Excellent review. Many thanks for posting. Twain's back-and-forth on Indians is indicative of so much in his writing. It's tough to discern in his statements what stems from conviction and what is a matter of mood at the moment. When it comes to Native Americans, I think we need to conclude that he was virulently biased. - Kay On Mon, Oct 1, 2018 at 9:51 AM Martin Zehr <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Just finished Kevin's excellent review- what else is new?- of Kerry > Driscoll's book on Twain's conflicting attitudes toward the American > Indian. A topic well-deserving the attention of a scholar like Dr. > Driscoll. Don't know if she mentioned this, but years ago Tom Quirk > pointed out to me that, in his late work, Extracts from Captain > Stormfield's Visit to Heaven, the guard at the entrance to Heaven is a > "Pai-Ute" Indian. What gives? > Martin Zehr > > On Mon, Oct 1, 2018, 5:48 AM Barbara Schmidt <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > The following review was written for the Mark Twain Forum by Kevin Mac > > Donnell. > > ~~~~~ > > > > _Mark Twain among the Indians and Other Indigenous Peoples_. By Kerry > > Driscoll. University of California Press, 2018. Pp. 448. Hardcover > $95.00. > > ISBN 9780520279421 (hardcover). ISBN 9780520970663 (ebook). > > > > > > Many books reviewed on the Mark Twain Forum are available at discounted > > prices from the Twain Web Bookstore. Purchases from this site generate > > commissions that benefit the Mark Twain Project. Please visit < > > http://www.twainweb.net> > > > > Reviewed for the Mark Twain Forum by: > > Kevin Mac Donnell > > > > Copyright (c) 2018 Mark Twain Forum. This review may not be published or > > redistributed in any medium without permission. > > > > > > An irksome puzzle has persisted through more than a century of Mark Twain > > scholarship. It has usually been avoided altogether, or at best it has > been > > briefly touched upon by a handful of scholars. In her ground-breaking new > > study, Kerry Driscoll spells it out clearly: "While Twain's view on > blacks > > . . . [demonstrate] unequivocal growth away from the racism of his > origins > > in the antebellum South, his representations of Indians do not follow a > > similarly redemptive arc. They are instead vexingly erratic and > > paradoxical, commingling antipathy and sympathy, fascination and visceral > > repugnance" (4). Driscoll credits scholars who have dealt briefly with > > Twain's attitude toward America's indigenous people--Ned Blackhawk, Louis > > J. Budd, Joseph Coulombe, Leslie Fiedler, Philip Foner, Max Geismer, > Harold > > J. Kolb, and Jeffrey Steinbrink--and points out that they tend to fall > into > > two camps that either idealize or vilify Native Americans. Both camps > > distort Twain's own views by over-simplifying the issue. The truth is > more > > complicated, and a book length study to explore these complications is > long > > overdue. > > > > > > Driscoll's book is that much needed and long overdue study, and well > worth > > the wait! "Mark Twain did not care for Indians. This book is an attempt > to > > understand why" says Driscoll (3). Driscoll describes her approach as > > "chronological and geographical" (7) and she documents when and where > Twain > > met Indians, when and where he read about them, when and where he heard > > about them, and when and where he wrote or spoke about them. She lays out > > her evidence like a prosecutor, challenges her own evidence, and in doing > > so avoids the overgeneralizations that have plagued previous brief > studies > > that have touched on this topic. At one point the CIA looms large in her > > narrative, but more about that later. She also refutes the conventional > > notion that Twain's animosity toward Indians was fiercest when he was out > > west and that it steadily modulated during his Hartford years. His views > > modulated at times, but his antagonism often erupted in later years, and > at > > best settled into an antipathy toward Indians. > > > > > > Driscoll makes clear that she does not intend to "defend or defame" > Twain, > > and reminds us that "his intellectual journey--sprawling, untidy, > > incomplete--matters more than where he ultimately arrived" (13). It is an > > amazing journey, and if Driscoll's account of it at times seems > sprawling, > > untidy, or incomplete, it is only a reflection of Mark Twain himself, > whose > > genius as a storyteller and brilliancy in capturing the voice of America > is > > justly celebrated, but whose failure to grasp the humanity of Native > > Americans is a flaw that cannot be ignored. > > > > > > The journey begins in Sam Clemens's early years when he likely heard his > > mother Jane Clemens recite the story of her own grandmother's survival of > > the "Montgomery Massacre" in Kentucky in 1781, in which her father and > four > > other family members were killed, along with some neighbors in nearby > > cabins, and some of her playmates captured. Although some accounts of > that > > first attack are contradictory, it is clear that after Jane Clemens's > > grandmother married, she and her husband survived three more Indian > attacks > > on the Kentucky frontier and she displayed clear symptoms of PTSD. Jane > > Clemens exerted enormous influence on young Sam, and Jane did not like > > Indians. Despite his family heritage, sixteen year old Sam romanticized > > Indians on par with James Fenimore Cooper when he wrote an account of > > Hannibal that he published in 1852, calling them "children of the forest" > > who once gave "the wild war-whoop" where Hannibal now stood, but were now > > "scattered abroad . . . far from the homes of their childhood and the > > graves of their fathers" (14). Likewise, Sam's brother Orion expressed > > sympathy for the displaced Indians of the region just a few years later > > when he penned an essay about Keokuk for the town's first directory which > > he printed while Sam was in his employ. > > > > > > But the brothers' attitude toward Indians did not remain in sync. During > > their years in Nevada, Orion continued to express sympathy for the local > > Indians, while Sam's view evolved in the opposite direction. With the > > exception of a single letter, he viewed the local Indians as violent, > > ignorant, lazy, untrustworthy, and filthy "savages"--describing them with > > contempt, amusement, and sometimes pity (72-73). Orion would retain his > > sympathy for Indians for the rest of his life, but not even the > charitable > > views of Sam's friend William Wright (Dan De Quille) could soften Sam's > > bias. Twain could even distinguish cultural differences between the local > > tribes while sustaining his prejudices toward all of them. As Driscoll > > observes at one point, Sam Clemens "sees, in other words, but does not > > comprehend" (74). > > > > > > After adopting his _nom de plume_ and leaving Nevada, Mark Twain retained > > his contempt for Indians, and in 1870 published "The Noble Red Man," > > described by Driscoll as "the hateful crescendo of a racial bias rooted > in > > the tales of frontier violence his mother had told him as a child" (144). > > In this piece, Twain authoritatively invokes his experiences with Indians > > in Nevada and declares that "all history and honest observation will show > > that the Red Man is a skulking coward and a windy braggart . . . [whose] > > heart is a cesspool of falsehood, of treachery, and of low and devilish > > instincts" and concludes that Indians are "a good, fair, desirable > subject > > for extermination if ever there was one" (149). Twainians will be shocked > > and disappointed to know that in 2004 this essay was posted at > > Stormfront.org, the largest white nationalist website in the world, where > > it was praised. > > > > > > In _Roughing It_, although Twain does not advocate genocide, he describes > > one tribe as "a thin, scattering race of almost naked black children . . > . > > who produce nothing at all, and have no villages, and no gatherings > > together into strictly defined tribal communities" making clear that > their > > extinction will be of no consequence (136). The kindest thing that can be > > said about Twain's attitude expressed in _Roughing It_ is that he failed > to > > see Indians as victims of colonialism, instead criticizing them for > > subsisting like parasites at the fringes of white settlements, the only > > adaptive behavior possible for them in response to violent displacement. > > > > > > Earlier in her study Driscoll discusses Injun Joe, reviews Victor > Fischer's > > debunking of Hannibal's Joe Douglas as the model for Injun Joe, and > > explores the implications of "playing Indian" in _The Adventures of Tom > > Sawyer_, but she does not mention the Mountain Meadow Massacre (cited in > > _Roughing It_), in which Mormons disguised as Indians murdered an entire > > wagon train of settlers and kidnapped the very youngest children. She > also > > discusses James Fenimore Cooper's ridiculous Indians and points out that > > Twain lampooned Alexander Pope's Indians a few years before he got around > > to blasting Cooper's. Twain's attacks on Cooper began in 1869 and > > culminated in his famous essay on Cooper's "literary offenses" in 1895. > But > > Twain was full of contradictions: He derided Cooper's praise of the > > tracking abilities of Indians, yet he was in awe of the tracking > abilities > > of Aborigines in _Following the Equator_ just two years later. > > > > > > During Twain's Hartford years he encountered the CIA (the Connecticut > > Indian Association, of course; what were you expecting?) and his > > reaction--or rather non-reaction--to this active group is revealing. This > > group felt the best way to solve "the Indian Problem" was to Americanize > > them through detribalization, education, and Christianization. They and > > other groups endorsed