Corpse in the Kitchen: Enclosure, Extraction, and the Afterlives of the Black Hawk War

The Corpse in the Kitchen examines the connections between the enclosure of Indigenous land, the history of resource extraction, and the literary culture of settler colonialism by reevaluating the archive of the Black Hawk War. According to Adam John Waterman, the war was a battle over the distribution of mineral resources, particularly mineral lead, and the development of new cultures of murder and composition. He investigates the settler fetishization of Black Hawks body, the expansion of print culture, and the role of commodity agriculture in composing a history of settler rapine by reading the terrestrial in relation to more conventional literary forms.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 21 December 2021
Publisher: Fordham University Press

Rewritten text:

The Corpse in the Kitchen: Reassessing the Archive of the Black Hawk War

The book delves into the intricate connections between the enclosure of Indigenous land, the histories of resource extraction, and the literary culture of settler colonialism. While traditional narratives of the Black Hawk War have often portrayed it as senseless violence, Adam John Waterman contends that the war was a crucial struggle over the distribution of mineral resources, particularly mineral lead. This led to the emergence of new cultures of killing and composition. The fundamental ingredient for the production of bullets, lead sourced from the mines of the upper Mississippi, played a significant role in the dispossession of Indigenous peoples as it consolidated U.S. control over a vital military resource. Rendered as metallic type, Mississippian lead contributed to the expansion of print culture, providing a platform for literary justifications of settler violence and perpetuating the myth of Indigenous disappearance.

Waterman approaches the theft and excarnation of Black Hawk's corpse as interconnected with processes of mineral extraction, exploring the ecological implications of racial capitalism as forms of inscription. By reading the terrestrial in relation to more conventional literary forms, he uncovers the settler fetishization of Black Hawk's body, revealing homoerotic longings that permeate representations of the man and his comrades. Moving from print to agriculture as modes of inscription, Waterman examines the role of commodity agriculture in composing a history of settler rapine, encompassing both literal and metaphoric legacies of anthropophagy. Traversing the mouth and stomach, he concludes by contrasting settler medicine with Black Hawk's account of medicine as an embodied practice, understood in relation to account.

In conclusion, The Corpse in the Kitchen offers a fresh perspective on the Black Hawk War, challenging conventional narratives and revealing the complex web of relationships between land enclosure, resource extraction, and settler colonialism. Through his meticulous analysis, Waterman sheds light on the ways in which mineral resources, print culture, agriculture, and medicine have shaped the historical and cultural landscape of the region. This book is a valuable contribution to the study of Indigenous history, settler colonialism, and the legacies of violence.

Weight: 384g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780823298778