Book Review Example: The Texas Cherokees

The Texas Cherokees is an excellent book that is worth reading. The author of this book, Dianna Everett, portrays her ethno historical works in such a way that the reader can understand without much struggle. She can point out how the Cherokees on to Texas and how their political structure which she says was dichotomous brought problems to the community as they settled in Texas. She is more convincing in some aspect since she can argue that the dichotomous political system of the Cherokees of Texas became detrimental only after they came into contact with the whites. Therefore, I appreciate her efforts since she can elaborate the life that this particular group of people led as they migrated and settled in Texas.

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In her book, she tells us that the Cherokees were a small and vulnerable group that enjoyed tenure of twenty years in Texas. The Cherokees were led to Texas by Richard Field who was a wealthy man. In the book, there is also a social comparison of the Texas band to both the Eastern and Western Cherokee Nations. Moreover, the book tells the reader why the Texas band was rejected when they got into the Indian Territory. Therefore, the book illustrates the cultural welfare of the Cherokees and the difficulties that this group encountered when in Texas. As the book title points out, the Cherokees found themselves in the middle of two fires, the Texans and the Mexicans. The book is entirely convincing, and I would appreciate the works done by Dianna Everett as she tries to express her ethno historical works in her book.

However, although Dianna tries to convince the readers about the cultural and political structure of the Cherokees, she is less convincing in some aspects. For instance, although she tells us how Richard Field led the Cherokees into Texas, she does not explain why the rich man did that or his intentions. There should be an explanation of why Richard did that or why he led his people in Texas. Dianna Everett should have explained the intentions of this man who was wealthy and had a one-eighth Cherokee blood. Moreover, she tells us about the Texas band that to in the Indian Territory, but the author does not explicitly give critical information about the group. The absence of information such as trade connections, population size, as well as their number of settlements does not give the reader complete information about this Texas band.

Moreover, her cultural comparison of the Eastern and Western Cherokee Nation to the Texas band is too simplistic, and she just makes conclusions without prior information. The author does not indicate the poor relationship that existed between the Texas band and the Cherokees as they were involved in a bloody massacre in an Osage Village. Therefore, the conclusions made by Dianna Everett are not justified and may not be true. Also, the documentation of the narrative seems to be conjectural as Everett uses ethnographical data that belongs to James Mooney to interpret the actions of the individuals of Western Cherokees. Therefore, at some point, Dianna Everett does not emphasize on any issues that require critical information, hence; her conclusions may seem to be unjustified and may be based on her own ideas rather than true information.

Compared to some articles on However, although Dianna tries to convince the readers about the cultural and political structure of the Cherokees, she is less convincing in some aspects. For instance, although she tells us how Richard Field led the Cherokees into Texas, she does not explain why the rich man did that or his intentions. There should be an explanation of why Richard did that or why he led his people in Texas. Dianna Everett should have explained the intentions of this man who was wealthy and had a one-eighth Cherokee blood. Moreover, she tells us about the Texas band that to in the Indian Territory, but the author does not explicitly give critical information about the group. The absence of information such as trade connections, population size, as well as their number of settlements does not give the reader complete information about this Texas band.

Moreover, her cultural comparison of the Eastern and Western Cherokee Nation to the Texas band is too simplistic, and she just makes conclusions without prior information. The author does not indicate the poor relationship that existed between the Texas band and the Cherokees as they were involved in a bloody massacre in an Osage Village. Therefore, the conclusions made by Dianna Everett are not justified and may not be true. Also, the documentation of the narrative seems to be conjectural as Everett uses ethnographical data that belongs to James Mooney to interpret the actions of the individuals the same subject read before, this book is self-satisfied because the author clearly explains how the Cherokee community relates with the outside world. Moreover, it serves as a good example of the difficulties that some communities prevalent in the current generation undergo some major struggles when they settle in a new area. For instance, the Cherokee people find themselves in a dilemma as they are not decided on which people to join forces with or build allies with between the Texans and the Mexicans. Therefore, it should be noted that the book is convincing as the author manages to draw evidence from the historical data that was also used by some great writers. The book is quite readable and contains a lot of information about the Cherokees of Texas.

Those pursuing courses related to ethno history may be enlightened by this book written by Dianna Everett. This is because the book covers or portrays her ethno historical works in a systematic way that makes the reader understand the history of the Cherokees of Texas. Without such efforts, students in the field of history may not know the history of such communities, especially because it was a small and vulnerable community. Also, for political students that seek to understand the ethno geography of Texas, this book is convenient because it illustrates the history of the Cherokees of Texas who enjoyed twenty year tenure in Texas. The book, therefore, may be very informative to historians because it gives a good example of the cultural, political as well as social structures of small and vulnerable communities together with the problems that face such communities.

Bibliography

Everett, Dianna. The Texas Cherokees: A people between two fires, 1819-1840. Vol. 203. University of Oklahoma Press, 1995.