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Prophets of the Great Spirit: Native American Revitalization Movements in Eastern North America. By Alfred A. Cave. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2006. ISBN 0-8032-1555-X. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xiii, 328. $27.95.
Early American Indian prophets like Neolin, the Shawnee Prophet, and Handsome Lake have received their fair share of attention from historians. When it comes to writing about these significant Indian spiritual leaders of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, historians still depend on Anthony F. C. Wallace's theory of "revitalization," introduced by the anthropologist over a half century ago. In Prophets of the Great Spirit, Alfred Cave relies heavily on this theory to explain how different prophets reacted to moments of crisis and change. Materials presented in Prophets of the Great Spirit might offer little new to specialists in the field, yet the book would make a superb text to...