Indian Nation: Native American Literature and Nineteenth-Century Nationalisms by Cheryl Walker

Abstract

Book Reviews 321 their novels and to set up dialogue between characters and the reader, thus giving “a sense of orality to the written text” (23). This invites and even demands reader involvement—the reader becomes one of the community of listeners. Additionally, Smith believes that the multiple voices and per­ spectives presented in these novels can effect change in the reader “as the trickster liberates the mind” (24). This results in reader involvement which expands the notion of the community to include cross-cultural connections. Smith contends that these works “suggest a trickster-based model of com­ munity that thrives on multivocality, connection, and exchange” (155). In Writing Tricksters, Smith suggests a new multicultural approach to the study of contemporary American literature—an approach that can be expanded to inform more than our study of the three authors included in her work. Although her emphasis is on women ethnic writers, Smith iden­ tifies the trickster’s “importance not only to theme but also to stylistic inno­ vation in the contemporary ethnic novel” (156)—ideas that can be applied to both male and female ethnic authors. She provides a model for ways to bridge and connect cultural themes, communities, and authors. Indian Nation: Native American Literature and Nineteenth-Century Nationalisms. By Cheryl Walker. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1997. 256 pages, $49.95/$16.95. Reviewed by Renée L. Bergland Dartmouth College Cheryl Walker begins Indian Nation by defining “the subject of America” as “a conversation, perhaps, or a set of stories” (1,2). The purpose of her book is to recover the Native American voices that contributed to American conversations about nationhood during the nineteenth century. In her treatment of works by William Apess, Black Hawk, George Copway, John Rollin Ridge, Sarah Winnemucca, and Simon Pokagon, Walker argues that nineteenth-century Native American writers were as engaged with the questions of American nationalism as were their white contemporaries. At the same time, they struggled with Justice John Marshall’s 1832 description of American Indian tribes as “domestic dependent nations” (qtd. in Walker 115). Indian Nation shows that Native American writers used a variety of strategies to negotiate between United States and Native American con­ structions of nationhood and identity. Critical conversations about American nationalism used to start from the assumption that in the nineteenth century, American nationhood was only important to European Americans. Recently, some scholars have chal­ lenged this monolithic conception by discussing African American, Hispanic American, and Asian American ideas about nationalism in the 322 WAL 33(3) FALL 1998 nineteenth century. John Ernest and Henry Louis Gates discuss African American conceptions of American nationhood; Ramon Guttierez and Genaro Padilla present Hispanic American ideas about nationalism; while Malini Schueller, Lisa Lowe, and Lucy Salyer address Asian American con­ tributions to the construction of American national identity. In addition, critics such as Jared Gardner, Barbara Ladd, Toni Morrison, and Priscilla Wald explain the importance of African American and Native American presence in shaping the American national culture. However, Walker is the first scholar to address Native American writers’ understanding of American nationhood in terms of their own identity. By bringing forward the works of several Native authors, Walker opens up the contemporary conversation about nationalism, thus making “the subject of America” far more nuanced and interesting. The primary importance of Indian Nation is that it shows that Native American writers criticized and made important contributions to American nationalism during the nineteenth century. By showing the importance of Native American ideas, Walker herself makes an important contribution to current theories of nationalism. Further, the book provides useful sum­ maries of and responses to the works of Michael Paul Rogin, Richard Slotkin, and Arnold Krupat. In response to Krupat’s critical model in Ethnocriticism, Walker uses rhetorical paradigms that she calls “transposi­ tional and subjugated discourse” in her explications (16). This rhetorically based strategy sometimes overcomplicates her arguments, though at times (for example, in her brilliant discussions of the writings of William Apess) the discourse models are quite illuminating and useful. Finally, Indian Nation includes the complete text of The Red M an’s Rebuke by Simon Pokagon, originally printed on birch bark and sold by the author...