Talking Back: Native Women and the Making of the Early South

by Alejandra Dubcovsky

A pathbreaking look at Native women of the early South who defined power and defied authority
 
“An artful, powerful book. . . . [A] substantial contribution to our knowledge of women in the so-called ‘forgotten centuries’ of European colonialism in the southeast.”—Malinda Maynor Lowery, author of The Lumbee Indians
 
“A remarkable book. Alejandra Dubcovsky pursued relentless research to uncover the histories of women previously unseen, even unnamed. As Dubcovsky shows, they had names, they had families, they had lives that mattered. The historical landscape is transformed by their presence.”—Lisa Brooks, author of Our Beloved Kin
 
Historian Alejandra Dubcovsky tells a story of war, slavery, loss, remembrance, and the women whose resilience and resistance transformed the colonial South. In exploring their lives she rewrites early American history, challenging the established male-centered narrative.
 
Dubcovsky reconstructs the lives of Native women—Timucua, Apalachee, Chacato, and Guale—to show how they made claims to protect their livelihoods, bodies, and families. Through the stories of the Native cacica who demanded her authority be recognized; the elite Spanish woman who turned her dowry and household into a source of independent power; the Floridiana who slapped a leading Native man in the town square; and the Black woman who ran a successful business at the heart of a Spanish town, Dubcovsky reveals the formidable women who claimed and used their power, shaping the history of the early South.

Genres: Native American, Audiobook, Nonfiction, Indigenous, History

280 pages, Hardcover

First published May 23, 2023

Reviews

[Jennifer E. Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting as an audio book. It covers one specific time period, one specific place and a handful of specific tribes. The way they interacted with the Spanish, and specifically the women and their treatment was disappointing. Coming from a matrilineal society, the women’s leadership was not respected, and under Spanish rules, the women no longer felt safe to work out in groups without a guard. I have always asked in History classes, “What about the women? What were they doing?” This book paints a picture with the scant pieces of history that were recorded.

[Adina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intimate exploration of women’s lives in 17th century Southeastern North America. Excellent primer on pulling story threads out of archival lacunae.

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful methodologically, but reads more like a collection of essays.