On the Rez by Ian Frazier (review)

4 3 2 WAL 3 5 . 4 W I N T E R 2 0 0 1 n ar r at iv e , Bla c k H aw k ’s “au t o b io gr ap h y ,” an d gu id e b o o k s an d ar tw o r k in th e U .S. C a p it o l. In h e r st r o n ge st ch ap t e r s, Sc h e c k e l r e v e als n o t o n ly th e in te r ­ p lay o f p o p u lar an d o fficial r h e t o r ic ab o u t In d ian s, b u t th e in te r p lay o f ge n d e r an d r ace in t h e co n st r u ct io n o f n at io n al id en tity. Fo r e xam p le, sh e offers a m as­ ter fu l r ead in g o f h o w gu id eb oo k s, p r o d u ced for t h e U .S. C a p it o l v isitor b etw ee n th e 18.30s an d 1860s, e n listed citizen s in a larger d r am a o f U .S. h istor y th r o u gh its r ep r esen t at io n o f C ap it o l co m m e m o r ativ e artw ork s o f A m e r ic a n In d ian s w h ich “m ad e th e p o lit ical exclu sio n o f In d ian s se e m n atu r al an d n ecessar y ” (1 2 9 ). In th is n u an ce d an alysis, Sc h e ck e l lin k s (alth o u gh d o e s n o t fu lly tease o u t ) th e “gen d er ed co n st r u ct io n o f citizen ry” e n acte d in th is ar tw ork w ith th e co n st r u ct io n o f m at e r n al an d sexu alized r oles for E u r o - A m e r ican an d N a t iv e A m e r ica n w o m en in t h e o t h e r n at io n al or igin stor ies co v er ed in t h e b o o k ( 139). W h e n th e W est w as East, U .S. le gal an d c u lt u r al t e x t s st ag e d effor ts t o p in d o w n sh ift in g an d u n stab le b o u n d ar ie s o f n a t io n a l id en tity. T h o u g h fo cu se d o n t h e early n at io n , T h e In sist e n ce o f the In d ian d ir e ct s u s tow ar d t h e co n t in u e d p e r siste n ce o f th e “In d ian ” in U .S. p o p u lar cu ltu r e an d p o licy d e b at e s, th u s u n d e r sco r in g h o w A m e r ic a n In d ian s st ill “fr am e t h e m e an in g o f t h e n a t io n ” (1 5...