This book describes the plight of Native Americans from the 17th through the 20th century as they struggled to maintain their land, culture, and lives, and the major Indian leaders who resisted the inevitable result.From the Indian Removal Act to the Battle of Little Bighorn to Geronimo's surrender in 1886, the story of how Europeans settled upon and eventually took over lands traditionally inhabited by American Indian peoples is long and troubling. This book discusses American Indian leaders over the course of four centuries, offering a chronological history of the Indian resistance effort.Legends of American Indian Resistance is organized in 12 chapters, each describing the life and accomplishments of a major American Indian resistance leader. Author Edward J. Rielly provides an engaging overview of the many systematic efforts to subjugate Native Americans and take possession of their valuable land and resources.

Over the course of 400 years, Euroamericans-and later the U.S. government-took dramatic measures to usurp the native people's land and eliminate American Indians as a culture. For example, the U.S. government enacted a policy starting in the 1870s that resulted in the slaughtering of some 20 million buffalo to force the Plains Indians to accept reservation life.

AcknowledgmentsIntroductionTimeline of Events in the History of Native American-U.S. RelationsPhilipPontiacTecumsehBlack HawkOsceolaSitting BullCrazy HorseChief JosephGeronimoDennis BanksRussell MeansMary Brave BirdBibliographyIndex