Survival of the Salish Indians of Montana's Bitterroot mountain range into the 21st century is due to conscious strategies of adaptation and diplomacy argues Bigart (librarian emeritus, Salish Kootenai College, Pablo, MT). Raised on the Flathead Indian reservation, Bigart first visited the topic in his Bachelor's degree honors thesis at Harvard in 1969, and here compiles the results of forty years of research. Both an economic history of the Salish and a chronology of the twenty-one years preceding their removal to the Jocco Reservation in 1891, the work examines survival strategies which included the acceptance of Christianity, a commitment to economic independence shown by a switch from hunting/gathering to farming, and an understanding of the benefit of strategic alliances, all the while maintaining a cultural identity which survives to this day. Extensively notated, this volume contains a small selection of historic b&w photographs most from university collections. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)