Race and Culture: Writing the Ethnohistory of the Early South

Although both Indians and non-Indians use the language of blood today, it is a language that has a history, one that scholars of the early South, in particular, should keep in mind. Even if they change the meanings of "mixed blood" and "full blood" to emphasize cultural rather th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEthnohistory Vol. 51; no. 4; pp. 701 - 723
Main Author Perdue, Theda
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Durham, NC Duke University Press 01.10.2004
Duke University Press, NC & IL
Subjects
American history
Anthropology
Blood
Classification
Colonial history
Cultural differences
Cultural identity
Cultural values
Culture
Ethnography
Ethnohistory
Ethnology
Historical source materials
History
Imagination
Intermarriage
Language history
Language usage
Latin American History
Multiracial people
Native and Indigenous Studies
Native North Americans
North America
North Amerindians
Race
Racial differences
Racial identity
Sources and methods
North America
United States of America
Southern states
Writing of history
Ethnohistory
South
Culture
Race
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Summary:Although both Indians and non-Indians use the language of blood today, it is a language that has a history, one that scholars of the early South, in particular, should keep in mind. Even if they change the meanings of "mixed blood" and "full blood" to emphasize cultural rather than racial differences, inherent in these categories is a hierarchy that privileges whiteness. Perpetuating the language of blood denigrates the centrality of Native culture and the significance of individual choice. Reducing people to the simplistic category of race denies their imagination, their volition, and their uniqueness. In short, it denies their humanity.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0014-1801
1527-5477
DOI:10.1215/00141801-51-4-701