Snyder illuminates a world where slavery and survival went hand-in-hand, an era when native people were both masters and slaves, and a culture that only gradually learned to define slaves by the color of their skin. Her narrative sweep, unflinching analysis, and astonishing research make this a disturbing and powerful book.
Snyder skillfully explores Indian captive-taking, associated with warfare from the dawn of time, and its evolution and adaptation to new conditions after Europeans and Africans arrived and captivity was transformed into race-based slavery. Beautifully written, this is Indian and Southern history at its best.
Deeply researched, authoritative, and indispensable, Slavery in Indian Country tells us how slavery as an institution changed from a kin-based to a race-based system and richly evokes what the experience of slavery meant to those who were enslaved.
A fascinating new perspective on slavery in the American South, especially valuable for understanding slavery's great variability and change over time, and for offering new insight into race and race-making.
Snyder...explores the Indian practice of enslaving prisoners of war in this instructive and remarkably readable book...She reaches back to early Indian captivity practices--and how conceptions of captives and their roles in Indian communities changed with the arrival of Europeans and Africans. During the colonial period, captives were chosen on the basis of gender and age, not race, but as a nativist movement ("a collective identity as red people") emerged in the late-18th century, Americans, black and white, became the "common enemy." By the early 19th century--when, among other factors, black slaves became more highly valued--Africans were specifically targeted. Snyder breaks new ground in this study [and] reveals pre-colonial Southern history and restores visibility to Native American history in the region.-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)" (2/8/2010 12:00:00 AM)
Until Christina Snyder, no historian has told the story of the constantly evolving Native American tradition of enslavement that long pre-dated the arrival of Europeans and of Africans. Compellingly written and deeply researched, Slavery in Indian Country is a model of how foregrounding Native experiences can transform our understanding of American history. The "Slave South" will never look quite the same again.--Daniel K. Richter, McNeil Center for Early American Studies, University of Pennsylvania
[Snyder] focuses on the evolution of slavery from the perspective of individual Native American groups. She demonstrates that captivity, before the arrival of Europeans, played an important role in Native societies, as some captives became kinfolk while others became slaves...Highly recommended.--John Burch "Library Journal" (3/1/2010 12:00:00 AM)
A fascinating new perspective on slavery in the American South, especially valuable for understanding slavery's great variability and change over time, and for offering new insight into race and race-making.--Peter Kolchin, author of American Slavery
Deeply researched, authoritative, and indispensable, Slavery in Indian Country tells us how slavery as an institution changed from a kin-based to a race-based system and richly evokes what the experience of slavery meant to those who were enslaved.--Nancy Shoemaker, University of Connecticut
Snyder skillfully explores Indian captive-taking, associated with warfare from the dawn of time, and its evolution and adaptation to new conditions after Europeans and Africans arrived and captivity was transformed into race-based slavery. Beautifully written, this is Indian and Southern history at its best.--Kathryn Braund, author of Deerskins and Duffels: The Creek Indian Trade with Anglo-America, 1685-1815
Snyder illuminates a world where slavery and survival went hand-in-hand, an era when native people were both masters and slaves, and a culture that only gradually learned to define slaves by the color of their skin. Her narrative sweep, unflinching analysis, and astonishing research make this a disturbing and powerful book.--Adam Rothman, Georgetown University
The American South, a familiar setting for bondage, reveals a new story,” in the hands of Indiana University assistant professor of history Snyder, who explores the Indian practice of enslaving prisoners of war in this instructive and remarkably readable book. “The South is more than the Confederacy,” she asserts; the major Native American nations (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole) were not merely “villains or victims or foils, but leading players” in slaveholding. She reaches back to early Indian captivity practices—and how conceptions of captives and their roles in Indian communities changed with the arrival of Europeans and Africans. During the colonial period, captives were chosen on the basis of gender and age, not race, but as a nativist movement (“a collective identity as red people”) emerged in the late-18th century, Americans, black and white, became the “common enemy.” By the early 19th century—when, among other factors, black slaves became more highly valued—Africans were specifically targeted. Snyder breaks new ground in this study reveals pre-colonial Southern history and restores visibility to Native American history in the region.(Apr.)
Native American slavery was brought to the scholarly forefront with Allan Gallay's The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South, 1670–1717. Now Snyder (American studies & history, Indiana Univ.) examines captivity in the same region from pre-Columbian times to the 1840s but focuses on the evolution of slavery from the perspective of individual Native American groups. She demonstrates that captivity, before the arrival of Europeans, played an important role in Native societies, as some captives became kinfolk while others became slaves. The Europeans introduced slavery for profit and racialized slavery in the region, which had different consequences for different Native groups. The scale of slavery grew exponentially, with some Native groups actively victimizing others to obtain slaves for trade with Europeans. The introduction of African slaves further confounded the situation, as some Native groups sought to absorb African peoples into their communities while others adopted European-style African slavery. Slavery ultimately profoundly affected how Native peoples interacted with one another, Africans, and Euro-Americans in the Southeast. VERDICT Highly recommended for all informed readers in this subject, who will also want to have read Indian Slavery in Colonial America, edited by Alan Gallay, and Eric Bowne's The Westo Indians: Slave Traders of the Early Colonial South.—John Burch, Campbellsville Univ. Lib., KY
