annieb123's Review of The Apache Diaspora (America in the Nineteenth Century)

by Paul Conrad

Across four centuries, Apache (Nde) peoples in the North American West confronted enslavement and forced migration schemes intended to exploit, subjugate, or eliminate them. While many Indigenous groups in the Americas lived through similar histories, Apaches were especially affected owing to their mobility, resistance, and proximity to multiple imperial powers. Spanish, Comanche, Mexican, and American efforts scattered thousands of Apaches across the continent and into the Caribbean and deeply impacted Apache groups that managed to remain in the Southwest.
Based on archival research in Spain, Mexico, and the United States, as well Apache oral histories, The Apache Diaspora brings to life the stories of displaced Apaches and the kin from whom they were separated. Paul Conrad charts Apaches' efforts to survive or return home from places as far-flung as Cuba and Pennsylvania, Mexico City and Montreal. As Conrad argues, diaspora was deeply influential not only to those displaced, but also to Apache groups who managed to remain in the West, influencing the strategies of mobility and resistance for which they would become famous around the world.
Through its broad chronological and geographical scope, The Apache Diaspora sheds new light on a range of topics, including genocide and Indigenous survival, the intersection of Native and African diasporas, and the rise of deportation and incarceration as key strategies of state control. As Conrad demonstrates, centuries of enslavement, warfare, and forced migrations failed to bring a final solution to the supposed problem of Apache independence and mobility. Spain, Mexico, and the United States all overestimated their own power and underestimated Apache resistance and creativity. Yet in the process, both Native and colonial societies were changed.

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Apache Diaspora is a well written annotated history of the Apache people presented by Dr. Paul Conrad. Due out 28th May 2021 from The University of Pennsylvania Press, it's 400 pages in print and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is one book in UPenn's: "America in the 19th Century" this volume delineates the roughly four centuries of survival, genocide, upheaval, exploitation, and fortitude of the Ndé (Apache) people of the North American southwest.

This book, while academically rigorous and prodigiously annotated throughout is refreshingly accessible to non-academics. The language is understandable and readable and the author allows the subjects to speak eloquently for themselves, through their photos and the ephemera (diaries, family oral history, and archival evidence) they left behind.

I found myself often moved emotionally during reading this book and affected deeply by the plight of the people and their families depicted here. Seeing the resilience and mettle of these people against the backdrop of the nauseating prejudice and cruel mishandling by everyone was often difficult to read and process.

The text is liberally annotated and illustrated with line drawings, facsimiles of period documents, and an impressive number of photos. Although the treatment is admittedly academic, there's enough annotation and chapter notation and bibliography to satisfy the staunchest pedant - at the same time, there's a clear and compelling biographical narrative. I'm amazed that there's enough period record to reconstruct the stories of these families after so many years.

Five stars. I would recommend this book to readers of American history, war history, American culture, classroom instruction in native history, or allied subjects, ephemera, etc.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

The Apache Diaspora (America in the Nineteenth Century)

by Paul Conrad

Reviewed by annieb123 on Mar 27, 2021

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