In League Against King Alcohol: Native American Women and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 1874–1933 by Thomas John Lappas

Abstract

Reviewed by: In League Against King Alcohol: Native American Women and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 1874–1933 by Thomas John Lappas Sarah Eppler Janda In League Against King Alcohol: Native American Women and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 1874–1933. By Thomas John Lappas. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2020. Pp. 344. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index.) Many historians have examined the complex ways in which gender, race, religion, class, and culture shaped the American Temperance Movement. However, the ways in which Native American women navigated, shaped, and were shaped by temperance ideals has too often gone overlooked or has been examined in more one-dimensional ways. Thomas J. Lappas's book, In League Against King Alcohol: Native American Women and the Women's Christian Temperance Union, 1874–1933, offers a thorough examination of the motivations and ideals of Indigenous women who sought opportunities to improve the circumstances in their communities [End Page 218] through the work of temperance. Lappas does an excellent job of contextualizing the place of Native American women in their communities and in their efforts to eradicate alcohol consumption. The book is divided into six chapters, each of which explores the interplay between the ideals than underpin temperance and the role of Native American women. The first few chapters focus more directly on Native American women and their relationship to the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). These chapters are particularly noteworthy for bringing attention not only to the roles played by individual women, such as Lilah Denton Lindsey (Creek) and Jane Stapler (Cherokee), but also for examining how these women viewed temperance through their own cultural lens. Additionally, Lappas examines the depiction of Native Americans in WCTU literature, as well as efforts to promote temperance culture at Indian boarding schools and the efforts to organize temperance unions in Indian Country. The cultural bias implicit in the characterizations of Native Americans and the denigration of Native traditions, sometimes intentionally and sometimes not, ultimately helps explain what Lappas describes as the "mixed legacy" of WCTU work. While this book discusses the work of the WCTU throughout the United States, it is especially noteworthy for the focus on temperance in the Southwest. For example, chapter 4 explores temperance work in Indian Country, revealing the significance of women's networks in community-based efforts to eradicate alcohol consumption. Helen M. Stoddard, the president of the Texas WCTU, spent a month in Indian Territory working with organizers. Female networks, including cross-cultural alliances, proved central to the successes of the WCTU. Lappas balances his commitment to showing the role of Native American women in the Temperance Movement with a strong inclination toward contextualizing their work in connection to their communities, cultures, religious beliefs, and larger networks that included non-Native women. The book is thoroughly researched and draws on archival materials from over thirty repositories across the country. Lappas skillfully uses these sources to give voice to Indigenous women while also shedding light on the shared social and religious culture generated by those immersed in the WCTU. Ultimately, Lappas concludes that the WCTU "should be seen as having a mixed legacy in Indian work" (248). Although the organization had lofty aims of eradicating alcohol and all of the social and economic problems that came with it, their reform framework too often came at the expense of Indigenous culture and tradition. This book makes a strong contribution to the historiography of temperance and women's networks, but also to the history of Native American women, particularly in Indian Country. [End Page 219] Sarah Eppler Janda Cameron University Copyright © 2020 The Texas State Historical Association