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Title details for The Chiefs Now in This City by Colin Calloway - Available

The Chiefs Now in This City

Indians and the Urban Frontier in Early America

by Colin Calloway
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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.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 13, 2021

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780197547670

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780197547670
      • File size: 43917 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      March 15, 2021
      A history of the early American frontier from the perspective of Native Americans. At the beginning of his latest penetrating book on Native affairs, noted Dartmouth historian Calloway calls out the simplistic belief that Native Americans disappeared into the wilderness as colonists pushed west in the 18th and 19th centuries. On the contrary, writes the author, Native Americans frequently moved toward urban areas rather than away from them, "as they responded to new centers of power, adapted to new pressures, and took advantage of new economic opportunities." They traveled to Boston, Charleston, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, and other cities for not only diplomatic or economic reasons, but also recreational purposes, often staying weeks or months at a time. "Many historians have pored over the writing of colonial travelers for deeper understanding of Native American society and culture," writes Calloway, "yet few have looked to Native American travelers for alternative understandings of early American society and culture." As he has done in previous books, the author provides an extensive review and analysis of the available literature, offering a fresh view of the lives of Native Americans during the early years of the new republic while correcting many common misconceptions, particularly in relation to hospitality, civility, and justice. Calloway shows how "colonial communities depended on connections to Indian country for their existence, growth, and prosperity." To this end, the leaders of these cities would host delegates from various Native nations for conferences and negotiations, often making arrangements and paying for their lodging and other expenses. Native men and women would also travel to cities to trade and to engage socially. While in the city, they took part in everyday Colonial life, including eating, drinking, attending church, and visiting and performing in theater productions. Calloway also explores the perils faced by Native Americans on these journeys, including violence, racism, and disease. A welcome Native-focused history of Colonial America.

      COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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