Chief Thunderwater : an unexpected Indian in unexpected places / Gerald F. Reid.
Material type: TextPublisher: Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, [2021]Description: viii, 188 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cmContent type:- text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780806167312
- 0806167319
- Thunderwater, Chief, 1865-1950
- Seneca Indians -- Kings and rulers -- Biography
- Sauk Indians -- Kings and rulers -- Biography
- Supreme Council of the Tribes
- Six Nations -- Politics and government
- Iroquois Indians -- Politics and government
- Indians of North America -- Canada -- Politics and government
- Indians of North America -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Biography
- Businesspeople -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Biography
- Cleveland (Ohio) -- Biography
Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book | Dr. James Carlson Library | Biography | THUNDERW R355 | Available | 33111009780889 | ||||
Adult Book | Main Library | Biography | THUNDERW R355 | Available | 33111010461933 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
On June 11, 1950, the Cleveland Plain Dealer published an obituary under the bold headline "Chief Thunderwater, Famous in Cleveland 50 Years, Dies." And there, it seems, the consensus on Thunderwater ends. Was he, as many say, a con artist and an imposter posing as an Indian who lead a political movement that was a cruel hoax? Or was he a Native activist who worked tirelessly and successfully to promote Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois, sovereignty in Canada? The truth about this enigmatic figure, so long obscured by vying historical narratives, emerges clearly in Gerald F. Reid's biography, Chief Thunderwater --the first full portrait of a central character in twentieth-century Iroquois history.
Searching out Thunderwater's true identity, Reid documents Thunderwater's life from his birth in 1865, as Oghema Niagara, through his turns as a performer of Indian identity and, alternately, as a dedicated advocate of Indian rights. After nearly a decade as an entertainer in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, Thunderwater became progressively more engaged in Haudenosaunee political affairs--first in New York and then in Quebec and Ontario. As Reid shows, Thunderwater's advocacy for Haudenosaunee sovereignty sparked alarm within Canada's Department of Indian Affairs, which moved forcefully to discredit Thunderwater and dismantle his movement.
Self-promoter, political activist, entrepreneur: Reid's critical study reveals Thunderwater in all his contradictions and complexity--a complicated man whose story expands our understanding of Native life in the early modern era, and whose movement represents a key moment in the development of modern Haudenosaunee nationalism.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Who was Thunderwater? -- Thunderwater and Cleveland's Indians -- Thunderwater and the Council of the Tribes -- The Thunderwater movement -- Thunderwaterism and the response of Canada's Indian Department -- Dirty tricks and the end of the Thunderwater movement -- Libel in Louisville -- Trials and tribulations -- An unexpected Indian in unexpected places.
"Biography of Oghema Niagara, a Sauk-Seneca activist from Cleveland, Ohio, who played an important, but unrecognized role in the rise of Haudenosaunee nationalism in Canada in the early twentieth century"-- Provided by publisher.