Hippies, Indians, and the Fight for Red Power

Southern Methodist University historian Smith (Reimaginging Indians) revisits familiar themes in this study of how hippies and Native Americans came together in the late 1960s. From Occupy Alcatraz to Wounded Knee, Smith illustrates the ways in which groups of politically active youth helped educate Native Americans on how to interact with their government. With help from their countercultural allies, Indians gained much needed publicity for their plight through periodicals like the Berkeley Barb, religious sects like the Quakers, and high profile celebrities like Jane Fonda and Anthony Quinn, whose support helped cement the reality of Indian activism. Further, Smith provides a rationale for how the two groups came together via “ ‘long hair convergence,’ ” shared political beliefs, and a similar sense of humor. The Native American lifestyle was celebrated and made mainstream through the writings of poet Gary Snyder and Ken Kesey’s One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, as well as Stewart Brand’s ethnographic compilation (The Whole Earth Catalogue), which brought Native daily life to a wider audience. Though the book can feel like a survey of mid-20th-century protests and the major political movements of Native Americans, there is no denying the depth of research Smith has devoted to the subject. (May)