History 231 Reading Guide
Native North Americans: The first inhabitants of North America
- Bruce G. Trigger, “Early Native North American Responses to European Contact: Romantic versus Rationalistic Interpretations,” Journal of American History (JAH) 77.4 (1991): 1195-1215. JSTOR
- James H. Merrell, “The Indians’ New World: The Catawba Experience,” WMQ 3rd ser. 41.4 (1984): 537-565. JSTOR
Please review:
- Guidelines for Writing a Critical Analysis of a Primary Document
- History 231 Primary Document Collections
Questions:
- How does Trigger characterize the conflicts between the two traditional interpretations or theories about the nature of contact for native North Americans�romanticism (or traditionalism, or, in its most recent guise, cultural relativism) and rationalism (or materialism)?
- What theoretical model does he offer for examining the evolution of interactions between Native Americans and Euro-Americans? What chronology does he present (and based on what evidence) to make his argument about a “cognitive reorganization”?
- How does his argument alter our understanding of the nature of contact between Native Americans and Europeans?
- Merrell focuses on the process of Native American cultural survival for southern piedmont Indians in the post-contact period. His article provides an opportunity for comparison and contrast with the New England Indians that Cronon describes.
- How does he characterize the three-stage process by which the Catawba’s “world” was transformed into a “new world”? What were the consequences of that process for the Catawba? What strategies did they develop for coping with those changes?
