Introduction
Kathleen DuVal, a renowned scholar at the University of North Carolina, is the author of The Native Ground: Indians and Colonists in the Heart of the Continent. Early American history, specifically the cultural and social interactions between Native Americans and Europeans, is the primary focus of DuVal's study. Alan Taylor, a historian who has won the Pulitzer Prize, is DuVal's instructor. DuVal and Taylor are both experts in early American history. A well-written and innovative book, Native Ground gives the reader a new viewpoint on the interactions between Native Americans and the colonists. The book chronicles the strong power the Native Americans held during the early European interactions from 1540 through the gradual decline of the Native ground in 1828. DuVal's focus is primarily on the Arkansas Valley, which is the area between modern-day Arkansas, Missouri, northeastern New Mexico, and southeastern Colorado. The Arkansas Valley region was home to Mississippian, Quapaw, Osage, Chickasaw, Caddo, and Cherokee Native American Tribes. DuVal describes the Native Americans as a powerful and on-going force in early America while disproving Richard White's "middle ground" argument.
Overview of The Native Ground
The Native Ground is broken down into eight chapters, starting in 1540 with early European expeditions to the new world and ending in the 1830s with the beginning of Andrew Jackson's presidency, just before the Trail of Tears. DuVal organizes her book in a chronological order, telling the story of interaction not only between the Natives and Europeans, but also the interaction amongst the different tribes in the region. The author explains native ground and makes her argument so eloquently because of her solid and diverse use of sources. Duval makes her strong arguments by using the scholarly writings of others and the facts from the primary sources to make a lasting connection on the native ground perspective.
Chapter One: A Bordered Land
The first two chapters in The Native Ground tells the beginning story of the indigenous peoples of America. In the first chapter, titled "A Bordered Land," Duval details the Arkansas Valley and the tribes that lived in the area. The author goes on further to explain the intricate borders the different tribes established with each other. This first chapter Duval introduces the concept and perspective of the native ground by drawing the comparison of European borders. Chapter one is the shortest chapter out of the book, but an important one because it lays a strong foundation for the reader describing what native ground means.
Chapter Two: Hosting Strangers
Chapter two is titled "Hosting Strangers," which chronicles the first encounters and interactions between the Natives and the Europeans from 1541 to 1650. The Spanish expeditions of De Soto and Coronado are discussed in this chapter. The book describes the Natives of the Arkansas Valley being open with the newcomers and even tried to establish trade and teach customs. The Spanish hostility and lack of cooperation towards the Native hosts led to Native violence.
Chapter Three: Negotiators of a New Land
Chapter three, "Negotiators of a New Land," is based on the historical events that occurred between the period 1650 and 1740. In this chapter, Duval focuses on the two native communities known as the Osages and the Quapaw that lived a few miles from Mississippi. The author progresses on the description of the history of these two communities and describes a proper illustration of the kind of life during this period. Throughout this chapter, Duval devotes most of her time in explaining the negotiations and trade that used to occur between the two communities and other neighboring communities. She analyzes the tradability skills and military expansion that existed between the Quapaws and Osage respectively. The fact that Duval narrows this chapter to explain the life of the two communities signals a shortcoming in her work.
Chapter Four: An Empire in the West
Chapter four, "An Empire in the West," is based on historical events that occurred during the period 1765 and 1800. Based on this chapter, Duval focuses on the responses of the two communities that occurred prior to the late eighteenth century. During this period, the author illustrates the various challenges that the Quapaw experienced from the Osage during the trade and negotiation interactions. Since the two communities lived together, they inculcated different priorities with an aim of becoming the dominant group in the community.
On the other hand, the author also describes the challenges that the Quapaws and the Osage experienced during their interaction with the Indians. It is also well documented that Osage made a warm welcoming of the traders Claude Charles and his Interpreter into their town, which was located around the Osage River. This move by the Osages did not impress the Quapaws, and their attitude towards the Indians changed. As the author describes it, the visitors that had been welcomed to the village made it clear that their journey had not ended and their intention was to progress with their journey towards the south into a town called the Taovaya (DuVal, 103). This particular action made the two host communities angry since they thought that they were going to side with their enemies through supplying them with more guns.
In addition, Duval describes the arrival and interaction between the western nations and the two native communities during the same period. The main intention of the Europeans' arrival into the native areas was to get a glimpse and information about the kind of life that existed in the Native ground.
Duval uses chapter three and four to express the disparity in priorities that existed between the Quapaws and the Osages. Since both groups had access to the Western nations, they used their interactions differently to acquire their needs. The Quapaws, having a huge interest in trading, relied on the French traders to establish the largest trading system in North America (DuVal, 103). They made this move to gain superiority over the Indians and other enemies in their region.
On the other hand, the Osage maximized their interactions with the Europeans with an aim of enhancing their military and security space. Their main purpose for a strong military base was to overpower their enemies and other neighbors. Towards the end of the chapter, Duval indicates that the expansion of the territories of the two communities enlarged gradually thus causing them both positive and negative effects.
Works Cited
DuVal, Kathleen. The Native Ground: Indians and Colonists in the Heart of the Continent. U of Pennsylvania P, 2011, pp. 1-248.
