"The Amazing Iroquois" and the Invention of the Empire State

The Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois, are viewed as an indelible part of New York's modern and democratic culture. John C. Winters contends that this vision was created and spread by an influential, multi-generational Seneca-Iroquois family, who used the tools of colonial culture to shape aspects of contemporary New York culture in their own people's image. This family showcases the lasting effects of indigenous agents who fashioned a popular and long-lasting historical memory that made the Iroquois an obvious and foundational part of New Yorkers' conception of their own exceptional state history and self-identity.

Format: Hardback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 22 February 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

In the collective unconscious of America, the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois, holds a profound and enduring place in the fabric of New York's modern and democratic culture. Their influence spans from the Iroquois confederacy serving as a blueprint for the US Constitution to the interconnectedness between the matrilineal Iroquois and the woman suffrage movement, to the enduring legacy of the renowned Sky Walkers, the steelworkers who constructed the Empire State Building and the George Washington Bridge. The Iroquois are seen as exceptional individuals who have played a pivotal role in shaping the unique and forward-looking history of the state.

According to John C. Winters, this vision was not fabricated by Anglo-Americans but rather emerged and spread through the influence of an influential, multi-generational Seneca-Iroquois family. From the American Revolution to the Cold War, figures such as Red Jacket, Ely S. Parker, Harriet Maxwell Converse (adopted), and Arthur C. Parker utilized the tools of colonial culture to shape aspects of contemporary New York culture in their own people's image. The outcome was the creation of The Amazing Iroquois, a historical memory that intertwined indigenous self-definition, colonial expectations about racial stereotypes, and Native American politics.

Spanning from the imperial politics of the eighteenth century to pioneering museum exhibitions of the twentieth, this remarkable family packaged and delivered Iroquoian stories to the broader. They did so in defiance of the contemporary racial stereotypes and settler colonial politics that sought to bury them. Owing to their skill, fame, and the timely intervention of Iroquois leadership, this remarkable family showcases the lasting effects of indigenous agents who fashioned a popular and long-lasting historical memory that made the Iroquois a significant and integral part of American history.

Weight: 544g
Dimension: 243 x 165 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197578223