Analysis of Inventing The Savage: The Social Construct of Native American Criminality by Luana Ross

Inventing the Savage: The Social Construct of Native American Criminality. Luana Ross. Austin: University of Texas Press. 1998.
There is much literature about African American and Hispanic offenders and the punishment of males in the criminal justice system; however, there is not much literature on either Native Americans or women offenders in the criminal justice system. Luana Ross attempts to break this trend with her research in Inventing the Savage: The Social Construct of Native American Criminality. In her book, Ross first gives a comprehensive history and perspective on the perception of Native Americans by what she describes as “Euro-Americans.” In the second part of her book, Ross gives us a glimpse on the conditions and treatment of women prisoners (particularly Native American women) in a Montana women’s correctional facility (labeled the WCC by the author).
Ross was very qualified to write this work. She is part of the Flathead Indian Tribe in Montana, where much of her research and book is written. She has her Ph.D. in sociology and currently works as a professor of Native American studies at the University of Washington and is co-director of an Indian Studies graduate program at the University of Washington. Because of her immense knowledge of the subject and where she is from, Ross most likely had a particular interest in this book, and it translates well into the research.
In the words of Ross, her focus and goal for writing this book was to write “…about the racialized and gendered experiences of incarceration, with a focus on Native American women and the loss of sovereignty as it is implicitly tied to Native criminality…” because there was little information on this subject. This means that Ross studied wo...

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...t Native Americans get special privilege because of their culture.
Inventing the Savage was an interesting look in how Native Americans are expected to assimilate into culture, and because they have no desire to assimilate in “Euro-American” culture, they are treated harshly. Though this book was published in 1998 (15 years ago), there is most likely unfair treatment for Native Americans in both regular society and prisons. By writing this book, Ross gives a great perspective on how Native Americans are treated like “cultural prisoners” and how the “Euro-Americans” do not take kindly to the behaviors of the Native Americans. Overall, this book is highly recommendable to anyone who has an interest in learning about Native American criminality, as well as the treatment of women in prison, but more importantly the treatment of Native Americans in prison even today.