Understanding Tolowa Histories

Western Hegemonies and Native American Responses

by James Collins

The Native Tolowa of Northern California were displaced and nearly destroyed in the nineteenth century, but they have since struggled to reclaim their language and collective identity. Today they are emerging as a cohesive cultural and political group. In Understanding Tolowa Histories, James Collins presents a complex historical inquiry into the Tolowa, Native American responses to U.S. domination, and Enlightenment political legacies. He incisively analyzes the relation between cultural otherness and political-economic subjugation, the complexities of history and identity, and the discursive dynamics of claiming a place and resisting displacement. In the process, he situates the Tolowa in the larger context of U.S. and Indian histories while developing a critique of contemporary anthropology.

256 pp — ©1997