The Native Americans ed. by Elizabeth Glenn, Stewart Rafert & Murder in Their Hearts: The Fall Creek Massacre by David Thomas Murphy (review)

BOOK REVIEW WINTER 2010 79 I ndiana, “land of the Indians,” is the historic state slogan rarely displayed in modern times, with the exception of the special purchase license plate offered by the state’s bureau of motor vehicles. Modern residents of the state much prefer the “Hoosier State” or more briefly, “Hoosiers.” It is a marked irony that Indiana’s Native American history receives little attention in nationally recognized scholarship or classroom texts, with the exception of Tecumseh, the Prophet, and the Battle of Tippecanoe. Beyond regional interest in the War of 1812, Indiana statehood, and local territorial expansion, the history of the Native Americans who formerly called Indiana their home remains obscured in local myths, outdated narratives , and modern political animosities. Two new publications by the Indiana Historical Society provide reminders that much work remains in building a coherent and accurate history of Indiana’s indigenous residents. Elizabeth Glenn and Stewart Rafert offer an overview of Indiana’s indigenous history in The Native Americans. The authors organize the narrative in a chronology that begins in 9,500 BC and concludes in the present. The book builds on an earlier essay they cowrote for a volume published by the society on Indiana’s ethnic populations. The idea that an overview of such a complex history can be reduced to a brief narrative signals a conceptual problem that only reinforces the current state of Indiana’s Native American history. While the idea for the text should be applauded, the execution is disappointing. Glenn and Rafert open by repeating an old trope about the challenging nature of the current scholarship. According to the authors, “the history of the future Indiana opens with the region as a vacant zone.” Employing an idea rooted in nineteenth century rhetoric is an awkward opening for a book that aims to challenge modern readers’ understanding of Elizabeth Glenn and Stewart Rafert. The Native Americans. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 2009. 142 pp. ISBN: 9780871952806 (paper), $13.95. The Native Americans Elizabeth Glenn and Stewart Rafert & Murder in Their Hearts: The Fall Creek Massacre David Thomas Murphy BOOK REVIEW 80 OHIO VALLEY HISTORY David Thomas Murphy. Murder in Their Hearts:The Fall Creek Massacre. Indianapolis : Indiana Historical Society, 2010. 150 pp. ISBN: 9780871952851 (paper), $13.95. Native American history. The authors correctly acknowledge that archaeological evidence reveals Indiana’s heavily populated precontact settlements. However their description of Indiana as a “vacant zone” rests on the idea that no specific modern cultural identities are attached to these heavily populated sites. Since they cannot be identified as Miami, Shawnee, or Potawatomi sites, according to the authors, they remain invisible in the historic record. The authors offer a well-written synthesis of the introduction of the fur trade and how it penetrated Native American communities. Glenn and Rafert also soundly challenge the dependency theory , discussing the ways in which indigenous peoples used European trade goods in their own culturally unique ways. But too often they base their discussion on secondary sources, giving teachers, students, and historians little insight into newer research on the topics they cover. Perhaps the most detailed sections of the book are the four chapters that focus on Indiana’s Native Americans from the postremoval period to the present. Rafert clearly authored this section because most of the narrative deals with the Miamis, reworking material from his earlier publication, The Miami Indians of Indiana: A Persistent People, 1654-1994. In that work and the second half of the current text, Rafert synthesizes his efforts to help the Miami Indian Tribe of Indiana earn federal recognition status. While the text, broadly speaking , may have some usefulness for audiences visiting local museums or historic sites, the generality and Miami-centered narrative makes it less usable for students, educators, and researchers who seek a Native American history of the state. Finally, the title misleads readers in light of the narrative’s limited scope and content. David Thomas Murphy’s Murder in Their Hearts: The Fall Creek Massacre is an exciting , well-researched narrative that provides a sharp contrast to the Glenn and Rafert work. Murphy’s narrative provides a thoroughly researched investigation of a little-known, regional event in Indiana’s...