The Native Ground: Indians and Colonists in the Heart of the Continent

Early American Studies

by Kathleen DuVal, Daniel Adam Day (Narrator)

In The Native Ground, Kathleen DuVal argues that it was Indians rather than European would-be colonizers who were more often able to determine the form and content of the relations between the two groups. Along the banks of the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers, far from Paris, Madrid, and London, European colonialism met neither accommodation nor resistance but incorporation. Rather than being colonized, Indians drew European empires into local patterns of land and resource allocation, sustenance, goods exchange, gender relations, diplomacy, and warfare.

Placing Indians at the center of the story, DuVal shows both their diversity and our contemporary tendency to exaggerate the influence of Europeans in places far from their centers of power. Europeans were often more dependent on Indians than Indians were on them.

Drawing on archaeology and oral history, as well as documents in English, French, and Spanish, DuVal chronicles the successive migrations of Indians and Europeans to the area from precolonial times through the 1820s. These myriad native groups - Mississippians, Quapaws, Osages, Chickasaws, Caddos, and Cherokees - and the waves of Europeans all competed with one another for control of the region.

The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

"Groundbreaking.... A work of immense significance." (Journal of the Early Republic)

"All specialists in early American and Native American history should read this book because of what it has to say about the 'Native Ground' in general." (American Historical Review)

"The best history yet of the Arkansas River valley and its peoples." (Journal of American History)

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Indigenous, Native American History, Native American, American History, Read For School

Audible Audio

First published March 1, 2006

About the author

Kathleen DuVal is a historian of early American, Native American, and women's history. She is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Reviews

[JAYME · Rating 3 out of 5]

The information in this book was new to me and very interesting, but the format of this book is repetitive, dense/wordy, and hard to follow, which made it difficult to read. That being said, I liked how the book emphasizes the complexity of native nations and their relationships to Spain, France, and later, the English. This book provides more nuance to colonialism and proves that it wasn’t so swift. Yes, its impacts decimated native populations, but each indigenous nation was able to form their own relationships and maintain their sovereignty until the English arrived.

[Sasha (bahareads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Native Ground by DuVal brings another theory and methodology into the scholarly preview that I had not encountered before! DuVal asserted that Indigenous people in the Arkansas River Valley (ARV) area had control over the inter-cultural relations because they outnumbered Europeans until 1815 and the lack of European understanding of the area. She presses that Indigenous people did not want a middle ground, only weak people ground desired that. Incorporating alien people allowed those who were in power to remain in power since they controlled the interactions with foreigners. Her examples throughout the text show friendship were more on indigenous terms, and Indigenous ways of dividing and defining the region would be more effective than European ways for centuries. Indigenous people and Europeans had complex and advanced notions of "us" and "them" but these categories were never as simple as "Indian" and "European."

DuVal rejects the dependency theory (Europeans drawing colonized places into the global market and making them dependent on it) because it does not fit into the ARV model. It is true that Indigenous people did receive dramatic change from Europeans but they adapted to it, they were not swallowed by it. DuVal wants readers to know that the past is a series of adaptions, not conquests. Conquest is a term for colonial exaggeration over mastery of colonized areas. The NAIS (Native American and Indigenous Studies) approach DuVal uses made my class realize that Indigenous history is multi-directional; not the traditionally euro-centric narrative of east to west. While Indigenous history is not area, The Native Ground was a great read.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathleen DuVal presents an excellent and exciting new thesis to the historiography of Native Americans in her book The Native Ground. While many argue that the Indians were simply rolled over by European powers or quickly crushed and assimilated by the US Army DuVal shows that the Indians retained quite a bit of sovereignty in parts of the country. Her study focuses on the Arkansas valley which goes through Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Mississippi. She shows how the Osages, Chickasawas and Quapaws worked with Europeans and eachother to establish the rules of contact that would govern this region from the1500s to the 1830's. It was not until after the war of 1812 that a sizable presence of non-Indians was present in the valley which meant that up until that point the Indians made the rules. Rules of trade, peace and war were governed by Indian customs and not European ones. The traditional roles of balancing were not as necessary here given the Indians ability to be necessary for European control of the region by the end of the imperial era. It was a place where Europe was never able to dominate in the way it did other parts of the world creating a very unique case study. This is really cutting edge scholarship on native Americans and if you are looking for a book to show a different take on European/native relations than this is the one for you. Very well done, easy to read and thoroughly researched.

