Gathering Together

The Shawnee People through Diaspora and Nationhood, 1600–1870

Sami Lakomaki (Lakomäki)

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9780300182316
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Early American History
• Index: History

Weaving Indian and Euro-American histories together in this groundbreaking book, Sami Lakomäki places the Shawnee people, and Native peoples in general, firmly at the center of American history. The book covers nearly three centuries, from the years leading up to the Shawnees’ first European contacts to the post–Civil War era, and demonstrates vividly how the interactions between Natives and newcomers transformed the political realities and ideas of both groups.

Examining Shawnee society and politics in new depth, and introducing not only charismatic warriors like Blue Jacket and Tecumseh but also other leaders and thinkers, Lakomäki explores the Shawnee people’s debates and strategies for coping with colonial invasion. The author refutes the deep-seated notion that only European colonists created new nations in America, showing that the Shawnees, too, were engaged in nation building. With a sharpened focus on the creativity and power of Native political thought, Lakomäki provides an array of insights into Indian as well as American history.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: “Our Straggling Nation”
• 1. “The Greatest Travellers In America”: The Shawnee Diaspora, 1600–1725
• 2. “The Sheynars In General”: Unity And Diversity On Imperial Borderlands, 1725–1755
• 3. “The Chief Of All The Tribes”: Nation And Empire, 1755–1775
• 4. “A Struggle With Death”: The Twenty Years’ War, 1775–1795
• 5. “Become An Independent People”: Rebuilding The Nation, 1795–1833
• 6. “Dispersed Like Turkeys”: The Odyssey Of The Western Shawnees, 1782–1840
• 7. “Reunion”: Sovereignty And Centralization, 1833–1870
• Conclusion: A Living Nation
• List Of Abbreviations
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index