America Needs Indians
Denver: Privately Printed, 1937. 1st Edition. 8vo. Very Good / Good. Item #16175
A scarce 1937 expansive exploration of indigenous culture and scathing critique of white civilization and its effect on the destruction of the American Indian cultures.
Written by an author of undisclosed identity, using the pseudonym 'Iktomi Hicala'. "In Lakota mythology, Iktómi is a spider-trickster spirit, and a culture hero for the Lakota people.
The book begins with a letter by "Iktomi Lila Sica" to then-Commissioner of Indian Affairs, John Collier, "explaining the genesis and purpose of it, and goes on for over 400 pages of history, polemic, and every other kind of emphatic exposition, to make the author's points -- which largely have to do with recognizing the value of traditional Indian cultures and condemning, baldly, the destruction of them by white society" - WorldCat
This volume features the called-for extremely scarce map of "Lilawaste Lake Country Refuge To Be?", a highly detailed pictorial map of a model refuge for America's indigenous people.
The land is concocted from imagination but its obvious point is to relay the ideal that a land such as this is needed, that the establishment of such a place should be given priority by the United States government, and would be an adequate starting point in righting the wrongs white society inflicted upon Native Americans for centuries.
This engaging map uses symbols and text to depict the culture, agriculture and conservation methods to be applied to a proposed refuge and along with the narrative portrays the value of traditional Indian cultures while also condemning the destruction of them by white society.
The map also features a pseudonym for its illustrator - Iktomi Witkotkoka - and is in excellent condition, with just a tiny opening at the center crease intersection. Original fold lines.
Tan cloth with illustrated front board, in an American Indian style. Square tight binding. Mild rubbing and edge wear to binding, more so along spine ends, where there is a touch of fraying. Slight foxing to endpapers. Illustrated dust jacket with moderate edge wear and a light dampstain along top edge. Scarce dust jacket with a separation along the front joint. Presents handsomely in archival mylar.
A Very Good copy of this scarce and important early 20th-century Native American first edition.
Price: $225.00