American Indians and the American Imaginary : Cultural Representation Across the Centuries

American Indians and the American Imaginary considers the power of representations of Native Americans in American public culture. The book's wide-ranging case studies move from colonial captivity narratives to modern film, from the camp fire to the sports arena, from legal and scholarly texts to tribally-controlled museums and cultural centres. The author's ethnographic approach to what she calls "representational practices" focus on the emergence, use, and transformation of representations in the course of social life. Central themes include identity and otherness, indigenous cultural politics, and cultural memory, property, performance, citizenship and transformation. American Indians and the American Imaginary will interest general readers as well as scholars and students in anthropology, history, literature, education, cultural studies, gender studies, American Studies, and Native American and Indigenous Studies. It is essential reading for those interested in the processes through which national, tribal, and indigenous identities have been imagined, contested, and refigured. American Indians and the American Imaginary considers the power of representations of Native Americans in American public culture. The book's wide-ranging case studies move from colonial captivity narratives to modern film, from the camp fire to the sports arena, from legal and scholarly texts to tribally-controlled museums and cultural centers. The author's ethnographic approach to what she calls representational practices focus on the emergence, use, and transformation of representations in the course of social life. Central themes include identity and otherness, indigenous cultural politics, and cultural memory, property, performance, citizenship, and transformation. American Indians and the American Imaginary will interest general readers as well as scholars and students in anthropology, history, literature, education, cultural studies, gender studies, American Studies, and Native American and Indigenous Studies. It is essential reading for those interested in the processes through which national, tribal, and indigenous identities have been imagined, contested, and refigured. Dedication Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Part One: Introduction 1 The Ethnography of Representational Practices Part Two: Representing History and Identity 2 Tribe and Nation 3 Five Hundred Years 4 Indian Blood Part Three: Captivity, Adoption, and the American Imaginary 5 Captivity in White and Red 6 The Contemporary Captivity Narrative 7 On Captivity as Digital Spectacle Part Four: Playing Indian 8 Crafting American Selves 9 Animated Indians 10 The Mascot Slot Part Five: Iindigenous Imaginaries 11 Sovereignty, Indigeneity, and Ethnographic Representation 12 A Native Space on the National Mall Epilogue References Sources and Credits Index About the Author Shows how Native Americans have been represented in American public culture - from the colonial era to modern films, sports arenas and museums.