The Northern Cheyenne Exodus in History and Memory

ISBN-13: 9780806143705 / Angielski / Miękka / 2011 / 276 str.

James N. Leiker; Ramon Powers

Opis

The exodus of the Northern Cheyennes in 1878 and 1879, an attempt to flee from Indian Territory to their Montana homeland, is an important event in American Indian history. It is equally important in the history of towns like Oberlin, Kansas, where Cheyenne warriors killed more than forty settlers. The Cheyennes, in turn, suffered losses through violent encounters with the U.S. Army. More than a century later, the story remains familiar because it has been told by historians and novelists, and on film. In The Northern Cheyenne Exodus in History and Memory, James N. Leiker and Ramon Powers explore how the event has been remembered, told, and retold. They examine the recollections of Indians and settlers and their descendants, and they consider local history, mass-media treatments, and literature to draw thought-provoking conclusions about how this story has changed over time.The Cheyennes' journey has always been recounted in melodramatic stereotypes, and for the last fifty years most versions have featured "noble savages" trying to reclaim their birthright. Here, Leiker and Powers deconstruct those stereotypes and transcend them, pointing out that history is never so simple. "The Cheyennes' flight," they write, "had left white and Indian bones alike scattered along its route from Oklahoma to Montana." In this view, the descendants of the Cheyennes and the settlers they encountered are all westerners who need history as a "way of explaining the bones and arrowheads" that littered the plains.Leiker and Powers depict a rural West whose diverse peoples--Euro-American and Native American alike--seek to preserve their heritage through memory and history. Anyone who lives in the contemporary Great Plains or who wants to understand the West as a whole will find this book compelling.

Winner of the Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize, Center for Great Plains StudiesA Kansas Notable BookThe exodus of the Northern Cheyennes in 1878 and 1879, an attempt to flee from Indian Territory to their Montana homeland, is an iconic event in American Indian history. It also looms large in the history of towns like Oberlin, Kansas, where Cheyenne warriors killed more than forty settlers. The story has been told by historians and novelists, and on film. Now James N. Leiker and Ramon Powers examine the recollections of Indians and settlers and their descendants, considering local history, mass media, and literature to draw thought-provoking conclusions. "The Cheyennes flight," they write, "left white and Indian bones alike scattered along its route from Oklahoma to Montana." The authors depict a West whose diverse peoples-Euro-American and Native American-seek to preserve their heritage through memory and history. "The authors do not sacrifice the power of the story itself . . . one of the most dramatic, touching, and disturbing of its time."Elliott West, author of The Last Indian War: The Nez Perce Story"Leiker and Powers significantly add to the conversation about how a shared experience of violence solidifies a group and reshapes its identity, particularly for Euro-American settlers."-Journal of American History"This important book provides a deep look into the historical context of the Cheyennes flight, the extent of its investigation making it superior to previous scholarship."-Great Plains Quarterly James N. Leiker, author of Racial Borders: Black Soldiers along the Rio Grande, is Associate Professor of History, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, Kansas. Ramon Powers, formerly Executive Director of the Kansas State Historical Society, is author of articles on Plains Indians history.