Lumbee Indians in the Jim Crow South: Race, Identity, and the Making of a Nation
Malinda Maynor Lowery
(Author)
Description
With more than 50,000 enrolled members, North Carolina's Lumbee Indians are the largest Native American tribe east of the Mississippi River. Malinda Maynor Lowery, a Lumbee herself, describes how, between Reconstruction and the 1950s, the Lumbee crafted and maintained a distinct identity in an era defined by racial segregation in the South and paternalistic policies for Indians throughout the nation. They did so against the backdrop of some of the central issues in American history, including race, class, politics, and citizenship.Lowery argues that Indian is a dynamic identity that, for outsiders, sometimes hinged on the presence of Indian blood (for federal New Deal policy makers) and sometimes on the absence of black blood (for southern white segregationists). Lumbee people themselves have constructed their identity in layers that tie together kin and place, race and class, tribe and nation; however, Indians have not always agreed on how to weave this fabric into a whole. Using photographs, letters, genealogy, federal and state records, and first-person family history, Lowery narrates this compelling conversation between insiders and outsiders, demonstrating how the Lumbee People challenged the boundaries of Indian, southern, and American identities.
Product Details
Price
$29.95
Publisher
University of North Carolina Press
Publish Date
April 15, 2010
Pages
339
Dimensions
6.1 X 9.2 X 1.0 inches | 1.14 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9780807871119
BISAC Categories:
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About the Author
Malinda Maynor Lowery (Lumbee) is associate professor of history and director of the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is the author of Lumbee Indians in the Jim Crow South.
Reviews
This book has a great deal to offer researchers in a variety of social science fields. Lowery gives a detailed, well-documented account of one group's extensive attempts to clarify who they think is an Indian and why they should be considered a tribe.--Social Forces
Lowery's arguments deserve thoughtful consideration not only by Americanist historians and scholars of native/indigenous studies but by officials, journalists, and anyone who presumes to know what makes or does not make a people 'Indian.'" --Journal of American History
Should be of great interest not only to those who study the Lumbees, other Native Americans, and government Indian policy but also, more broadly, to scholars of southern history, race relations, and identity studies.--Journal of Southern History
[A] richly detailed and very personal work. . . . A complex and layered story.--Indigenous Peoples Issues & Resources
A deeply rewarding experience for the reader, infusing the text with a palpable connection between the author and her subject.--Bowtied and Fried
A unique perspective on Lumbee identity formation to American Indian studies of the historical record....A starting point for future insider studies of the relationship between Jim Crow segregation and American Indian identity formation....Readers are bound to find Lumbee Indians in the Jim Crow South a welcome text for inclusion in undergraduate and graduate seminars.--Wicazo Sa Review
Unflinching and even-handed analysis. . . . Lowery's book is particularly useful to scholars focusing on southeastern Native people, nonfederally recognized Indigenous communities, and the complex and often contradictory relationships between Native and black communities in the United States.--Studies in American Indian Literatures
[Lowery] demonstrates that identity and race are often contested concepts that are constantly being revised and that have real consequences for individuals and communities.--American Indian Quarterly
A savvy reader will recognize this as a strong contribution to scholarship on the social construction of race.--Social Forces
Lowery bravely dissects the historical struggles of the Lumbees, with insights applicable to all non-treaty Native peoples. . . . Highly recommended.--Choice
Lowery's engaging narrative and judicious scrutiny. . . provides both a rich story of these multifaceted people, and a perceptive model for understanding the intricacies of Indian identity."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society
The book's richness, wide range of archival sources, and complex treatment of identity make it an important work for scholars and teachers interested in both southern and Indian history.--Agricultural History
[An] important new book. . . . Extraordinarily detailed. . . . Superbly written. . . . A masterful discussion . . . that will be the standard treatment for decades to come.--North Carolina Historical Review
Lowery's arguments deserve thoughtful consideration not only by Americanist historians and scholars of native/indigenous studies but by officials, journalists, and anyone who presumes to know what makes or does not make a people 'Indian.'" --Journal of American History
Should be of great interest not only to those who study the Lumbees, other Native Americans, and government Indian policy but also, more broadly, to scholars of southern history, race relations, and identity studies.--Journal of Southern History
[A] richly detailed and very personal work. . . . A complex and layered story.--Indigenous Peoples Issues & Resources
A deeply rewarding experience for the reader, infusing the text with a palpable connection between the author and her subject.--Bowtied and Fried
A unique perspective on Lumbee identity formation to American Indian studies of the historical record....A starting point for future insider studies of the relationship between Jim Crow segregation and American Indian identity formation....Readers are bound to find Lumbee Indians in the Jim Crow South a welcome text for inclusion in undergraduate and graduate seminars.--Wicazo Sa Review
Unflinching and even-handed analysis. . . . Lowery's book is particularly useful to scholars focusing on southeastern Native people, nonfederally recognized Indigenous communities, and the complex and often contradictory relationships between Native and black communities in the United States.--Studies in American Indian Literatures
[Lowery] demonstrates that identity and race are often contested concepts that are constantly being revised and that have real consequences for individuals and communities.--American Indian Quarterly
A savvy reader will recognize this as a strong contribution to scholarship on the social construction of race.--Social Forces
Lowery bravely dissects the historical struggles of the Lumbees, with insights applicable to all non-treaty Native peoples. . . . Highly recommended.--Choice
Lowery's engaging narrative and judicious scrutiny. . . provides both a rich story of these multifaceted people, and a perceptive model for understanding the intricacies of Indian identity."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society
The book's richness, wide range of archival sources, and complex treatment of identity make it an important work for scholars and teachers interested in both southern and Indian history.--Agricultural History
[An] important new book. . . . Extraordinarily detailed. . . . Superbly written. . . . A masterful discussion . . . that will be the standard treatment for decades to come.--North Carolina Historical Review
