Author Description

Reimagining Indians investigates a group of Anglo-American writers who helped reshape Americans' understanding of Indian peoples at the turn of the twentieth century. Hailing from the eastern United States, these men and women traveled to the American West and discovered "exotics" in their midst. Drawn to Indian cultures as alternatives to what they found distasteful about modern American culture, they produced a body of work that celebrates Native American cultures, religions, artistry, and humanity. In the process they provided a more favorable climate for Indian cultural survival in a world indisputably dominated by non-Indians. They also encouraged notions of cultural relativism, pluralism, and tolerance in American thought. For the historian and general reader alike, this volume speaks to broad themes of American cultural history, Native American history, and the history of the American West.