He became a professor of anthropology at Macalester College in Minnesota. He has written extensively on indigenous cultures in North American and in other countries. His books include ' (1988), which was translated into numerous languages; ' (1991), and "Savages and Civilization: Who Will Survive?" (1994) on the contemporary clash of world cultures. Weatherford's early books on Native Americans won the Minnesota Book Award in 1989 and in 1992. He also received the 1992 Anthropology in the Media Award from the American Anthropological Association, and the 1994 Mass Media Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.