The Red Atlantic: American Indigenes and the Making of the Modern World, 1000–1927, by Jace Weaver

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The Atlantic: American Indigenes and the Making of the Modern World, 1000-1927, by Jace Weaver. Chapel Hill, The University of North Carolina Press, 2014. xiv, 340 pp. $29.95 US (cloth). From the very beginning, Jace Weaver's Atlantic provokes a conversation (p. 32). Whether it is through the clear objective to add a component to the already developed fields of White and Black Atlantic studies, or by merely advocating for new terminology and therefore a more nuanced othering of the Atlantic World, Weaver presents a logical and useful history of Western Hemisphere Indigenous people who crossed the Atlantic from the days of Viking exploration to the early twentieth century. It is a welcome contribution to the small collection of similar scholarship on the topic such as Carolyn Foreman's Indians Abroad, 1493-1938 (Norman, 1943), Alden T. Vaughan's Transatlantic Encounters (Cambridge, New York, 2006), and Kate Flint's The Transatlantic Indian, 1776-1930 (Princeton, 2009). Inspired by his article length analysis, originally published in the American Indian Quarterly, Weaver explores this history through the experiences of various actors that are organized into thematic chapters. Chapter one For He Looks upon You as Foolish Children, describes the involuntary travel of Indigenous slaves, captives and exiles. This is followed by chapter two the Service of Others, that focuses on soldiers and sailors. Chapter three Red Diplomats examines the familiar stories of Indigenous diplomats and chapter four A Gazing Stocke, Yea Even a Laughing Stocke follows so-called celebrity Indians. Finally, chapter five Fireside Travelers, Armchair Adventures, and Apocryphal Voyages incorporates Literature of the Atlantic, based on the writings of non-Indigenous observers from Spain, France, England, and Germany. Although much of this information has been printed elsewhere, Weaver utilizes the secondary literature and published primary accounts to construct a new synthesized narrative that connects these people through their interaction with the Atlantic World. Rather than viewing them in isolation, readers are pushed to consider these experiences in relation to one another. This approach highlights historical patterns of Indigenous mobility, activism, and engagement with societies outside the Americas, pushing scholars to incorporate this often overlooked component in their more focused research on colonial and Native-newcomer history. The author's focus on individuals is one of the most important interpretative strengths of this work. The inclusion of Indigenous biographies is an effective decolonizing methodology that counters other popular narratives focused almost exclusively on the experiences of non-Indigenous actors. In the discussion of soldiers and sailors in chapter two, Weaver introduces the WWI veteran Francis Pegahmagabow. Although important details are included about this highly decorated soldier, such as his family, upbringing and time on the battlefield, it is Pegahmagabow's activism after the war that concludes this section--reflecting on the wider trend of Indigenous political activism in the post-war era. …