Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface and Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. The Chemehuevi Way

2. Invading and Defaming the Chemehuevi

3. War, Resistance, and Survival

4. The Chemehuevi at Twenty-Nine Palms

5. Unvanished Americans

6. Willie, Williams, and Carlota

7. Cultural Preservations, Ethnogenesis, and Revitalization

Glossary

Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Clifford E. Trafzer is Distinguished Professor of History and Costo Chair of American Indian Affairs at University of California, Riverside. He is the author of several books, including Renegade Tribe: The Palouse Indians and the Invasion of the Inland Pacific Northwest and Death Stalks the Yakama: Epidemiological Transitions and Death on the Yakama Indian Reservation, 1888–1964; and coeditor of The Indian School on Magnolia Avenue: Voices and Images from Sherman Institute.

Reviews

"[A Chemehuevi Song] represents the highest level of academic and community collaboration. . . [It] is the embodiment of an intellectual and cultural relationship that combines an astute analysis from the historian/ethnographer with a melody of rare tribal voices sharing the lived realities—both past and present—that Chemehuevi people experienced, survived, and relied upon to create the cultural resilience they are experiencing today."
*Southern California Quarterly*

"The sound historical research, sources, and extensive employment of oral history interviews makes this account of the history and persistence of the Chemehuevi an impressive work."
*Montana Magazine*

"Trafzer’s book is a wondrous portrayal. . . . Compelling historical discourse. . . . A Chemehuevi Song is a song, and a story, that we should all make time to hear."
*The Journal of Arizona History*

"Clifford E. Trafzer has produced a thorough history of the Chemehuevi people. . . . This work will appeal to a wide audience. It is certainly an important work for California Indian scholars. . . . This book is a song with a very clear message and chorus, and Trafzer makes very clear that the song continues."
*Western Historical Quarterly*

"A well-written and illustrated, carefully documented, masterful contribution to the overlapping fields of ethnohistory, ethnomusicology, Native American and American studies, myth, and folklore. Essential."
*Choice*

"Some academics are good scholars and a few are good storytellers. Clifford Trafzer is both. . . . Trafzer presents a nuanced view of the community's culture, especially their songs as methods of dealing with sorrow. . . . A Chemehuevi Song is a testament to their songs as metaphors for the Chemehuevi's adaptations to adversity and relative prosperity."
*New Mexico Historical Review*