"This book draws not only upon published documentary sources, but also from unpublished material and the author's personal observations across a period of more than 20 years. He attempts to provide an objective outline of the historical antecedents underlying the present tribal organization. It is not the author's intention to disparage historical figures, either Navajo or non-Navajo, who played an important role in the political history of the Tribe. Each of them belongs to the period in which he or she lived and worked; and if the political philosophies they espoused are inconsonant with those that obtain today, the reason must be attributed to a greatly changed public attitude, as well as to present-day Federal Indian policy. " from the editor page IX.