The Original Southerners: American Indians, the Civil War, and Confederate Memory

Commemoration practices in the U.S. South and West often reflect upon American Indians only to diminish or erase their roles in American history. By examining Confederate monuments, monuments to western expansion, and American Indians' own commemoration practices, we see the indelible connection between the South and the nation and the embedded nature of American Indian history within United States history. Commemoration sites in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, South Dakota, and California are discussed.