Early Native Literacies in New England: A Documentary and Critical AnthologyKristina Bross, Hilary E. Wyss University of Massachusetts Press, 2008 - 276 pages Designed as a corrective to colonial literary histories that have excluded Native voices, this anthology brings together a variety of primary texts produced by the Algonquian peoples of New England during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and very early nineteenth centuries. Included among these written materials and objects are letters, signatures, journals, baskets, pictographs, confessions, wills, and petitions, each of which represents a form of authorship. Together they demonstrate the continuing use of traditional forms of memory and communication and the lively engagement of Native peoples with alphabetic literacy during the colonial period. Each primary text is accompanied by an essay that places it in context and explores its significance. Written by leading scholars in the field, these readings draw on recent trends in literary analysis, history, and anthropology to provide an excellent overview of the field of early Native studies. They are also intended to provoke discussion and open avenues for further exploration by students and other interested readers. Above all, the texts and commentaries gathered in this volume provide an opportunity to see Native American literature as a continuity of expression that reflects choices made long before contact and colonization, rather than as a nineteenth -- or even twentieth-century invention.Contributors include Heidi Bohaker, Heather Bouwman, Joanna Brooks, Kristina Bross, Stephanie Fitzgerald, Sandra Gustafson, Laura Arnold Leibman, Kevin McBride, David Murray, Laura Murray, Jean O'Brien, Ann Marie Plane, Philip Round, Jodi Schorb, David Silverman, and Hilary E. Wyss. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 28
... spiritual force that flows through all things , and if these symbols are true representations of that force , this spirit should be expressed in the designs . " " 1 Thus , Mohegan basket design patterns contain spiritual connotations ...
... spiritual ethos of the " other " into their own worldview . This perspective is also evident in the Native appropriation and transfor- mation of European objects such as the Bible and printed text . Williams re- ported that " when they ...
... spiritual power in a number of ways . " 26 Through appropriate ritual and train- ing , individuals could exert " spiritual levels of control through the medium of an animal " such as the bear.2 27 The bear , held in high esteem by ...
Contents
The Mohegans | 15 |
Joseph Johnson Diary 1773 | 28 |
Laura J Murray Joseph Johnsons Diary Farmington | 42 |
Copyright | |
17 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Early Native Literacies in New England: A Documentary and Critical Anthology Kristina Bross,Hilary E. Wyss No preview available - 2008 |