Carlos Montezuma and the changing world of American Indians

by Peter Iverson

Publisher description: Carlos Montezuma (1866-1923) was one of the great Native American crusaders for Indian rights in the early twentieth century. This biography by an authority on Southwest Indian history tells a dramatic story that sheds light both on Montezuma's career and on the movements he influenced. A southern Arizona Yavapai called Wassaja by his parents, Montezuma was captured by rival tribesman as a boy and sold to a white man who gave him the name by which we know him. Trained as a physician, his career as a reformer began when he went to work at the Carlisle Indian School, for here--in addition to serving as physician to the famous Carlisle football team--he was able to meet many of the people centrally involved in the administration of federal Indian policy. Shortly after the turn of the century Montezuma emerged as a national leader of Native American affairs. He helped to found the Society of American Indians and became increasingly involved in the affairs of the Fort