Choctaw Prophecy: A Legacy for the Future (Contemporary American Indian Studies) - Softcover

Mould, Tom

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0817312269 ISBN 13: 9780817312268

Publisher: University Alabama Press, 2003

Synopsis

This intriguing study explores the power and artistry of prophecy among the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, who use predictions about the future to interpret the world around them. This book challenges the common assumption that American Indian prophecy was an anomaly of the 18th and 19th centuries that resulted from tribes across the continent reacting to the European invasion. Tom Mould's study of the contemporary prophetic traditions of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians reveals a much larger system of prophecy that continues today as a vibrant part of the oral tradition. Mould shows that Choctaw prophecy is more than a prediction of the future: it is a way to unite the past, present, and future in a moral dialogue about how one should live. Choctaw prophecy, he argues, is stable and continuous; it is shared in verbal discourse, inviting negotiation on the individual level; and, because it is a tradition of all the people, it manifests itself through myriad visions with many themes. In homes, casinos, restaurants, laundromats, day care centers, and grocery stores, as well as in ceremonial and political situations, people discuss current events and put them into context

About this title

About the Author

Tom Mould is Assistant Professor of English at Elon University.

Review

"In Choctaw Prophecy Tom Mould plumbs the depths and complex configurations of long-term oral traditions among the Choctaws. . . . He reminds us that prophecy takes place in the mundane social spaces as well as in the sacred ones."—Robbie Ethridge, University of Mississippi

"Mould has provided some insight and perspective into an area that few delve into. There have been countless works on Native Americans as entire culture groups, but very few works exist that cover the use of language and prophecy. . . . The most important point of the book is cultural preservation."—The Florida Anthropologist

Edition details

• Publisher: University Alabama Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0817312269
• ISBN 13: 9780817312268
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352