The Four Deaths of Acorn Whistler: Telling Stories in Colonial America

by Joshua Piker

Overview

Told by a colonial governor, a Creek military leader, Native Americans, and British colonists, each account of Acorn Whistler’s execution for killing five Cherokees speaks to the collision of European and Indian cultures, the struggle to preserve traditional ways of life, and tensions within the British Empire on the eve of the American Revolution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674046863
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	06/10/2013
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	318
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Joshua Piker is Associate Professor of History and Second Century Associates Presidential Professor at the University of Oklahoma.

Table of Contents

Prologue: April 1, 1752 1

Introduction: Acorn Whistler and the Storytellers 9

Part I Imperial 29

1 The Governor 35

2 The Governor's Story 53

Part II National 77

3 The Emperor 85

4 The Emperor's Story 105

Part III Local 133

5 The Family and Community 143

6 The Family and Community's Story 161

Part IV Colonial 189

7 The Colonists 199

8 The Colonists' Story 222

Epilogue: June 5, 1753 249

Abbreviations 259

Notes 261

Acknowledgments 301

Index 305

Editorial Reviews

Pocahontas. Sacajawea. Sitting Bull. Crazy Horse. Acorn Whistler? This Creek Indian's life will never put him in the pantheon of renowned Native Americans. But it is his death, not his life, that matters—or, rather, it is the stories that colonists and Creeks made up about his demise. Unpacking and untangling those tales, Joshua Piker's fine book reveals nothing less than 'the way life in colonial America worked.'
— James H. Merrell, author of The Indians' New World

Piker is an excellent storyteller, and The Four Deaths of Acorn Whistler is an intriguing tale—told in four different ways—that showcases his dazzling historical detective work. He skillfully uses Creek Indian history as a window into early America.
— Jenny Hale Pulsipher, author of Subjects unto the Same King: Indians, English, and the Contest for Authority in Colonial New England

As American historians contemplate how best to reintegrate narrative into our work, Piker provides us with a model. Not only is The Four Deaths of Acorn Whistler beautifully written, it also considers the nature and impact of storytelling, suggesting that in the end we are who we are because of the tales we tell to ourselves and to others.
— Ari Kelman, author of A Misplaced Massacre: Struggling over the Memory of Sand Creek

Josh Piker follows his superb first book, Okfuskee, with a sharply observed and deeply researched analysis of a bloody conflict and its tangled—and ultimately murderous—aftermath. His examination of the multiple narratives of Whistler's death forces us to consider the nature of documentary evidence and story-telling in early North America.
— Peter C. Mancall, author of Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson

From the Publisher

Pocahontas. Sacajawea. Sitting Bull. Crazy Horse. Acorn Whistler? This Creek Indian's life will never put him in the pantheon of renowned Native Americans. But it is his death, not his life, that matters—or, rather, it is the stories that colonists and Creeks made up about his demise. Unpacking and untangling those tales, Joshua Piker's fine book reveals nothing less than 'the way life in colonial America worked.'

James H. Merrell

Piker is an excellent storyteller, and The Four Deaths of Acorn Whistler is an intriguing tale—told in four different ways—that showcases his dazzling historical detective work. He skillfully uses Creek Indian history as a window into early America.

Jenny Hale Pulsipher

Josh Piker follows his superb first book, Okfuskee, with a sharply observed and deeply researched analysis of a bloody conflict and its tangled—and ultimately murderous—aftermath. His examination of the multiple narratives of Whistler's death forces us to consider the nature of documentary evidence and story-telling in early North America.

Peter C. Mancall

As American historians contemplate how best to reintegrate narrative into our work, Piker provides us with a model. Not only is The Four Deaths of Acorn Whistler beautifully written, it also considers the nature and impact of storytelling, suggesting that in the end we are who we are because of the tales we tell to ourselves and to others.

Ari Kelman