The Native South: New Histories and Enduring Legacies ed. by Tim Alan Garrison and Greg O'Brien (review)

The Native South: New Histories and Enduring Legacies examines the state of contemporary ethnohistorical research surrounding the Indigenous peoples of the US Southeast. This collection, edited by Tim Alan Garrison and Greg O'Brien, serves as a testament to two of the field's most important and prolific figures: Theda Perdue and Michael Green. Written by Perdue's and Green's former students, these essays focus on the Five Civilized Tribes of the Southeast and highlight, as the subtitle suggests, legacy; obviously, not only are the scholars here furthering Perdue's and Green's legacies, but the essays showcase the legacy of Native Americans in the contemporary South. This is accomplished effectively by following Perdue's and Green's pedagogical philosophy. Placing "Indian people at the center of their history," these essays shed "new light on received notions about southern history and the people from the South" (xv).

The Native South begins with an interview with Green and Perdue. The two expound on their personal and academic backgrounds before explicating in rich detail how ethnohistory has changed throughout their careers. They demonstrate themselves to be leaders in the field, acknowledging that ethnohistory expanded the boundaries of history and made it impossible "to be a colonial historian and ignore Indians" (18). Perdue and Green conclude the interview by addressing a need to study Indigenous peoples as slaves and slaveholders, as well as the allotment era following Removal periods. The second chapter begins the collection's chronological study of the Five Civilized Tribes. David A. Nichols's study about Chickasaw military economy from 1715 to 1815 recalls how the tribe suffered from "endemic warfare" (36) but maintained a feared and respected military presence. Nichols deftly explains how war and the function of the military played roles in societal concerns ranging from marriage to economy. The chapter is strongest when explicating how Chickasaws assisted the British before and during the Revolutionary War; Nichols asserts that this partnership catalyzed seismic societal changes for the Chickasaws, especially in men who saw themselves "as hunters and warriors, not farmers and negotiators" (42).

Chapters 3 and 4 are comparative studies between two societies that boast intertwined histories. In chapter 3, Greg O'Brien shows how the Choctaws and Chickasaws, after decades of fighting, signed a peace treaty because a lesser-known tribe called the Chakchiuma bound the two larger tribes together through ancestry. Additionally, the ravages of the Seven Years' War and deerskin trade encouraged a peace treaty between the Choctaws and Chickasaws. The fourth chapter, by Rowena McClinton, compares Selu, the first woman in Cherokee mythology, and Eve from Christianity. McClinton shows how the Moravians and the Cherokees questioned each other's religious and familial practices at the start of the nineteenth century. Through mission groups, the Moravians unsuccessfully tried to spread the gospel across Cherokee lands prior to Removal; furthermore, their beliefs encouraged Cherokee families to amplify the matriarchal role, ultimately resisting the Moravian missions. Following McClinton's chapter, the book begins to discuss the inklings of Removal and its consequences. Christina Snyder's chapter on Andrew Jackson's Creek son, Lyncoya, highlights Jackson's hypocrisy as the country's figurehead for Indian Removal. This chapter serves as a buffer for Tim Alan Garrison's on southern opposition to Indian Removal. One of the strongest in the collection, Garrison's chapter unearths the largely unknown debates against Removal in the Deep South and uses documents from the era to show the religious hypocrisy of Removal itself. Julie Reed's chapter shows the ramifications of Removal for the Cherokees and their change in legal policy. Reed notes that the change in law and societal constructs after Removal quickly initiated more demanding punishments to offenders, and the introduction of executive pardons gave marginalized peoples political voices.

Mikaëla M. Adams's chapter, the only one to discuss the Seminoles, begins the book...