Demanding the Cherokee Nation: Indian Autonomy and American Culture, 1830-1900 (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Demanding the Cherokee Nation: Indian Autonomy and American Culture, 1830-1900 Gary C. Cheek Jr. Andrew Denson . Demanding the Cherokee Nation: Indian Autonomy and American Culture, 1830-1900. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004. 329 pp. Cloth, $55.00. Scholars have written about the Cherokees until seemly they can write little else, or so it would appear. In his Demanding the Cherokee Nation, Andrew Denson approaches Cherokee history with a new perspective that reveals pertinent information about their political choices and social anxieties after removal until the beginning of the twentieth century. Denson argues that the Cherokee used "memorials and documents" not only to protect their Indian autonomy in Oklahoma but also to promote a sense of nationhood among elites and commoners. Indeed, he well proves his thesis, but the book represents much more. It is a complex view of the Indian experience during the Civil War and the allotment crisis, through correspondence and petitions, and in forging a new national identity based on constitutionalism. Denson focuses on both socio-political factors and questions of identity. His most convincing points arise when he discusses the ability of Cherokees to adapt to threats from both the federal government and corporate enterprises of the late nineteenth century. Railroad companies attempted to undermine Indian autonomy to extend rails through Indian country in Oklahoma, and the Cherokees certainly fought such corruption. As Denson convincingly notes, however, Cherokee leaders made deals with big businesses when such compromises suited their desires. In another instance, the U.S. allotment campaign threatened Cherokee autonomy. The signing of the Dawes Act represented the beginning of the hard-fought battle to protect Cherokee nationalism. After the Cherokees' migration to Oklahoma, they cultivated nationalism with pamphlets, newspapers, a written constitution, and several other documents that promoted their Indian sovereignty and national identity. About sixty years later, their leaders vehemently fought to protect that identity, founded upon those documents, and questioned the hollow treaties signed by and promises made with the federal government. The allotment campaign did not wholly destroy Cherokee autonomy. Rather, the United States, settlers, and fellow Indians that undermined that autonomy pushed Cherokee nationalism into a phase of hibernation. National sentiment remained, but leaders did not have the political power to promote it. Thus, nationalism, although inherent in the minds of the Cherokee populace, became dormant. By the 1960s, perhaps with the advent of the Civil Rights Movement (an addition that would further the argument if the book also focused on the twentieth century), that nationalism re-emerged, became reified by congressional policies, and allowed the Cherokees to live under their own elected government. [End Page 724] As Denson noted, "the Cherokee regained a status similar to their status in the nineteenth century, that of a functioning Indian republic" (250). Demanding the Cherokee Nation is wonderfully written and an absolute joy to read. Its presentation is direct, detailed, and leaves the reader wanting more. Most notably, the book represents not only a significant addition to Cherokee history but also to studies in print culture. The author's focus on printed materials such as newspapers and pamphlets provides an interesting and often overlooked dynamic of the Cherokee experience in Oklahoma. He aptly explores not only the Cherokee story of survival but prosperity, their ability to adapt to cultural change and become stronger in the light of political, economic, and social threats. Gary C. Cheek Jr. Mississippi State University Copyright © 2005 The University of Nebraska Press