American Studies Commons^™

Review Of A Separate Country: Postcoloniality And American Indian Nations By Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, Akim D. Reinhardt

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Nobody cares about American Indian studies more than Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, and her latest book makes that clear. She calls for stronger departments and a dedicated methodology, and bemoans mere interdisciplinary programs, which force scholars to produce research that caters to traditional Western disciplines and promotes what she considers unsuitable intellectual frameworks. In particular, she decries postcolonial theory, favoring decolonization theory instead and the use of Indigeneity as a category of analysis. From that starting point, the author covers a range of important topics. A high point is the chapter discussing non-Indians who fraudulently assume Indian identity. Her overarching critique of …

Review Of Grand Procession: Contemporary Artistic Visions Of American Indians: The Diker Collection At The Denver Art Museum By Lois Sherr Dubin, Jessica R. Metcalfe

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Life in miniature, history in vibrant hues, art on parade-this is what is presented in Grand Procession, a catalogue printed by the Denver Art Museum to accompany its recent exhibit of contemporary Native American dolls. Meant to serve as a celebration of this art form, the book makes clear that these figures are more than just playthings: they are sculptural "little people" meticulously clothed and accurately designed to depict Plains and Plateau ceremonial regalia.

Dolls have been created for centuries throughout North America, and exhibits such as the Heard Museum's 2010 More Than Child's Play have sought to elevate …

Review Of Agricultural History: History Of The Prairie West Series, Volume 3. Edited By Gregory P. Marchildon., Bradford Rennie

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This is the third book of the History of the Prairie West Series published by the Canadian Plains Research Center in Regina, Saskatchewan. The series, edited by Gregory P. Marchildon, consists of articles previously published in Prairie Forum, a journal devoted to the northern Great Plains, primarily the region encompassing the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. The book is organized into four sections: the first contains broad articles that survey prairie history; the other three focus on farming, ranching, and marketing, respectively.

Review Of Sustaining The Cherokee Family: Kinship And The Allotment Of An Indigenous Nation By Rose Stremlau, C. Joseph Genetin-Pilawa

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Cherokee families, Rose Stremlau states in her elegantly written book, were and remain "egalitarian, flexible, inclusive, and decentralized." These characteristics, she argues, have provided stability through difficult times, as Cherokee families faced colonization, displacement and removal, the Civil War, and ultimately the allotment policy of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries {although it is important to note that she also carries her analysis beyond the allotment era, into the mid-to-late twentieth century}. Using U.S. and Cherokee census data, Dawes Commission records, Guion Miller Commission applications, probate records, articles from the national Cherokee Advocate, and oral histories in the Doris Duke …

Ligia Grischa Bylaws

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

1. The Ligia Grischa fixes the period of its existence for 15 years.

2. In this society can only be accepted persons from 12 to 60 years, who show in their life a good behavior.

3. Every member must pay $5.00 on entering the "Ligia Grischa" and signing the statues. He must also pay 1 Taler every month and on the 5th of June 1875 another 10 Talers.

4. Every member who enters after the foundation of the "Ligia Grischa" is obliged to pay the same capital plus 5% more than the members who joined at the foundation of the …

Review Of Murder, The Media, And The Politics Of Public Feelings: Remembering Matthew Shepard And James Byrd Jr. By Jennifer Petersen, Thomas R. Dunn

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

The 1998 murders of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. prompted strong emotions in the national debate over hate crimes. Yet while legal, literary, and critical readings of the murders have emerged, little attention has been devoted to these emotions and their role in the politics that followed. Jennifer Petersen remedies this deficiency, offering broader insights about politics, media, and the public sphere.

Drawing upon close readings of local and national media, Petersen tirelessly traces the complex affective webs that surround each case. In the first half of her book, Petersen describes the national media's characterization of Shepard as an …

Review Of Plains Indian Art: The Pioneering Work Of John C. Ewers Edited By Jane Ewers Robinson, Bill Anthes

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

John Canfield Ewers (1909-1997) authored two important books on Plains Indian art: Plains Indian Painting: A Description of an Aboriginal American Art (1939) and Plains Indian Sculpture: A Traditional Art from America's Heartland (1986). The present collection is the second of two volumes of short essays first published in journals and specialized catalogs. The first, Plains Indian History and Culture: Essays on Continuity and Change (1997), included a number of essays that looked to works of art as sources of primary historical information. This volume collects fifteen essays foregrounding works of art and matters of style, iconography, the historiography of …

Review Of Where The Tall Grass Grows: Becoming Indigenous And The Mythological Legacy Of The American West By Bobby Bridger, John H. Monnett

