The premise of this book is to explain the complexity of Native populations before Columbus came along to ruin and subjugate their civilizations. These were not a handful of people scattered about vast lands. They had long standing histories and traditions. They had social structure. They had communication. They had trade relations. There were loads of things going on that made them a "civilized" society. (I would argue that the ones who thought they were civilized were, in fact, NOT.) It is horrific and tragic what happened to the Native populations for the benefit of European explorers and settlers. (Yes, I realize that I come from a whole line of Europeans who settled in North America, and that I am as white as a sheet of paper, but that doesn't mean I cannot realize it was abhorrent what happened and advocate for proper education and respect of people...)

I have mixed feelings about this book. The first thing that irritated me endlessly is that the Natives were consistently referred to as Indians. I think that at the time of publication, it was a well established fact that they were called such because Columbus and others assumed they were in India, or the West Indies. Can we PLEASE make a notation of that, explain how it is incorrect, and call these people what they are? Either their appropriate name, indigenous, or Native?? I have about 0.0000001% Native blood in me, so I probably do not have a valid opinion on this, but as a historian....it makes me INSANE. My book group has several members who have hyped this book up and sang it's praises from the rooftops...I found it underwhelming compared to what they said about it. The description of the Native civilization was well written and awesome to read about. I think the research was well done on this. I have that to say that is positive. I try to not be completely negative when I review something, because there is usually both positive and negative things about a book, so...this is my attempt at transparency.