an idea that was best summed up in a speech by the > > founder of an Indian boarding school: "Kill the Indian--save the man" > > (228). To modern ears such a group sounds misguided and paternalistic, > but > > by contemporary standards they represented a progressive movement intent > on > > helping Native Americans. Twain's next door neighbor, Harriet Beecher > > Stowe, was a big supporter (when she wasn't sneaking up behind Twain and > > cutting loose with a "war-whoop" as he once reported). But for some > reason > > Twain and his wife Livy had almost nothing to do with the group despite > the > > enthusiasm of their neighbors. Twain attended a benefit lecture for the > > group by Chauncey Depew, but that may have been a personal gesture or an > > indication of Twain's interest in the subject matter. Twain once gave $10 > > to a cause that was also championed by the CIA, but otherwise he is oddly > > absent from the events associated with this advocacy group, prompting > > Driscoll to title her chapter "The Curious Tale of the Connecticut Indian > > Association." > > > > > > "Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer among the Indians" is discussed at length. > > Although never finished, it provides clues to Twain's often ambivalent > > attitude toward Indians. One reason given for Twain's failure to finish > > this story is that he could not come up with a plot device to get around > > the fact that the kidnapped girl was almost certainly raped by her Indian > > captors, a topic he did not wish to inject into his fiction. Driscoll > > traces Twain's familiarity with this subject back to his days in > California > > and presents a common source for both this unfinished story and "The > > Californian's Tale." She carefully reviews Twain's annotations in books > by > > Francis Parkman and Richard Irving Dodge, and presents a lively account > of > > Twain's writing of this aborted tale. > > > > > > At times Twain's views toward Indians softened, and Driscoll cites > numerous > > instances. Among them are the influence of Joaquin Miller's _Life amongst > > the Modocs_, (Twain even nicknamed his fifteen month-old daughter Susy > > "Modoc" because of her hairstyle), his observations and encounters with > > indigenous people during his lecture tour around the world, how his own > > financial setbacks and geographic displacement made him more sympathetic > to > > Aborigines and others impoverished and displaced under colonial rule, his > > endorsement of Indian music, and his comparison of the Christian God to > the > > superior Gods of the Indians. But none of these redemptive moments seemed > > to endure. In _Following the Equator_, Twain wrote "There are many > humorous > > things in the world; among them the white man's notion that he is less > > savage than the other savages" (_FE_, 213). Driscoll points out that he > > recognized the humanity of indigenes people abroad but seemed unable to > > transfer that understanding to those at home. > > > > > > At home Twain could see the humanity in black people, but not Indians. > > Driscoll points out that he had grown up in the presence of slaves > without > > ever questioning their humanity, but that his formative impressions of > > Indians came second-hand from newspapers, books, and grotesque family > > stories. She quotes from Twain's 1897 notebook: "Education consists > mainly > > in what we have unlearned" (349) and demonstrates how Twain was unable to > > unlearn much of what he'd been taught about Indians, despite having > moments > > of insight in the presence of other indigenous people. She pairs two > quotes > > from the beginning and end of his career that show how his jaundiced view > > of western Indians as lustful savages remained essentially unchanged. He > > could denounce imperialism abroad while mostly ignoring it at home, > making > > no public statements, for example, even when his daughter Jean wrote an > > impassioned letter to the _New York Times_ protesting the mistreatment of > > Indians in 1909. > > > > > > Driscoll admits that Twain's "erratic and deeply conflicted views" of > > American Indians "defy easy explanation" (369), and concludes that > "Indians > > remained an enigma for him--objects of pity, loathing, and confused > > fascination--until the end" (370). Readers of this book will be > disturbed, > > provoked, and disheartened, but not disappointed. They will find the > > excellent illustrations, bibliography, and index subentries extremely > > helpful and suggestive of further readings and research. But honest > > scholarly enquiry often leads to more questions than answers, and if > there > > are unanswered questions at the end of Driscoll's superb enquiry, it is > not > > the fault of the enquirer, but Mark Twain himself, who left us no clear > > answers on this subject--not because he knew the answers and chose to > > withhold them, but because he simply did not know himself. > > >