Review by Choice Review
In this revision of his 1999 dissertation, Carpenter (Mount Holyoke College) examines the shift in Iroquoian culture and mind-sets from precontact through lethal contact with Europeans. His discussions of shifts in technology and warfare are grounded, if already well canvassed. Unfortunately, Carpenter also attempts to "explain" Iroquoian spirituality without bothering to consult the Iroquois. Aside from a two-sentence, somewhat misleading mention of a 1997 article by this reviewer, no Native scholars are cited. Had Carpenter consulted their works, he might have acquired some grasp of the Iroquoian concept of Sky/male/breath/fire as balanced by Earth/female/blood/water. Instead, Carpenter misses the full female half of the Iroquoian world, leading him into considerable error there. Unfamiliarity with Native scholars combines with his unquestioning overreliance on European sources to promote a very colonial approach to the Iroquois. (For example, traditional and scholarly Iroquois regard William Fenton, the "dean of twentieth-century Iroquoianists," as the scoundrel who desecrated the Grandfather masks.) Since Carpenter's career is just beginning, he would be advised to step back from self-appointed Iroquoianists into the larger rough-and-tumble of scholars on the Iroquois; to test rather than revere European sources; and to recognize that the best source on any people is always the people themselves. Caveat emptor; this reviewer has some reservations about this work. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. B. A. Mann University of Toledo
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
