Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
For the indigenous peoples of New England--the Abenaki, Mohegan, Mohican, Narragansett, Nipmuc, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Pequot, Schaghticoke, Wampanoag, and other tribal nations--the colonial period has not yet ended. In lightof the contemporary struggles of Native peoples to defend their resources, shapetheir futures, safeguard their health, and provide for their families, the academicstudy of history may seem to have limited relevance. Yet in a climate and societywhere Native rights are closely tied to political status and ethnic identity, historical interpretation directly impacts thosestruggles.
Because colonialism entailed, indeedrequired, controlling how history is told, native and non-native scholars havetended to write parallel histories without examining points of intersection.Reinterpreting New England Indians and the ColonialExperience is the first volume specifically designed to examinethe intersection, overlapping, and conflict between the scholar's past and thenative present in New England. The chapters include work by younger as well asestablished scholars, work by natives and non-natives, and collaborative efforts byIndian and non-Indian scholars. Collectively, the essays suggest some of the newdirections scholars are pursuing, as well as some ways of thinking about historythat are new to academia but very old in native communities. The authors peerbeneath the surface history of events to understand how non-Indian peoples projectedand perpetuated colonialism and how Indian peoples in southern New Englandexperienced and responded to it. Although differences in emphasis and interpretationwill continue to characterize their scholarship, the authors transform our sense ofthe New England past, as lived and as written about, and the ways it continues toshape the present.
Distributed for the ColonialSociety of Massachusetts