The Hoe and the Horse on the Plains

A Study of Cultural Development among North American Indians

by Preston Holder

"This book provides information essential to the understanding of the Plains Indians. . . . The emphasis centers on two native modes of life on the Great Plains—hoe farming and hunting from horseback—with special reference to the effects of contact with the encroaching white culture."—Western Historical Quarterly

"Underscores the fact that prehistoric Indian tribes and confederations differed from each other, and frequently fought against each other, before Europeans entered their communities. It also undermines the myth that all Indians shared the same experiences as they struggled to deal with intrusions by non-Indians. This is a provocative book. It will interest general readers who are already well-schooled in Indian history and anthropology, and it will be very beneficial when used as supplementary reading in upper-division college courses or graduate seminars on native American history, anthropology, or race relations."—Herbert T. Hoover, Southwestern Historical Quarterly

"Rich and interesting. . . . An ethnological study in the best sense of that much-abused term, archaeologically and historically based, soundly documented."—American Scientist

"To his knowledge of archaeological and historical sources, Holder adds fieldwork with the Arikara and a broad acquaintance with Plains ethnography."—Wilcomb E. Washburn, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"Of great interest to scholars who welcome an approach to Indian studies from inside the Indian social order rather than from the view of the invading European-American civilization."—Walker D. Wyman, Pacific Northwest Quarterly

— ©1991