Untangling the Roots of Dependency.

American Indian Quarterly, The, June, 1999 by VAN HOAK, STEPHEN P.

Choctaw Economics, 1700-1860

The Roots of Dependency, published in 1983, was a groundbreaking interdisciplinary examination of Euro-American-Indian cultural contact and its disastrous effects on Native Americans. Focusing on the Choctaws, Pawnees, and Navajos, Richard White attempted to identify and isolate the various factors that contributed to the material decline of American Indian peoples. Roots of Dependency was widely acclaimed when it was first published, both for White's strong thesis and his new approach to Native American history. White's methodology differed from that of traditional historians most notably in his interdisciplinary approach and in his incorporation of a Native American focus and perspective into his narrative.(1)

White...

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