Unsettling Thoreau : Native Americans, settler colonialism, and the power of place / John J. Kucich.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kucich, John J. (John Joseph), 1966- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862--Criticism and interpretation.

Thoreau, Henry David.

Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862--Knowledge and learning--Indians of North of America.

Indians in literature.

Imperialism in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations, maps

Place of Publication:

Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, [2024]

Summary:

"Henry David Thoreau's widely known interest in Native Americans has been a recurring topic of attention, yet it is also a source of modern debate. John J. Kucich charges into the contradiction of Thoreau, considering how he could demonstrate respect for this group on one hand and ignore their genocide on the other. Thoreau's long study of Native peoples, as reflected in his writing, allowed him to glimpse an Indigenous worldview, but it never fully freed him from the blind spots of settler colonialism. Drawing on Indigenous studies and critiques of settler colonialism, as well as new materialist approaches, Unsettling Thoreau explores the stakes of Thoreau's effort to live mindfully and ethically in place when living alongside, or replacing marginalized peoples. By examining the vast sweep of his writings and placing them alongside Native writers and communities, this book gauges Thoreau's effort to use Indigenous knowledge to re-imagine a settler colonial world, without removing him from its trappings"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Thoreau's Indian problem

Ghosts of Musketaquid : playing Indian, local history, and a week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

Savagism and its discontents : the Indian notebooks

Becoming native : Walden, "walking," and the poetry of place

Indians in Massachusetts : Cape Cod, colonialism, and Wampanoag revitalization

Lost in the Maine woods : Henry Thoreau, Joseph Nicolar, and the Penobscot world

Succession : wild fruits, the dispersion of seeds, and Thoreau's Indian afterlife.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (JSTOR, viewed April 16, 2026).

Other Format:

Print version: Kucich, John J. 1966- Unsettling Thoreau

ISBN:

9781685751067

1685751067

9781685751050

1685751059

OCLC:

1453409003

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license