Native American Women and the Burdens of Southern History

"In 'Native American Women and the Burdens of Southern History,' Daniel Usner gives closer consideration to the experiences of Native American women over time to show how they both complicate and enrich our understanding of southern history and culture. Usner explores the dynamic role that Indigenous women in the South played in confronting sequential waves of colonization, European imperial invasion, plantation encroachment, and post-Civil War racialization, revealing that these events affected them in particular ways, and their means of adaptation and resistance likewise took distinct forms. Though long neglected, Indigenous women's history is increasing and improving, thanks primarily to specialized work on select individuals, places, and periods. While drawing attention to that scholarship, Usner's work uses original research to advance a new line of inquiry that focuses on Native American women's responses and initiatives across centuries. Usner especially emphasizes the deployment of a particular feature of material culture in the Lower Mississippi Valley and Gulf Coastal area of the South. Overall, his work underscores how central Indigenous women have been in struggles for Native American territory and sovereignty throughout southern history"