Cherokee Medicine, Colonial Germs

An Indigenous Nation's Fight against Smallpox, 1518–1824

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Native American Studies, History, Americas, Native American, Health & Well Being, Health, Ailments & Diseases
Cover of the book Cherokee Medicine, Colonial Germs by Paul Kelton, University of Oklahoma Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Paul Kelton ISBN: 9780806149295
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press Publication: April 8, 2015
Imprint: University of Oklahoma Press Language: English
Author: Paul Kelton
ISBN: 9780806149295
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Publication: April 8, 2015
Imprint: University of Oklahoma Press
Language: English

How smallpox, or Variola, caused widespread devastation during the European colonization of the Americas is a well-known story. But as historian Paul Kelton informs us, that’s precisely what it is: a convenient story. In Cherokee Medicine, Colonial Germs Kelton challenges the “virgin soil thesis,” or the widely held belief that Natives’ lack of immunities and their inept healers were responsible for their downfall. Eschewing the metaphors and hyperbole routinely associated with the impact of smallpox, he firmly shifts the focus to the root cause of indigenous suffering and depopulation—colonialism writ large; not disease.

Kelton’s account begins with the long, false dawn between 1518 and the mid-seventeenth century, when sporadic encounters with Europeans did little to bring Cherokees into the wider circulation of guns, goods, and germs that had begun to transform Native worlds. By the 1690s English-inspired slave raids had triggered a massive smallpox epidemic that struck the Cherokees for the first time. Through the eighteenth century, Cherokees repeatedly responded to real and threatened epidemics—and they did so effectively by drawing on their own medicine. Yet they also faced terribly destructive physical violence from the British during the Anglo-Cherokee War (1759–1761) and from American militias during the Revolutionary War. Having suffered much more from the scourge of war than from smallpox, the Cherokee population rebounded during the nineteenth century and, without abandoning Native medical practices and beliefs, Cherokees took part in the nascent global effort to eradicate Variola by embracing vaccination.

A far more complex and nuanced history of Variola among American Indians emerges from these pages, one that privileges the lived experiences of the Cherokees over the story of their supposedly ill-equipped immune systems and counterproductive responses. Cherokee Medicine, Colonial Germs shows us how Europeans and their American descendants have obscured the past with the stories they left behind, and how these stories have perpetuated a simplistic understanding of colonialism.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

How smallpox, or Variola, caused widespread devastation during the European colonization of the Americas is a well-known story. But as historian Paul Kelton informs us, that’s precisely what it is: a convenient story. In Cherokee Medicine, Colonial Germs Kelton challenges the “virgin soil thesis,” or the widely held belief that Natives’ lack of immunities and their inept healers were responsible for their downfall. Eschewing the metaphors and hyperbole routinely associated with the impact of smallpox, he firmly shifts the focus to the root cause of indigenous suffering and depopulation—colonialism writ large; not disease.

Kelton’s account begins with the long, false dawn between 1518 and the mid-seventeenth century, when sporadic encounters with Europeans did little to bring Cherokees into the wider circulation of guns, goods, and germs that had begun to transform Native worlds. By the 1690s English-inspired slave raids had triggered a massive smallpox epidemic that struck the Cherokees for the first time. Through the eighteenth century, Cherokees repeatedly responded to real and threatened epidemics—and they did so effectively by drawing on their own medicine. Yet they also faced terribly destructive physical violence from the British during the Anglo-Cherokee War (1759–1761) and from American militias during the Revolutionary War. Having suffered much more from the scourge of war than from smallpox, the Cherokee population rebounded during the nineteenth century and, without abandoning Native medical practices and beliefs, Cherokees took part in the nascent global effort to eradicate Variola by embracing vaccination.

A far more complex and nuanced history of Variola among American Indians emerges from these pages, one that privileges the lived experiences of the Cherokees over the story of their supposedly ill-equipped immune systems and counterproductive responses. Cherokee Medicine, Colonial Germs shows us how Europeans and their American descendants have obscured the past with the stories they left behind, and how these stories have perpetuated a simplistic understanding of colonialism.

More books from University of Oklahoma Press

Cover of the book Imagining Sovereignty by Paul Kelton
Cover of the book American Energy Policy in the 1970s by Paul Kelton
Cover of the book Mark Twain as a Literary Artist by Paul Kelton
Cover of the book Pre-removal Choctaw History by Paul Kelton
Cover of the book The Indian Reform Letters of Helen Hunt Jackson, 1879–1885 by Paul Kelton
Cover of the book Doña Teresa Confronts the Spanish Inquisition by Paul Kelton
Cover of the book Jay Cooke's Gamble by Paul Kelton
Cover of the book Emory Upton by Paul Kelton
Cover of the book The Block Captain's Daughter by Paul Kelton
Cover of the book The Northern Cheyenne Exodus in History and Memory by Paul Kelton
Cover of the book Heartbeat, Warble, and the Electric Powwow by Paul Kelton
Cover of the book Fort Clark and Its Indian Neighbors by Paul Kelton
Cover of the book Alex Swan and the Swan Companies by Paul Kelton
Cover of the book Spain in the Southwest by Paul Kelton
Cover of the book Bill Sublette by Paul Kelton
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy