Inventing the Savage: The Social Construct of Native American Criminality. Luana Ross. Austin: University of Texas Press. 1998. Much literature exists on 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 female 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 provides 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 look at the conditions and treatment of female prisoners (particularly Native American women) in a Montana women's penitentiary (labeled WCC by the author). Ross was very qualified to write this work. . He is part of the Flathead Indian Tribe in Montana, where much of his research and books are written. He has his Ph.D. in sociology and currently works as a professor of Native American studies at the University of Washington and is co-director of a graduate program in Indian studies at the University of Washington. Because of his immense knowledge of the topic and its provenance, Ross most likely had a particular interest in this book, and this translates well into research. In Ross's words, her goal and objective in 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 topic. This means that Ross studied wo...... middle of paper ......t Native Americans get special privileges because of their culture. Inventing the Savage was an interesting look at how Native Americans are expected to assimilate into the culture, and since they have no desire to assimilate into the “Euro-American” culture, they are treated harshly. Although this book was published in 1998 (15 years ago), there is most likely unfair treatment of Native Americans both in normal society and in prisons. By writing this book, Ross offers a great perspective on how Native Americans are treated as "cultural prisoners" and how "Euro-Americans" do not welcome Native American behaviors. Overall, this book is highly recommendable to anyone interested in learning about Native American criminality, as well as the treatment of women in prison, but especially the treatment of Native Americans in prison even today..