Ghost brothers : adoption of a French tribe by bereaved native America : a transdisciplinary longitudinal multilevel integrated analysis

While Spanish conquistadores in the Americas seemed bent on plunder and the British on land appropriation, the French became swept up in a complex web of Native alliances. In an unprecedented study, Rony Blum explores how phantom-mediated interpretations of the past and present were key to the uniquely successful relationship that developed between the French and Natives. Devastating losses caused by diseases such as smallpox led to an epidemic of bereavement among the Natives. This loss resonated with the French, who had dealt with smaller epidemics in France and were also mourning their absent communities through a nostalgia for home. Blum traces how ghosts provided transgenerational and transcultural links that guided understanding rather than encouraging violence. Ghost Brothers insightfully examines the process of this colonial interdependent alliance between Native and European worlds. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Intertwined Twintalk 2 Smoke Signals 3 Revenge of the Cradles 4 Born Free 5 Our Founding Clanmothers 6 Je me souviens 7 Hunting Otherworlds 8 Outside In, Inside Out Epilogue: Beating Swords into Canoe Paddles Notes Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Rony Blum Explores How Phantom-mediated Interpretations Of The Past And Present Were Key To The Uniquely Successful Relationship That Developed Between French Settlers And Natives In The Americas.--book Jacket. Rony Blum. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [341]-441) And Index. "Rony Blum explores how "phantom-mediated" interpretations of the past and present were key to the uniquely successful relationship that developed between French settlers and Natives in the Americas."--Résumé de l'éditeur