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Musician, writer, and entertainer Bobby Bridger, a descendant of the well-known western trapper and scout Jim Bridger, has written a book attempting to link the past to the present by connecting historical eras of the American western movement with how Native Americans have been viewed, not only at the time, but in modern writing, especially fiction, stage productions, and, most importantly, motion pictures. His thesis is apparently based on a sentiment expressed by Indigenous author Joseph Marshall III at a Western Writers of America Conference to the effect that, although Indians have walked in the white world, whites have not …

Review Of For King And Kanata: Canadian Indians And The First World War By Timothy C. Winegard, Robert J. Talbot

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

A comprehensive study of Canadian First Nations' experiences during the Great War is long overdue, making Timothy C. Winegard's For King and Kanata a welcome addition to the historiography. In a style both engaging and accessible, Winegard tells the individual and collective stories of those Indian men who enlisted to fight for the Crown. His book also focuses on how government policy shaped First Nations' participation in the war effort. Race, for instance, played a determining role. At first, the government banned Indian men from serving. As casualties mounted and pressure from Britain grew, however, Canadian officials began active recruitment …

Great Plains Quarterly Volume 32 / Number 4 / Fall 2012

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Contents

Book Reviews

Book Notes

Notes and News

Clark, Otis Vernon, Jr., 1926-2006 (Mss 428), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 428. Chiefly letters from Otis Vernon Clark, Jr., while studying in Lexington, Virginia, to his parents Otis and Susie, Bowling Green, Kentucky, detailing university social life. Also included in the collection are miscellaneous photos, postcards, and biographical information.

The Kirchenleute Argument And The Evolving Language Of Protest: Popular Constitutionalism Or "Licentious Liberty?", Nathaniel Payton Conley

Student Theses and Dissertations

In 1798-99, the Kirchenleute, or "Church-People," in eastern Pennsylvania rebelled in response to the passage of the first direct tax on property and the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. Named Fries' Rebellion for the leader, John Fries, this rebellion happened due to the unique development and language of the Kirchenleute's popular constitutionalism. Fries' Rebellion contributed to a further understanding of the powers of the federal government under the Constitution of 1787 and also to the collapse of the Federalist Party in the election of 1800. "Popular constitutionalism" in the context of the Kirchenleute is the theory that groups of …

Western, William Wallace, 1834-1870 (Sc 736), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 736. “Prison Pastime: A Poem,” written by William W. Western, a Memphis, Tennessee Confederate while in Canada during the Civil War. Privately printed, updated, and dedicated to Henry H. Skiles, a lawyer friend of Bowling Green, Kentucky. Includes typescripted letters of Western, written from Canada, discussing his poems and his uncertain future.

Cloyd, Mary (Sc 31), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 31. Loom weaving drafts for Nine Snowballs and Pea Patch designs. On the back a notation from Washington County, Tennessee states: “This is the Cass and Butler drafts.”

Johnson, Keen, 1896-1970 (Sc 2607), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2607. Typescript copy of the last will and testament of Fielding Lewis, Fredericksburg, Virginia. Lewis was a brother-in-law to George Washington. This document contains information about Lewis’ land, slaves, and debts.

Grafton, Sue Taylor, B. 1940 (Sc 2601), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2601. Letter from author Sue Taylor Grafton, Santa Barbara, California, to Kim Nicholson, Franklin, North Carolina, enclosing autographed bookplates (not included), and commenting on her current work on her “alphabet series” of Kinsey Millhone crime novels.

Rothert, Otto Arthur, 1871-1956 (Sc 716), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 716. Letter written to Lida (Calvert) Obenchain, Bowling Green, Kentucky, from Otto Arthur Rothert, Louisville, Kentucky, in which he thanks her for a recent letter and invites her to visit him when she next comes to Louisville.

Halleck, Annie Jeanette (Ainslie), 1839-1915 (Sc 719), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 719. Letter written to Bessie Oates, Bowling Green, Kentucky, from Annie (Ainslie) Halleck, Louisville, Kentucky, replying to an inquiry for information for a research paper about her grandfather, Hew Ainslie.

Obenchain, Lida (Calvert), 1856-1935 (Sc 726), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 726. Letter to Frances Richards, Bowling Green, Kentucky, from Lida (Calvert) Obenchain, Dallas, Texas, an author and native of Bowling Green, stating that her publishers will send copies of two of her books for the Kentucky Library Collection. Also she relates her concern for the collection of textiles for the Kentucky Museum.

Allison, Young Ewing, 1853-1932 (Sc 723), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 723. Two letters written by Young Ewing Allison, journalist and author, Louisville, Kentucky, to Edward A. Jonas, editor, Louisville, thanking Jonas for his kind remarks.

