Reimagining Indians: Native Americans Through Anglo Eyes, 1880-1940 - Hardcover

Smith, Sherry L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195136357 ISBN 13: 9780195136357

Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc, 2000

Synopsis

This is an investigation of a group of Anglo-American writers whose books about Native Americans helped reshape Americans' understanding of Indian peoples at the turn of the 20th century. Hailing from the Eastern United States, these men and women travelled to the American West and discovered "exotics" in their midst. Drawn to Indian cultures as alternatives to what they found distasteful about modern American culture, these writers produced a body of work that celebrates Indian cultures, religions, artistry and simple humanity. Although these writers were not academically trained ethnographists, their books represent popular versions of ethnography. In revealing their own doubts about the superiority of European-American culture, they sought to provide a favourable climate for Indian cultural survival in a world indisputably dominated by non-Indians. They also encouraged notions of cultural relativism, pluralism and tolerance in American thought. For the historian and general reader alike, this volume speaks to broad themes of American cultural history, Native American history, and the history of the American West.

About this title

About the Author

Sherry L. Smith is Associate Professor of History at Southern Methodist University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195136357
• ISBN 13: 9780195136357
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 286