Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-222) and index.
Contents:
Redefining the literary Indian -- Boundaries and paths: storied maps of the Virginia-North Carolina dividing line and its crossings -- Fire and chain: Samson Occom's letters, Anglo-American missions, and Haudenosaunee eloquence -- Generational objects: Mohegan nationhood, indigenous correspondence, and Lydia Huntley Sigourney's unpopular aesthetic -- Trails: Pawnee and Osage orientations in Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, and Edwin James -- Perspectives: taking a second look with Charles Alexander Eastman -- Dancing into the future.
Summary:
"Countering the prevailing notion of the "literary Indian" as a construct of the white American literary imagination, Angela Calcaterra reveals how Native people's pre-existing and evolving aesthetic practices influenced Anglo-American writing in precise ways. Indigenous aesthetics helped to establish borders and foster alliances that pushed against Anglo-American settlement practices and contributed to the discursive, divided, unfinished aspects of American letters"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.