Miller, Carl Haskell, 1889-1964 (Sc 2587), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2587. Daily diary and journal of Carl Haskell Miller, Tompkinsville, Kentucky. A manager on the Chautauqua circuit, Miller writes in a detailed but lighthearted way of his family, his life at home and of his travels in the United States and Mexico. He also reproduces some of his personal and professional correspondence, and writes of his mother’s death in 1927.

Hopkin, Rachel Claire (Fa 581), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding Aid only for Folklife Archives Project 581. Illustrated paper by Rachel Hopkin titled “A Reel in a Bottle: The Bottle Art of Chris Wood.” This illustrated project provides insight into the art of creating bottle art, or bottle whimsies. Folk artist Chris Wood’s path from observer to artist is detailed and includes his interpretations of the work of several historical and modern artisans within the genre. The project was submitted for the 2011 Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.

Chappell, Katherine (Fa 582), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding Aid only for Folklife Archives Project 582. Illustrated paper by Katherine Chappell titled “Fine, Folk, or Functional? The Art of Mark Whitley.” This illustrated project provides insight into the art of furniture making and the distinctions between the artistic formation of furniture and mass production. The project details the journey of one craftsman, Mark Whitley of Warren County, Kentucky, from one who makes furniture, into an artist whose work is practical, functional, and enduring. The project was submitted for the 2011 Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.

Faytullayeva, Shamira A. (Fa 584), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding Aid only for Folklife Archives Project 584. Illustrated paper by Shamira A. Faytullayeva titled “A Great Tailor in My Family.” This illustrated project describes the economic benefits of the tailoring skills of a Russian emigrant, Samisiya Faytullayeva. Samisiya’s mother taught her to sew when she was a child, and the skill has provided an income for her family in the years since her husband’s death and their subsequent immigration to the United States. This project was submitted for the 2011 Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.

Spraggins, Cody (Fa 585), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding Aid only for Folklife Archives Project 585. Video by Cody Spraggins titled “The Community of Dungeons and Dragons Players as a Folk Group.” The video is a compilation of interviews with three individuals who participate in the role playing fantasy game. The focus of the video is the sentiment that the “gamers” have created distinct folk groups within their community of play. Typescript of abstract only. The project was submitted for the 2011 Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.

Hopkin, Rachel Claire (Fa 586), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding Aid and full text paper (Click on "Additional File" below) for Folklife Archives Project 586. Independent study project conducted by Rachel Hopkin on George R. Gibson, a banjo player from eastern Kentucky. The project, contained on two DVDs, includes photos, audio interviews and transcripts, a paper, bibliography, and field notes. Participating in the interview are Gibson and musicians John W. Haywood and Kevin C. Howard, who describe Gibson’s influence on them. This project was executed for the folk studies program at Western Kentucky University.

Callis, Mariah (Fa 583), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 583. Illustrated paper by Mariah Callis titled “Grave Decoration in a Bowling Green Cemetery: An Analysis of Children’s Grave Adornment.” This illustrated project provides a brief yet detailed description of the author’s first field work experience. The work, an analysis of children’s grave adornment, provides information specific to Fairview Cemetery, Bowling Green, Kentucky, and categorizes the types of ornamentation placed on children’s graves and the frequency of such decoration. The project was submitted for the 2011 Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.

Mccartt-Jackson, Sarah (Fa 578), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full text (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Folklife Archives Project 578. Paper by Sarah McCartt-Jackson titled “Narrative Compromise: African American Representation at Henry Clay’s Ashland Estate.” Paper provides analysis of the inclusion and accuracy of the history of slavery at Ashland, and slavery’s depiction in tour narratives, brochures, exhibit signage, advertisements, and websites. This project won the 2011Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.

Race, Memory, And Historical Responsibility: What Do Southerners Do With A Difficult Past?, Larry J. Griffin, Peggy G. Hargis

Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum

Newly emerging, transitional societies –– that is, societies that traded dictatorial or authoritarian rule for some form of open or liberal polity –– face at least three interdependent problems of what is called in legal scholarship and social science “transitional justice”: the first is how (if at all) to hold the old regime’s autocratic, often violence-laden leadership responsible for its wrongdoings while in power; the second is what (if anything) to do with thousands upon thousands of ordinary folk whose participation in, or compliance with, the old regime helped legitimate and thus perpetuate the wrongdoing; and the third task how …

Whitaker, Francis J., 1916-1994 (Mss 406), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans of selected items (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Collection 406. Correspondence, research notes and manuscript articles of Francis J. “Thomas” Whitaker, a Benedictine monk who lived and worked at St. Maur’s Priory, formerly the South Union Shaker Village in Logan County, Kentucky, from 1954-1988. He amassed a large collection of photocopied research material on the South Union community as well as other Shaker villages and museums in the United States. Also includes his research on various Catholic topics.