Making Home Work: Domesticity and Native American Assimilation in the American West, 1860-1919

284 Pages·2006·5.14 MB·English

by  Jane E. Simonsen

Making Home Work
Gender and American Culture
coeditors
Th adious M. Davis
Linda K. Kerber
editorial advisory board
Nancy Cott
Cathy N. Davidson
Jane Sherron De Hart
Sara Evans
Mary Kelley
Annette Kolodny
Wendy Martin
Nell Irvin Painter
Janice Radway
Barbara Sicherman
Making
Domesticity and
Nativ e American Ho(cid:1)me
Assimilation in the
American West,
1860 – 1919
Work
Jane E. Simonsen
The University of North Carolina Press
Chapel Hill
© 2006 Th e University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Designed by April Leidig-Higgins
Set in Adobe Garamond by Copperline Book Services, Inc.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Th is volume was published with the generous assistance of the Greens boro
Women’s Fund of the University of North Carolina Press.
Founding Contributors: Linda Arnold Carlisle, Sally Schindel Cone,
Anne Faircloth, Bonnie McElveen Hunter, Linda Bullard Jennings, Janice
J. Kerley (in honor of Margaret Supplee Smith), Nancy Rouzer May, and
Betty Hughes Nichols.
Th e paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the
Council on Library Resources.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Simonsen, Jane E.
Making home work: domesticity and Native American assimilation
in the American West, 1860 – 1919 / by Jane E. Simonsen.
p. cm. — (Gender and American culture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8078-3032-1 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8078-3032-1 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8078-5695-6 (pbk.: alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8078-5695-9 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Arts and society — West (U.S.) — History — 19th century. 2. Arts and
society — West (U.S.) — History — 20th century. 3. Home economics
— Cross-cultural studies. 4. Social values — West (U.S.) 5. Women —
West (U.S.) — Social conditions. 6. Indian women — West (U.S.) —
Cultural assimilation. I. Title. II. Gender & American culture.
nx180.s6s572 2006
305.48'89707809034 — dc22 2005034946
Parts of Chapters 3 and 5 were previously published as “ ‘Object Lessons’:
Domesticity and Display in Native American Assimilation,” in American
Studies 43, no. 1 (Spring 2002). Th ey are reprinted here by permission.
Copyright © Mid-America American Studies Association, 2002.
Chapter 4 was previously published as “Th e Cook, the Photographer, and
Her Majesty, the Allotting Agent: Unsettling Domestic Spaces in E. Jane
Gay’s With the Nez Perces,” in Arizona Quarterly 58, no. 2 (2002). It is
reprinted here by permission of the Regents of Th e University of Arizona.
cloth 10 09 08 07 06 5 4 3 2 1
paper 10 09 08 07 06 5 4 3 2 1
(cid:2)
To my parents,
Pat and Jim Simonsen
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contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction
Squaring the Circle 1
1 Prairie Heirs and Heiresses
Native American History and the
Future of the West in Caroline Soule’s
Th e Pet of the Settlement 17
2 The House Divided
Class and Race in the Married
Woman’s Home 43
3 Object Lessons
Domesticity on Display in Native
American Assimilation 71
4 The Cook, the Photographer, and
Her Majesty, the Allotting Agent
Unsettling Domesticity in
E. Jane Gay’s Choup-nit-ki 111
5 A Model of Its Kind
Anna Dawson Wilde’s Home
in the Field 151
6 Border Designs
Domestic Production and
Cultural Survival 183
Postscript
Th e Map and the Territory 215
Notes 223
Bibliography 243
Index 261
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illustrations
1.1 George Catlin, Th e Open Door, Known as the Prophet,
Brother of Tecumseh 19
3.1 F. W. Miller, drawing of an Omaha tribal circle 82
3.2 F. W. Miller, “Village of the Make-Believe White Men” 83
3.3 Omaha sod dwelling 84
3.4 Omaha Cottage at Hampton Institute 85
3.5 Indian School, Carlisle, Pa. 91
3.6 Stiya, Carlisle Indian Girl 92
4.1 E. Jane Gay, Reservation Chairs 113
4.2 E. Jane Gay, Entrance to Kamiah Valley 117
4.3 E. Jane Gay, Th e Photographer 122
4.4 E. Jane Gay, Behold the Cook 123
4.5 E. Jane Gay, Consultation on Land Allotment 127
4.6 E. Jane Gay, Carrying Wood 128
4.7 E. Jane Gay, Final Report 129
4.8 E. Jane Gay, Th e Damp Th ermopylae 130
4.9 E. Jane Gay, Wati-Wati-Houlis’ Tent 131
4.10 E. Jane Gay, Family Umbrella 132
4.11 E. Jane Gay, Briggs and Her Majesty 133
4.12 E. Jane Gay, Monday Morning 135
4.13 E. Jane Gay, Felix Corbett and Wife 142
4.14 E. Jane Gay, Girls in Tableau 143
4.15 E. Jane Gay, James’ Belfr y 147
4.16 E. Jane Gay, Nez Perce People 147
5.1 On Arrival at Hampton, Va.: Carrie Anderson, 12 yrs.,
Annie Dawson, 10 yrs., and Sarah Walker, 13 yrs. 156
5.2 Fourteen Months Aft er 157
6.1 Angel DeCora, Gray Wolf’s daughter removing beads 192
6.2 Angel DeCora, Gray Wolf’s daughter leaving village 193
6.3 Angel DeCora, Kwakiutl title page 197
6.4 Leupp Indian Art Studio 202