The period from the mid-1940s (with the founding of the National Congress of American Indians) through the late 1970s saw a rise in activism on the part of American Indians that revealed the plight of tribes in this country. Although often overlooked by the general public, the new tribalism and actions such as the takeover of Alcatraz Island in 1969 and the standoff at Wounded Knee in 1973 made such ignorance impossible. Gray (Univ. of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law) discusses how this activism emerged and how it was instrumental in helping to change the course of American Indian policies. Beginning just before the outset of the termination period, the movement can be linked to such congressional actions as the Indian Self-Determination and Education Act and numerous land settlement acts, and to the shift toward self-determination and self-governance that is seen today. Many works look at this shift in policy, but few touch on tribal activism as being instrumental in the change. . . .The information is valuable and insightful. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.

Choice Reviews

The Tribal Moment covers an important time in our history. It is written with fairness and accuracy and presents many things in a new light. Gray's take on the IRA is very important and well presented. It's a fine book and a really great read.

Chuck Trimble, Oglala Lakota Nation, founder of the American Indian Press Association and former executive director of the National Congress of American Indians

Reading The Tribal Moment [made me realize] how much I did not know about the tribes’ journey from expected extinction to permanent status as sovereign dependent nations. Gray's presentation of the idea of an ‘order of Indian affairs’ within the United States, and her analysis of the roots of that order and its changes and continuities over time, came as a revelation. She has made visible an historic process of constitutional dimensions whereby a nation founded on liberty and equality violated its own values in its treatment of the first Americans. She shows how, in the 1960s and 1970s, action by Native American activists, tribal leaders, and public officials led, finally, to recognition by the United States that the tribes' standing is permanent. The book offers powerful insights into the costs imposed by America's growth to greatness. It illuminates a different dimension of American history.

Edgar S. Cahn, special assistant to Sargent Shriver, Office of Economic Opportunity, and author of Our Brother's Keeper: The Indian in White America