A Century of Dishonor: A Sketch of the United States Government's Dealings with Some of the Indian Tribes [B1799]

1993 HCDJ facsimile reprint of the 1881 original, in nice clean condition. Author and activist Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885) is remembered for her work in support of Native American rights. She was also a friend and correspondent of the poet Emily Dickinson, and her own verse was praised by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Her highly popular novel Ramona (1884) addressed discrimination against Native Americans, raising public consciousness as Harriet Beecher Stowe had done for slavery in Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852).

A Century of Dishonor (1884) is a work of nonfiction by Helen Hunt Jackson. Inspired by a speech given by Ponca chief Standing Bear in Boston, A Century of Dishonor attempts to reckon with the genocide and displacement of Native Americans and the passage of Indian Appropriations Act of 1871. At her own expense, Hunt Jackson sent copies of the book to every member of Congress, hoping to convince them to amend official government policies and to end the mistreatment of indigenous peoples across the country. Largely dismissed upon publication, the book managed to galvanize a minority of white Americans in solidarity with Native people nationwide and led to some minor government reforms. After meeting Standing Bear in 1879, Hunt Jackson spent months at Manhattan's Astor Library to compile research on the treatment of Native Americans. Using government reports and personal testimonies, she weaves a story of seven tribes whose treaties with the United States were broken, who were removed from their ancestral lands, and whose people were massacred by settlers and military forces. She provides background on the histories and cultures of the Delaware, Cheyenne, Nez Perce, Sioux, Ponca, Winnebago, and Cherokee peoples, arguing that their way of life had a vital impact on the formation of the United States. Crucially, she cites statistics directly from the War Department and the Department of Interior which show that the government openly pursued a campaign of violence against Native Americans. She argues: "It makes little difference, however, where one opens the record of the history of the Indians; every page and every year has its dark stain."

From recent-ish Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "This has long been the go-to source for the history of US-native relations. In meticulous detail, "eastern liberal" activist Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson recounted the origin of this war of settler-colonial conquest and the vindictive treatment of conqueror over conquered. Of special note is her description of difference between British and American approaches: whereas the native nations could be seen as equal subjects of one king, the Americans were about the promotion of rights which Indians, as non-citizens, could not share."; "This is a very informative but heavy book. I learned so much about the various First Nations of North America. The fact that there is no sugar coating for what was actually done to these various peoples was something I appreciated. It was difficult to hear what they went through, but learning and knowing the truth allows me to begin to move out of ignorance. The fact that each tribe was given a section to show the differences in their cultures and experiences was interesting."