[Ashley Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly, the only reason why I picked up this book was because it was assigned for class. But, in all honestly, I enjoyed it. DuVal has a way of writing where she can pack significant events into just a few sentences. The book is obviously extremely well researched and along with the more "dull" history, she also has some very intriguing stories detailed as well. My only complaint with the book was that it seemed a bit redundant - but I suppose that was just to teach that these native people did the same thing for literally hundreds of years in an effort to keep their way of life. If you are at all interested in American Indian life I suggest taking a gander at this book, it's a new way of looking at history is a very select part of the nation.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has many elements one would like to see in a scholarly approach to history. First, the author based it on an extensive and seemingly thorough review of primary and secondary sources. These were frequently and clearly noted in the text and also described in the footnotes section of the book. Archaeological and anthropological articles along with journals of Spanish and French newcomers to the Arkansas River Valley were used to present the early aspects of the tribal histories portrayed. Where the data was somewhat lacking about these early pre European contact years, DuVal readily acknowledged she was engaging in speculation. The latter chapters describing the tribes interactions with each other and the European explorers and fur traders and/or the American settlers were based on historical records, correspondence, and/ or journal articles or books.

Second, DuVal’s argument was consistently presented via very thorough descriptions of events and the dynamics which drove them. In fact, if anything the detail with which she described these things became a bit tedious at times. How many different ways does an author need to make her basic point that the two main NA tribes in that area, the Osages and the Quapaw, were not passive victims of the Europeans coming into their realm? Instead, she argues, persuasively IMHO, that they actively set and managed, if not controlled, the course of events for 200+ years for the most part.

Third, the book is written in a direct, easy to read prose. When the author refers to other historians in the text, she explains their ideas clearly.

Fourth, in employing a few maps and a smattering of reproductions of paintings of some of the NA leaders and other aspects of their lives in the late 18th and early 19th centuries the book is more informative and engaging. I must note, however, that the names of towns and tribes on one of the maps were printed in such a small font that it was difficult to decipher. And some of the towns noted in the text were not depicted on the maps. These two flaws detracted from the value of including these maps.

While I was appreciative of what I learned from this book, its attention to detail meant I felt the need to take a break via reading some fiction in the evenings. I was almost as much relieved at finishing it as I was satisfied. Thus, Native Ground might be more appealing to readers with a particular interest in this area of the USA and/or these particular tribes. I liked it enough to give it a 4 star rating.....barely. And to want to read another one of DuVal’s books.

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very dense, but helpful to see how the displaced Indigenous people from the East moved into a fully-occupied region populated with nations that were busy adapting to and incoporating relationships with France, Spain, Britain, and some aggro arrivistes called the Anglo-Americans. I hope that it means we've come a long way since 2011 to note that it no longer seems groundbreaking to report that Native Americans retained a lot of power as they adapted to changing conditions well into the mid-nineteenth century.

[Bruce Mendelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well researched book about the history of the Arkansas Valley. The region includes parts of present day Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. There were many complex interactions between groups of native Americans and Europeans. It documents how the native Americans controlled the region up until the middle to late 1800's. The interactions among the different groups of people are fascinating. One has to concentrate to keep everything in perspective. But, if you are interested in the history of this region, you will enjoy this narrative.

[Mallory Whiteduck · Rating 5 out of 5]

An account of Native power and how it operated before 1830. It shows how we governed cities and settlers were the real nomads.

[Ari · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah, I really don't think I understood this book, which is cool I guess because I read it specifically for a paper I need to write for this week.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very impressive.

[EJ Vander Laan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Really enjoyed this one. I knew nothing about the history of the area so it was a very informative read and I think she argued her thesis very well!

[Ciarra · Rating 4 out of 5]

while i’m sick of ‘ground’ being in the title of almost every native book, i do appreciate duvall’s commitment and argument.

[Amy]

Read through Chapter 2 months ago before I became too sick to read. It was very good and I look forward to resuming once I am able to read again.

The Introduction made the important point that all territory was Native Ground, whether or not syncretic cultural practices were formed to make a cultural Middle Ground as historian Richard White previously hypothesized.

Just making these notes as I have to give the book back to the library unread and want to know where to pick up again once my M.E. Improves enough that I can read again.

Left off page 85

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Argues that American Indians weren't colonized or dominated by Europeans - at least not until after War of 1812 - but instead had the upper hand in relationships and incorporated Europeans into their lives while also being shaped by them.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Also an interesting take on colonial aspirations in North America.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good read and very interesting.

[Colette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written, expertly told. Gives a much needed perspective on the colonization process of the heart of North America, particularly the Arkansas Valley

[Josh Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Appreciate the way DuVal turns White's midle ground framework on its head.