In retrospect, history often seems preordained; vulnerabilities seem garishly announced, outcomes a matter of course. Winter counts, however, illustrate sudden, pitiless twists of fortune. Their political philosophy and social organizations were distinguished by a flexibility that allowed them to maneuver among rival colonial powers and hostile neighboring tribes. One of their mythical heroes is the shape-shifting spider-trickster figure Iktomi. “Lakota America” takes us from the 16th century to the present, with painstaking, carefully marshaled detail, but its real feat is in threading how the Lakota philosophy and vision of the world guided their reinventions and their dealings with colonial powers.

Source: New York Times October 22, 2019 20:15 UTC