"The chiefs now in this city" : Indians and the urban frontier in early America

During the years of the Early Republic, prominent Native leaders regularly traveled to American cities--Albany, Boston, Charleston, Philadelphia, Montreal, Quebec, New York, and New Orleans--primarily on diplomatic or trade business, but also from curiosity and adventurousness. They were frequently referred to as "the Chiefs now in this city" during their visits, which were sometimes for extended periods of time. Indian people spent a lot of time in town. Colin Calloway, National Book Award finalist and one of the foremost chroniclers of Native American history, has gathered together the accounts of these visits and from them created a new narrative of the country's formative years, redefining what has been understood as the "frontier." Calloway's book captures what Native peoples observed as they walked the streets, sat in pews, attended plays, drank in taverns, and slept in hotels and lodging houses. In the Eastern cities they experienced an urban frontier, one in which the Indigenous world met the Atlantic world. Calloway's book reveals not just what Indians saw but how they were seen. Crowds gathered to see them, sometimes to gawk; people attended the theatre to watch "the Chiefs now in this city" watch a play. Their experience enriches and redefines standard narratives of contact between the First Americans and inhabitants of the American Republic, reminding us that Indian people dealt with non-Indians in multiple ways and in multiple places. The story of the country's beginnings was not only one of violent confrontation and betrayal, but one in which the nation's identity was being forged by interaction between and among cultures and traditions. America's founding involved the melding of disparate cultures and communities, a blurring of boundaries, some physical and others imagined. One of the most significant divisions in early America was that between the country's vast and sparsely populated interior and its crowded coastal cities. To many white colonials, the urban and rural divide represented the borderline between civilization and savagery. Embodying the latter were the nation's Native populations. Wherever Indians lived defined the frontier. As Colin Calloway's fascinating new book reveals, however, a large number of Native leaders were well acquainted with city life. In fact, over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries they were in town often, regularly traveling to Albany, Boston, Charleston, Philadelphia, Montreal, Quebec, New York, and New Orleans--primarily to conduct diplomatic or trade business, but often from a sense of curiosity and adventure. Some were even tourists. During their visits, which were sometimes for extended periods, they walked the streets, sat in pews, drank in taverns, and slept in hotels and lodging houses. Crowds gathered to see them; people attended the theatre to witness "the Chiefs now in this city"--as they were widely called in newspaper accounts--"watch a play." Based on primary accounts, Calloway's book illuminates in words and pictures what Native visitors to these cities both saw and how they were seen. Their experiences redefine standards narratives, reminding us that America's beginning involved far more than violent confrontations--raids and wars and massacres--between colonists and Indigenous peoples and included longstanding and often sophisticated interaction in metropolitan settings. In the process, "The Chiefs Now in This City" offers both a corrective and a vibrant portrait of a country in formation. -- From dust jacket " ... A large number of Native leaders were well acquainted with city life. In fact, over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries they were in town often, regularly traveling to Albany, Boston, Charleston, Philadelphia, Montreal, Quebec, New York and New Orleans -- primarly to conduct diplomatic or trade business, but often from a sense of curiosity and adventure. Some were even tourists. ... Based on primary accounts, Calloway's book illuminates in words and pictures what Native visitors to these cities both saw and how they were seen ..."--Inside jacket flap America's founding involved and required the melding of cultures and communities, a redefinition of 'frontier' and boundaries in every possible sense. Using the accounts of Native leaders who visited cities in the Early Republic, Calloway's book reorients the story of that founding. Violent resistance was just one of many Native responses to colonialism. Peaceful interaction was far more the norm, and while less dramatic and therefore less covered, far more important in its effects.