Reinventing the Writing of American Indian History in the Twenty-First Century

Year 2020, Issue: 54, 41 - 58, 01.11.2020

Daniele Fiorentino

Abstract

Studying the history of American Indians today requires an interdisciplinary approach capable of considering both the native peoples’ interaction with the Euroamericans and the internal processes
occurring in each distinct population. Researching about American
Indians implies an exercise in approximation. The practice of ethnohistory helps the scholar find the necessary perspective for a broad, yet
punctual, diachronic and synchronic analysis. However, this approach,
initiated in the twentieth century, further evolved as scholars started
re-examining the ideological roots of some ethnohistorical studies.
Recent scholarship has benefited also from the emergence of native
historians and ethnohistorians who have contributed to provide their
own reading of American Indian culture and history. Moreover, today
scholars from different disciplines subscribe to it as the only possible
approach to reach a proper understanding of American Indian history
and culture.

Keywords

American Indians, ethnohistory, transnationalism, cultural identity

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