Mixed Blood Indians: Racial Construction in the Early South (Mercer University Lamar Memorial Lectures)

Perdue, Theda

ISBN 10: 082032731X / ISBN 13: 9780820327310

Published by University of Georgia Press, 2005

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Mixed Blood Indians: Racial Construction in the Early South (Mercer University Lamar Memorial Lectures)
• Publisher: University of Georgia Press
• Publication Date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 082032731X
• ISBN 13: 9780820327310
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

On the southern frontier in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, European men―including traders, soldiers, and government agents―sometimes married Native women. Children of these unions were known by whites as "half-breeds." The Indian societies into which they were born, however, had no corresponding concepts of race or "blood." Moreover, counter to European customs and laws, Native lineage was traced through the mother only. No familial status or rights stemmed from the father.

"Mixed Blood" Indians looks at a fascinating array of such birth- and kin-related issues as they were alternately misunderstood and astutely exploited by both Native and European cultures. Theda Perdue discusses the assimilation of non-Indians into Native societies, their descendants' participation in tribal life, and the white cultural assumptions conveyed in the designation "mixed blood." In addition to unions between European men and Native women, Perdue also considers the special cases arising from the presence of white women and African men and women in Indian society.

From the colonial through the early national era, "mixed bloods" were often in the middle of struggles between white expansionism and Native cultural survival. That these "half-breeds" often resisted appeals to their "civilized" blood helped foster an enduring image of Natives as fickle allies of white politicians, missionaries, and entrepreneurs. "Mixed Blood" Indians rereads a number of early writings to show us the Native outlook on these misperceptions and to make clear that race is too simple a measure of their―or any peoples'―motives.

About the Author

THEDA PERDUE is a professor of history at the University of Kentucky. She is the author or editor of eight books, including The Cherokee and Slavery and the Evolution of Cherokee Society, 1540-1866.