American Indians in the Lower Mississippi Valley: Social and Economic Histories (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780803295636)

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Native peoples inhabiting the Lower Mississippi Valley confronted increasing domination by colonial powers, disastrous reductions in population, and the threat of being marginalized by a new cotton economy. Their strategies of resistance and adaptation to these changes are brought to light in this perceptive study.

An introductory overview of the historiography of Native peoples in the early Southeast examines how the study of Native-colonial relations has changed over the last century. Daniel H. Usner Jr. reevaluates the Natchez Indians' ill-fated relations with the French and the cultural effects of Native population losses from disease and warfare during the eighteenth century. Usner next examines in detail the social and economic relations the Native peoples forged in the face of colonial domination and demographic decline, and he reveals how Natives adapted to the cotton economy, which displaced their familiar social and economic networks of interaction with outsiders. Finally, Usner offers an intriguing excursion into cultural criticism, assessing the effects of popular images of Natives from this region.

Author: Daniel H. Usner
ISBN-10: 0803295634
ISBN-13: 9780803295636
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Language: English
Published: 11/01/2003
Pages: 205
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.52d