Synopses & Reviews
The arrival of English settlers in the American Southeast in 1670brought the British and the Native Americans into contact both with foreign peoplesand with unfamiliar gender systems. In a region in which the balance of powerbetween multiple players remained uncertain for many decades, British and Nativeleaders turned to concepts of gender and family to create new diplomatic norms togovern interactions as they sought to construct and maintain working relationships.In Brothers Born of One Mother, Michelle LeMasteraddresses the question of how differing cultural attitudes toward gender influencedAnglo-Indian relations in the colonial Southeast.
As one of the mostfundamental aspects of culture, gender had significant implications for military anddiplomatic relations. Understood differently by each side, notions of kinship andproper masculine and feminine behavior wielded during negotiations had the power toeither strengthen or disrupt alliances. The collision of different culturalexpectations of masculine behavior and men's relationships to and responsibilitiesfor women and children became significant areas of discussion and contention. NativeAmerican and British leaders frequently discussed issues of manhood (especially inthe context of warfare), the treatment of women and children, and intermarriage.Women themselves could either enhance or upset relations through their activeparticipation in diplomacy, war, and trade.
Leaders invokedgendered metaphors and fictive kinship relations in their discussions, and byevaluating their rhetoric, Brothers Born of One Motherinvestigates the intercultural conversations about gender thatshaped Anglo-Indian diplomacy. LeMaster's study contributes importantly tohistorians' understanding of the role of cultural differences in intergroup contactand investigates how gender became part of the ideology of European conquest inNorth America, providing a unique window into the process of colonization inAmerica.