Through an Indian's Looking-Glass: A Cultural Biography of William Apess, Pequot

by Drew Lopenzina

Overview

This biography of the Native American writer, activist, and minister “brings Apess nearly fully to life, which no one else, among many scholars, has.” (Barry O’Connell, editor of On Our Own Ground: The Complete Writings of William Apess, a Pequot)
 
The life of William Apess (1798–1839), a Pequot Indian, Methodist preacher, and widely celebrated writer, provides a lens through which to comprehend the complex dynamics of indigenous survival and resistance in the era of America’s early nationhood. Apess’s life intersects with multiple aspects of indigenous identity and existence in this period, including indentured servitude, slavery, service in the armed forces, syncretic engagements with Christian spirituality, and Native struggles for political and cultural autonomy. Even more, Apess offers a powerful and provocative voice for the persistence of Native presence in a time and place that was long supposed to have settled its “Indian question” in favor of extinction.
 
Through meticulous archival research, close readings of Apess’s key works, and informed and imaginative speculation about his largely enigmatic life, Drew Lopenzina provides a vivid portrait of this singular Native American figure. This new biography will sit alongside Apess’s own writing as vital reading for those interested in early American history and indigeneity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613764961
Publisher:	University of Massachusetts Press
Publication date:	06/29/2018
Series:	Native Americans of the Northeast
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	310
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Drew Lopenzina is assistant professor of English at Old Dominion University and author of Red Ink: Native Americans Picking Up the Pen in the Colonial Period.

Table of Contents

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction. Negative Work 1
1. The Baskets Copy Our Stories 14
2. Birthright, Bondage, and Beyond 45
3. The Broad Theater of the World 77
4. "And They Held All Things in Common" 110
5. Becoming a Son of the Forest 135
6. Indian Preacher 169
7. The Bizarre Theater of Empire 210
Conclusion. "He Possessed the Real Traits of the Indian Character" 243
Appendix: Memorial of the Marshpee Indians, January 1834 253
Notes 261
Index 289

What People are Saying About This

Barry O'Connell

The author brings Apess nearly fully to life, which no one else, among many scholars, has. I know of no better reader of Apess's own writing. Again and again, by close and insightful attention, the author illuminates Apess's language, often employing it as a basis for persuasive surmises about his whereabouts, about whom he is with, and the possible larger meanings of his often compressed or flat statements.

Editorial Reviews

"The author brings Apess nearly fully to life, which no one else, among many scholars, has. I know of no better reader of Apess's own writing. Again and again, by close and insightful attention, the author illuminates Apess's language, often employing it as a basis for persuasive surmises about his whereabouts, about whom he is with, and the possible larger meanings of his often compressed or flat statements."—Barry O'Connell, editor of On Our Own Ground: The Complete Writings of William Apess, a Pequot

"This is a salient and cogent reminder of the long history of indigenous struggles for justice, as well as an affirmation of indigenous values and survivance."—Transmotion

"Though an Indian's Looking-Glass is a tour-de-force re-visioning of one of Native literature's most enigmatic figures . . . It is the speculative possibilities of Lopenzina's approach, along with his rigorous historicism and insightful close readings, that [are] most provocative."—Native American and Indigenous Studies

"Through an Indian's Looking-Glass is essential reading for those who study Apess and an ideal classroom companion for those who wish to teach Apess's writings . . . Despite all we don't know about Apess, Lopenzina's book leaves one with the feeling of intimate knowing, understanding, and admiration."—Early American Literature

From the Publisher

Though an Indian's Looking-Glass is a tour-de-force re-visioning of one of Native literature's most enigmatic figures... It is the speculative possibilities of Lopenzina's approach, along with his rigorous historicism and insightful close readings, that [are] most provocative.

Native American and Indigenous Studies

This is a salient and cogent reminder of the long history of indigenous struggles for justice, as well as an affirmation of indigenous values and survivance.

Transmotion