INDIAN COUNTRY, GOD'S COUNTRY: NATIVE AMERICANS AND THE NATIONAL PARKS, by Philip Burnham; Island Press, 2000; 384 pages; $27.50.
It's fairly common knowledge that American Indians were pushed into reservations by the U.S. government. What hasn't been told until now, in this new book, is how much of that former Indian territory included prime national park land.
This book, by historian Philip Burnham, is an in-depth look at how five national parks in particular — Glacier, Badlands, Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde and Death Valley — were influenced by Indian occupation.
Bottom line is that the park service has historically tried to hide the Indians from the public or get them to move because they weren't considered good for tourism. For example, it was erroneously promoted in the 19th century that the American Indians were afraid of Yellowstone's geysers and that's why they didn't live in the area. The fact is, according to Burnham's research, that's not true. Indians weren't afraid of the geysers; they used the hot water to help cook food as they traveled through the park boundaries.
Most surprising was the stake Indians had in Death Valley. They used to live in portions of the lower valley in winter and the higher, surrounding mountains in summer. Death Valley was the ancestral homeland for the Timbisha Indians.
Tribes held some national park land sacred for centuries, but pretty much had to move out and abandon their roots. Sometimes they received monetary compensation, but usually not. The Blackfeet Indians were paid $1.5 million for what was to became Glacier National Park.
Even in Yosemite, environmentalist John Muir promoted the notion that local Indians were a dirty and messy people. Even more modern environmentalists and groups have generally opposed any Indian return to national park territory for fear it would create a messy economic situation.
Thousands of people a year hike or ride mules into the Grand Canyon past Indian Gardens, along the Bright Angel Trail, believing it to be a prehistoric farming area. However, the truth is that 19th century Indian farmers were kicked out of this oasis, halfway between the canyon rim and the floor below, to make way for tourists.
Territory near the Grand Canyon for Havasupai Indians went from 60 square miles to less than one mile. Today, these Indians see themselves as more the guardians than the owners of the Grand Canyon.
Burnham blends tales and histories of the five parks into a novel-like story, with glimpses of a few other prominent national parks in the West.
The cover photograph shows Blackfeet Indians in Glacier in 1912, and inside are 14 other black-and-white historical pictures.
Burnham didn't just research in libraries. He supplements the final portion of the book by visiting some of the parks and talking to ancestors of Indians forced to move.
His description of some national parks is also excellent: "One moment it is not there, the next moment it's all there," he says of the Grand Canyon, explaining how a curtain of pinyon and juniper hide the gorge until you're almost right at the edge.
In total, this book breaks new historical ground in telling a story that's never been told.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com