Stories passed/histories present: A literary history of Native American autobiography, 1768--2004

This dissertation provides a literary history of Native American Autobiography, situating selected autobiographies within the complex historical, cultural and literary contexts in which they were produced. I find that there were four distinct movements in the history of Native American Autobiography from the time the autobiographies first began to be produced in English (1768) through the present day.;The first movement (1768--1830) draws from two literary traditions, that of the confessional and that of Native American oratorical traditions. The resulting texts resemble confessionals but utilize the activist tendencies of the confessional and oratory to argue for social equity for Natives. The second movement (late 1820's--1850's) is a transitional one. I argue Native American autobiographers of this era responded not only to the numerous Indian wars, as well as the literatures and traditions which I identify as part of the first movement, but also they began refuting the stereotypes of Indianness that were becoming increasingly popular as Euro-Americans sought (1) to understand the peoples they were encountering as the country's boundaries expanded westward and (2) to establish was uniquely or "Natively" American. During the third movement (1850's--1930's), as-told-to autobiographies become the most ubiquitous form of Native American autobiographical production. I contend these autobiographies, in terms of their composition and their ubiquity, were influenced by four primary factors: (1) the institution of the reservation system and the closing of the frontier, (2) the institution of federal boarding schools, (3) the popularity of "local color" writings, and (4) Native American storytelling traditions. The resulting autobiographies responded to all of these factors and were most often composed with two strategic objectives in mind, setting the historical record straight and preserving Native American traditions and cultural heritage in the wake of America's violent, genocidal strides westward. The fourth movement (circa 1900-present) is heavily influenced by the fears of the previous generation of indigenous autobiographers. In particular, the autobiographers of this movement responded to the fear that traditions would vanish and cultural heritage would be lost by showing that tribal traditions persisted and evolved, despite reservations, boarding schools and even the movie industry.