Event Title
Redefining Black Hawk: Iconic Display as Means of Manipulation and Erasure of Native American Culture
Faculty Mentor
Katie Simon
Keywords
Katie Simon
Abstract
In this paper, I examine how the historical figure and Sauk warrior, Black Hawk, is taken captive and stripped of his “brave” status as leader, and is redefined by American authorities as an icon of his culture. Black Hawk must write of his experience and identity during Indian Removal under the authorship of a manipulated version of himself. From this, we are given Life of Black Hawk, Dictated By Himself. Combining research with my own analytical reading of the text, I assert that while Life serves as Black Hawk’s first-hand account of Indian Removal as well as his own rebellion of this new identity, the Sauk leader remains under the influence of his distorted and Americanized sense of self. I seek to show how the chief’s authorial presence has been both hidden and distorted through the “othering” that results from creating Black Hawk into an icon of national display.
Session Name:
Theorizing The Life of Black Hawk
Start Date
4-4-2014 2:30 PM
End Date
4-4-2014 3:30 PM
Location
HSB 211
Redefining Black Hawk: Iconic Display as Means of Manipulation and Erasure of Native American Culture
HSB 211
In this paper, I examine how the historical figure and Sauk warrior, Black Hawk, is taken captive and stripped of his “brave” status as leader, and is redefined by American authorities as an icon of his culture. Black Hawk must write of his experience and identity during Indian Removal under the authorship of a manipulated version of himself. From this, we are given Life of Black Hawk, Dictated By Himself. Combining research with my own analytical reading of the text, I assert that while Life serves as Black Hawk’s first-hand account of Indian Removal as well as his own rebellion of this new identity, the Sauk leader remains under the influence of his distorted and Americanized sense of self. I seek to show how the chief’s authorial presence has been both hidden and distorted through the “othering” that results from creating Black Hawk into an icon of national display.