Reviewed by:

• These People Have Always Been a Republic: Indigenous Electorates in the U.S.–Mexico Borderlands, 1598–1912 by Maurice Crandall
• Flannery Burke

These People Have Always Been a Republic is an ambitious, comprehensive account of the long history of Pueblo, Hopi, Yaqui, and O'odham electorates in what is now northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. The book is also a bold argument advocating that historians use a different frame to understand democracy. Historians of the United States pride themselves on their thorough explorations of democracy and its origins. Crandall asks that scholars widen their view. "The Anglo-American tendency to look from east to west, against which Herbert Eugene Bolton battled so long, persists to the present day" (5), he observes. Crandall reminds [End Page 99] us that democracy is not a possession of the United States.

He does so by neither ignoring nor centering colonialism. Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. colonists are powerful figures in Crandall's narrative, but they are not the protagonists. Drawing on hemispheric historiography, Crandall argues persuasively and emphatically that the constant in electoral activity in the U.S.–Mexico borderlands "was the desire by Pueblos, Hopis, Yaquis, and Tohono O'odhams to protect their rights as sovereign Native Nations" (289). Pueblos, Hopis, Yaquis, and Tohono O'odhams are the key agents in Crandall's narrative even when they are not visibly active. Indeed, one of Crandall's key insights is that voting—perhaps the most visible element of electoral activity—could be both a tool of colonialism and a tool of independence. O'odhams who refused U.S. citizenship and enfranchisement baffled even those U.S. officials who considered themselves Indigenous allies, but Indigenous electorates closely guarded their community decisions from the eyes of outsiders, not out of a dedication to secrecy per se, but out of a commitment to their own freedom to make decisions for themselves.

As such secrecy indicates, voting (or not voting) for particular leaders was just one of the ways that Indigenous electorates protected their sovereignty. Hybridized forms of Indigenous government also addressed independent religious practice; the return of women and children stolen from their communities; service on juries and in the military; the location, delivery, and content of education for Indigenous children; responses to internal instances of violence; and, always passionately, the potential alienation of tribal land. Indigenous electors responded to these issues within the constraints and legacies of Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. colonialism, but they did so by preserving and adapting their own democratic practices toward the end of community perseverance. Colonization "neither destroyed nor replaced Indigenous forms of democracy traditionally rooted in concepts of consensus, dialogue, persuasion, and the power of words" (6). Indeed, in the Pueblos' case, they continued to practice their own democratic traditions during Spanish colonization even when their Spanish neighbors held no rights to do the same.

Crandall's narrative addresses abstract concepts: democracy, the franchise, and independence, but it is also filled with human and material stories. In the Cantón Rebellion of 1837, Pueblo Indians briefly led "the most inclusive government New Mexico has ever seen—past or present" (133). In 1848, a Hopi woman and several Hopi children were returned to Oraibi after Mexicans brutally took them captive and sold them as genízaros because Hopi leadership pleaded with Mexican officials for their return. Yaqui leaders reminded themselves of their obligations with the oath "the sierra does not have a voice, but you do" (81). Historians presently observe some of the most significant challenges to U.S. democracy in the nation's history. They would benefit from broad studies of democracies [End Page 100] that heed the insights and concerns of Indigenous electorates. U.S. democracy itself could benefit as well.

审核人：

• 这些人一直是一个共和国：1598 年至 1912 年美国-墨西哥边境地区的土著选民，莫里斯·克兰德尔 (Maurice Crandall)
• 弗兰纳里·伯克

These People Have Always Been a Republic is an ambitious, comprehensive account of the long history of Pueblo, Hopi, Yaqui, and O'odham electorates in what is now northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. The book is also a bold argument advocating that historians use a different frame to understand democracy. Historians of the United States pride themselves on their thorough explorations of democracy and its origins. Crandall asks that scholars widen their view. "The Anglo-American tendency to look from east to west, against which Herbert Eugene Bolton battled so long, persists to the present day" (5), he observes. Crandall reminds [End Page 99] us that democracy is not a possession of the United States.

他这样做既不忽视殖民主义，也不以殖民主义为中心。西班牙、墨西哥和美国殖民者是克兰德尔叙事中的强大人物，但他们不是主角。克兰德尔利用半球史学，有说服力和强调地指出，美国和墨西哥边境地区的选举活动“是普韦布洛人、霍皮斯人、亚奎斯人和托霍诺奥奥德姆斯希望保护他们作为主权原住民的权利的愿望”（289） . Pueblos、Hopis、Yaquis 和 Tohono O'odhams 是 Crandall 叙事中的关键代理人，即使他们并不明显活跃。事实上，克兰德尔的一个关键见解是投票——也许是选举活动中最明显的元素——既可以是殖民主义的工具，也是独立的工具。拒绝美国的 O'odhams

正如这种保密所表明的那样，为特定领导人投票（或不投票）只是原住民选民保护其主权的方式之一。混合形式的土著政府也涉及独立的宗教实践；从社区被盗的妇女和儿童返回；在陪审团和军队服役；土著儿童教育的地点、提供方式和内容；对内部暴力事件的反应；并且，总是充满激情地，部落土地的潜在异化。土著选民在西班牙、墨西哥和美国殖民主义的约束和遗产范围内对这些问题做出了回应，但他们通过保留和调整自己的民主实践来实现社区坚持。殖民化”

克兰德尔的叙述涉及抽象概念：民主、特许权和独立，但它也充满了人和物质的故事。在 1837 年的坎通叛乱中，普韦布洛印第安人短暂地领导了“新墨西哥有史以来最具包容性的政府——过去或现在”（133）。1848 年，一名霍皮族妇女和几名霍皮族儿童被送回奥莱比，因为霍皮族领导人恳求墨西哥官员要求他们返回，墨西哥人残忍地将他们俘虏并将他们作为genízaros出售。亚基领导人用誓言提醒自己他们的义务“山脉没有发言权，但你有”（81）。历史学家目前观察到美国历史上美国民主面临的一些最重大挑战。注意到原住民选民的见解和担忧。美国民主本身也可以受益。