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Approaching Whiteness

Acknowledging Native Americans as Scholars of Reversal in 19th Century Autobiographical Writings

Muszeika, Britta

American Studies – A Monograph Series, Bd. 307

2020

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Abstract

Since the 19th century indigenous writers have been challenging their missing cultural, political and literary invisibility. Yet, stereotypical misconceptions of “the inferior Indian” continue to exist. This “study of reversal” unfolds an unseen perspective of Native Americans in which they emerge as ethnographers of whiteness and indigeneity. Rereading the autobiographical accounts of Charles A. Eastman, Sarah Winnemucca and Zitkala-Ša results in a framework which allows us to reimagine native culture, while it simultaneously reverses and completes our understanding of white identity. This new approach investigates how these native writers create a counterimage of the “Indian’s White Man,” by creating their own study of “races.” By emerging as scholars of reversal ‘avant la lettre’, their works may additionally be read as testimonies of reconciliation.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

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Cover Cover
Titel III
Imprint IV
Acknowledgments VII
Abbreviations IX
Table of Contents XI
1 Introduction 1
1.1 “The White Man’s Indian” 1
1.1.1 “The Indian and the White Other” 5
1.1.2 Along the Stony Road towards Reconciliation 8
1.1.3 Redefining a Myth – Embedding Reconciliation in Education 19
1.2 Reversing the Gaze – “The Indian’s White Man” 25
1.2.1 Indigenous Testimonies – On the Trails of the White Man 28
1.3 Scholars of Reversal ‚avant la lettre‘ 32
2 The Emergence of the Color White 35
2.1 Historical Development – Creating a Myth 35
2.2 The Invisible White Man 43
2.3 Using White Ink – Native American Literary Transparency 56
2.3.1 Authentic Voices – the Writing “Indians” 62
3 Theoretical Framework – Critical Race Theory (Tribal Critical Race Theory) and Whiteness Studies 71
3.1 Understanding Race – Manifold Perspectives 74
3.2 Resisting the Cliché 81
4 The Voice of Color 97
4.1 A Rereading of Sarah Winnemucca's ‚Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims‘ (1883) 97
4.1.1 “My White Brothers Have Come at Last!” 104
4.1.2 Approaching and Understanding White Culture 111
4.1.3 Collecting Experiences – Encountering the White Man 117
4.1.4 Winnemucca and the Indian Agents 134
4.1.5 Winnemucca and the Military 143
4.2 A Rereading of Zitkala- Ša’s ‚American Indian Stories‘ (1921) 152
4.2.1 Native American Residential Boarding Schools 154
4.2.2 Closing the Educational Gap 159
4.2.3 Zitkala Ša’s Counterstory 164
4.2.4 The White Man’s Land of Milk and Honey 176
4.3 A Rereading of Charles Alexander Eastman's ‚Indian Boyhood‘ (1902) ‚and From the Deep Woods to Civilization‘ (1916) 221
4.3.1 Into the Woods – Discovering Native American Territory 225
4.3.2 The Mysterious “Pale-Faces” 230
4.3.3 Towards Civilization – Embracing White Culture 239
5 Conclusion 257
6 Works Cited 265
6.1 Primary Sources 265
6.2 Secondary Sources 269
German summary / Deutsche Zusammenfassung 291
Academic resume / Akademischer Lebenslauf 293
Backcover 294