Thomas Constantine Maroukis's Books

We Are Not a Vanishing People

The Society of American Indians, 1911–1923

By: Thomas Constantine Maroukis

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We Are Not a Vanishing People

The Society of American Indians, 1911–1923

By: Thomas Constantine Maroukis

The early twentieth-century roots of modern American Indian protest and activism are examined in We Are Not a Vanishing People. It tells the history of Native intellectuals and activists joining together to establish the Society of American Indians, a group of Indigenous men and women united in the struggle for Indian self-determination.

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297

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University of Arizona Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0816542260

ISBN 13

9780816542260

Peyote and the Yankton Sioux

The Life and Times of Sam Necklace

By: Thomas Constantine Maroukis

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Peyote and the Yankton Sioux

The Life and Times of Sam Necklace

By: Thomas Constantine Maroukis

In Peyote and the Yankton Sioux, Thomas Constantine Maroukis focuses on Yankton Sioux spiritual leader Sam Necklace, tracing his family’s history for seven generations. Through this history, Maroukis shows how Necklace and his family shaped and were shaped by the Native American Church. Sam Necklace was chief priest of the Yankton Sioux Native American Church from 1929 to 1949, and the four succeeding generations of his family have been members of the Church. As chief priest, Necklace helped establish the Peyote religion firmly among the Yankton, thus maintaining cultural and spiritual autonomy even when the U.S. government denied them, and American Indians generally, political and economic self-determination. Because the message of peyotism resonated with Yankton pre-reservation beliefs and, at the same time, had parallels with Christianity, Sam Necklace and many other Yankton supported its acceptance. The Yanktons were among the first northern-plains groups to adopt the Peyote religion, which they saw as an essential corpus of spiritual truths.

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422

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University of Oklahoma Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0806136162

ISBN 13

9780806136165

We Are Not a Vanishing People

The Society of American Indians, 1911–1923

By: Thomas Constantine Maroukis

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We Are Not a Vanishing People

The Society of American Indians, 1911–1923

By: Thomas Constantine Maroukis

In 1911, a group of Native American intellectuals and activists joined together to establish the Society of American Indians (SAI), an organization by Indians for Indians. It was the first such nationwide organization dedicated to reform. They used a strategy of protest and activism that carried into the rest of the twentieth century. Some of the most prominent members included Charles A. Eastman (Dakota), Arthur Parker (Seneca), Carlos Montezuma (Yavapai), Zitkala-Ša (Yankton Sioux), and Sherman Coolidge (Peoria). They fought for U.S. citizenship and quality education. They believed these tools would allow Indigenous people to function in the modern world without surrendering one’s identity. They believed this could be accomplished by removing government controls over Indian life. Historian Thomas Constantine Maroukis discusses the goals, strategies, successes, and failures of the Indigenous intellectuals who came together to form the SAI. They engaged in lobbying, producing publications, informing the media, hundreds of speaking engagements, and annual conferences to argue for reform. Unfortunately, the forces of this era were against reforming federal policies: The group faced racism, a steady stream of negative stereotyping as a so-called vanishing race, and an indifferent federal bureaucracy. They were also beset by internal struggles, which weakened the organization. This work sheds new light on the origins of modern protest in the twentieth century, and it shows how the intellectuals and activists associated with the SAI were able to bring Indian issues before the American public, challenging stereotypes and the “vanishing people” trope. Maroukis argues that that the SAI was not an assimilationist organization; they were political activists trying to free Indians from government wardship while maintaining their cultural heritage.

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297

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University of Arizona Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0816543011

ISBN 13

9780816543014

The Peyote Road

Religious Freedom and the Native American Church

By: Thomas C. Maroukis

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The Peyote Road

Religious Freedom and the Native American Church

By: Thomas C. Maroukis

Despite challenges by the federal government to restrict the use of peyote, the Native American Church, which uses the hallucinogenic cactus as a religious sacrament, has become the largest indigenous denomination among American Indians today. The Peyote Road examines the history of the NAC, including its legal struggles to defend the controversial use of peyote. Thomas C. Maroukis has conducted extensive interviews with NAC members and leaders to craft an authoritative account of the church’s history, diverse religious practices, and significant people. His book integrates a narrative history of the Peyote faith with analysis of its religious beliefs and practices—as well as its art and music—and an emphasis on the views of NAC members. Deftly blending oral histories and legal research, Maroukis traces the religion’s history from its Mesoamerican roots to the legal incorporation of the NAC; its expansion to the northern plains, Great Basin, and Southwest; and challenges to Peyotism by state and federal governments, including the Supreme Court decision in Oregon v. Smith. He also introduces readers to the inner workings of the NAC with descriptions of its organizational structure and the Cross Fire and Half Moon services. The Peyote Road updates Omer Stewart’s classic 1987 study of the Peyote religion by taking into consideration recent events and scholarship. In particular, Maroukis discusses not only the church’s current legal issues but also the diminishing Peyote supply and controversies surrounding the definition of membership. Today approximately 300,000 American Indians are members of the Native American Church. The Peyote Road marks a significant case study of First Amendment rights and deepens our understanding of the struggles of NAC members to practice their faith.

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296

Publisher

University of Oklahoma Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0806185961

ISBN 13

9780806185965

Peyote and the Yankton Sioux

The Life and Times of Sam Necklace

By: Thomas Constantine Maroukis

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Peyote and the Yankton Sioux

The Life and Times of Sam Necklace

By: Thomas Constantine Maroukis

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Page Count

410

Publisher

University of Oklahoma Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0806136499

ISBN 13

9780806136493

Book's by Thomas Constantine Maroukis

We Are Not a Vanishing People

We Are Not a Vanishing People

Peyote and the Yankton Sioux

Peyote and the Yankton Sioux

We Are Not a Vanishing People

We Are Not a Vanishing People

The Peyote Road

The Peyote Road

Peyote and the Yankton Sioux

Peyote and the Yankton Sioux

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