state status. How, then, do we understand the unique nation-building efforts of Native American nations? Christopher Wetzel provides us with a very accessible opportunity to understand this dynamic process in Gathering the Potawatomi Nation: Revitalization and Identity, his case study of Potawatomi nation-building over the last several decades. Offering relevant historical and ethnographic information, this study provides insights into the unique social circumstances of the tribal groups and bands involved and sociological concepts that help to clarify indigenous national identity renewal.

Original Publication Citation

Review of Gathering the Potawatomi Nation: Revitalization and Identity, by Christopher Wetzel, Norman Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. Contemporary Sociology, 45, 5: 671-673, 2016.

Document Type

Other

Publication Date

2016-9

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/6796

Publisher

Contemporary Sociology

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Sociology

University Standing at Time of Publication

Associate Professor

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