Bad fruits of the civilized tree: alcohol & the sovereignty of the Cherokee nation

279 Pages·2008·1.12 MB·English

by  Izumi Ishii

Bad Fruits of the Civilized Tree
Indians of the Southeast
series editors
Michael D. Green
University of North Carolina
Theda Perdue
University of North Carolina
advisory editors
Leland Ferguson
University of South Carolina
Mary Young
University of Rochester
B a d F r u i t s
of
Civilized
the
Tree
alcohol & the sovereignty
of the cherokee nation
izumi ishii
University of Nebraska Press (cid:49) Lincoln and London
Portions of chapters 1, 2, and 3 previously
appeared in a different form as “Alcohol
and Politics in the Cherokee Nation be-
fore Removal,” Ethnohistory 50, no. 4 (Fall
2003): 671–95. Used with permission. A
portion of chapter 6, “Cherokee Temper-
ance, American Reform, and Oklahoma
Statehood,” previously appeared as “‘Not
A Wigwam Nor Blanket Nor Warwhoop’:
Cherokees and the Woman’s Christian
Temperance Union,” Journal of American
and Canadian Studies 18 (2000): 1–15. Used
with permission.
© 2008 by the Board of Regents of the
University of Nebraska. All rights
reserved. Manufactured in the United
States of America. ∞
Library of Congress
Cataloging-in-publication Data
Ishii, Izumi, –
Bad fruits of the civilized tree: alcohol and
the sovereignty of the Cherokee nation /
Izumi Ishii.
p. cm.—(Indians of the Southeast)
Includes bibliographical references and
index.
isbn-: ---- (cloth: alk.
paper)
. Cherokee Indians—Alcohol use—
History. . Cherokee Indians—Rites
and ceremonies. . Drinking of alcoholic
beverages—Oklahoma—History.
. Drinking of alcoholic beverages—
Southern States—History. I. Title.
e.ci 
.'—dc

Set in Adobe Caslon Pro.
Designed by A. Shahan.
For my parents, Jun and Keiko Ishii

contents
series preface ix
acknowledgments xi
introduction 1
1. Alcohol Arrives 13
2. A Struggle for Sovereignty 39
3. The Moral High Ground 59
4. Alcohol and Dislocation 83
5. A Nation under Siege 111
6. Cherokee Temperance,
American Reform, and
Oklahoma Statehood 133
Conclusion 165
notes 169
bibliography 219
index 245

series preface
Bad Fruits of the Civilized Tree: Alcohol and the Sovereignty of
the Cherokee Nation is a sophisticated study of political sov-
ereignty and culture change. In this work Izumi Ishii histori-
cizes alcohol. She examines the ways in which the Cherokees
incorporated drinking into their culture in the eighteenth
century, and she explores how the regulation of alcohol be-
came a hotly contested issue in the nineteenth century. On
the one hand, charges of drunkenness shaped an unflattering
image of Indians and invited U.S. interference in Cherokee
affairs. On the other hand, Cherokee temperance societies
and laws governing the sale and consumption of alcohol pre-
sented an opportunity for Cherokees to demonstrate how
“civilized” they were and to exercise their sovereign right
to govern themselves. Ultimately temperance became the
avenue by which Cherokee women, disenfranchised early in
the nineteenth century, reentered the political arena only to
be betrayed along with their nation by the movement that
gave them a voice. Ishii has constructed a wonderful social
and political history, but even more important, she subtly has
challenged much of the conventional wisdom about Native
Americans and alcohol. She avoids the trap of moral judg-
ment about Native drinking and demonstrates that drinking
patterns, attitudes about alcohol, and the effects of alcohol
ix