The Lumbee Problem: The Making of an American Indian People (Cambridge Studies in Cultural Systems) - Softcover

Blu, Karen I.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521295424 ISBN 13: 9780521295420

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1980

Synopsis

The Lumbee Indians of North Carolina, although the fifth largest Indian group in the United States, have had a history of difficulty in convincing others of their Indian identity. Like other 'neglected' Eastern Indian groups, they lack treaties, reservations and a continuous record of settlement, and apparently have not practised 'traditional Indian ways' for over two hundred years. This raises questions of how their distinctiveness is formulated and maintained. Using material derived from fieldwork among the Lumbee, Professor Blu argues that deeply-felt notions about their group identity have played a major role in shaping and guiding their political activities for over a century. She traces the changing relationships of the Lumbee with their black and white neighbours in this period. In carving out a third niche for themselves in a biracial system, the Lumbee have demonstrated that the Southern racial structure has been more flexible and complicated than has often been suggested.

About this title

Book Description

Using material derived from fieldwork among the Lumbee Indians, Professor Blu traces the changing relationships of the Lumbee with their black and white neighbours in this period and demonstrates that the Southern racial structure has been more flexible and complicated than has often been suggested.

About the Author

Karen I. Blu is an associate professor of anthropology at New York University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1980
• ISBN 10: 0521295424
• ISBN 13: 9780521295420
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288