Date of Award
Fall 1997
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
History
First Advisor
Marten, James
Second Advisor
Hay, Robert
Abstract
When endeavoring to write about the historical past, historians are often confronted with the problem of labeling the persons who are the subjects of their inquiries. This situation is exacerbated when studying frontier regions due to the often-fluid nature of ethnic and racial boundaries. The words used to describe the various societies that are found in the frontier region under consideration often tend to obscure more than they elucidate, particularly since the categories that we in the late twentieth century use to organize our own ideas about race, gender, and culture are occasionally irrelevant, and even dangerous, when applied to societies that existed in the past. Nevertheless, language is the only medium available to any scholar, and thus, some commentary is in order concerning the usages and terms that are found in this study. - The words "Indian," "Native American," "Indian peoples," and "native peoples" will be used interchangeably to collectively designate the aboriginal inhabitants who resided in North America prior to and after European contact. Of course, there were tremendous cultural and linguistic differences between various Indian groups, and when possible specific tribes will be named...