Synopsis
Drawing extensively upon previously unexplored archival sources and emphasizing the actions of the subjects of the policy – the Indians – as well as of the Quakers, this book is not merely a policy study, but also an examination of the Indian side of Indian-white history. A rich and detailed comparative history of three tribes in the 1870s, it demonstrates that despite the assimilation plan, the Indian groups retained their own political dynamics and cultural identities. Clyde A. Milner II is an associate professor of history at Utah State University.
“Early in 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant began his “Quaker Policy” by inviting the Society of Friends to take responsibility for the administration of Indian affairs in Nebraska, Kansas, and the Indian Territory. The Friends, by appointing superintendents, hiring all reservation employees, and operating mission schools, would replace a corrupt patronage system and at the same time help tribes accommodate to a new way of life. The federal government, for its part, would supply goods, money, and official endorsement. Clyde A. Milner investigates the results of this experiment on three small reservations in Nebraska.” —Robert H. Keller, Jr., Fairhaven College
