Dispossession by Degrees: Indian Land and Identity in Natick, Massachusetts, 1650-1790

ISBN-13: 9780521561723 / Angielski / Twarda / 1997 / 304 str.

Jean M. O'Brien

Opis

According to Jean O'Brien, Indians did not simply disappear from colonial Natick, Massachusetts as the English extended their domination. Rather, the Indians creatively resisted colonialism, defended their lands, and rebuilt kin networks and community through the strategic use of English cultural practices and institutions. In the late eighteenth century, Natick Indians experienced a process of "dispossession by degrees" that rendered them invisible within the larger context of the colonial social order, and enabled the construction of the myth of Indian extinction.

Recenzje

"emphasizes the importance of soverignty to the preseverance of native peoples. She carefully reconstructs the history of the most prominent Indian communties in early New England-the "Praying Town" of Natick Massachuetts... Dispossesion by Degrees is convincing. O'Brien is at her best when she presents her meticulous original research into Natick records. She carefully reads the sources for subtexts and perceives their ideological function as English propaganda. Even so, she succeeds in extracting from these sources evidence of Natick people's preseverance and resourcefulness." Tearsheet From William & Mary Quarterly

Spis treści

Prologue: 'My Land': Natick and the Narrative of Indian Extinction; Chapter 1: Peoples, Land, and Social Order; Chapter 2: The Sinews and the Flesh: Natick Comes Together, 1650–1675; Chapter 3: 'Friend Indians': Negotiating Colonial Rules, 1676–1700; Chapter 4: Divided In Their Desires; Chapter 5: Interlude: The Proprietary Families; Chapter 6: 'They Are So Frequently Shifting Their Place Of Residence': Natick Indians, 1741–1790; Conclusion.