Clearing a Path: Theorizing the Past in Native American Studies

by Shoemaker,Nancy

• ISBN13: 9780415926751
• ISBN10: 0415926750
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2001-10-12
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Native American studies is ready for theory. Until very recently, historians and others researching the Native American past have almost exclusively described their subject in linear, chronological fashion--relegating the theory to introductory chapters or footnotes. InClearing a Path, Nancy Shoemaker assembles a collection of essays written by some of the most respected names in the field that skillfully places methodological and theoretical concerns first. The anthology is divided into four sections: *"Stories" looks at history as storytelling (and storytelling as history) *"Categories of Analysis" asks how roles like gender affect historical study * "Political Economy" reviews the material context of Native American history on and off the reservation *"Tribal Histories, Indigenous Histories" compares two different modes of examining Native American history. Clearing a Pathoffers new models and ideas for exploring Native American history, drawing from disciplineslike history, anthropology, and creative writing. This a must-read for anyone interested in the history of indigenous peoples.

Author Biography

Nancy Shoemaker, Associate Professor of History at the University of Connecticut

Table of Contents

Introduction	vii
Nancy Shoemaker
Stories
Oral History, Narrative Strategies, and Native American Historiography: Perspectives from the Yukon Territory, Canada	3	(26)
Julie Cruikshank
The Story of America: A Tribalography	29	(22)
LeAnne Howe
Categories of Analysis
Categories	51	(24)
Nancy Shoemaker
``Some Women Are Wiser Than Some Men'': Gender and Native American History	75	(32)
Gunlog Fur
Political Economy
Marxism and Historical Materialism In American Indian History	107	(30)
Patricia C. Albers
Primary Sources: Indian Goods and The History of American Colonialism and the 19th-Century Reservation	137	(24)
Jacki Thompson Rand
Tribal Histories, Indigenous Histories
Keep Your Thoughts Above the Trees: Ideas on Developing, and Presenting Tribal Histories	161	(20)
Craig Howe
Life Proceeds From the Name: Indigenous Peoples and the Predicament of Hybridity	181	(26)
James F. Brooks
Notes on Contributors	207	(2)
Index	209