Review: Power Shift: How Latinos in California Transformed Politics in America, by George L. Pla and David R. Ayón (original) (raw)
understanding of Native peoples as worthy of having rights to their lands and livelihoods. Lowry contends that, in Thompson's discussion of the "Wild Indian," she "attempts to cope with this rhetorical problem by separating ordinary Yurok people-that is, the Yurok mainstream-from a tiny fraction of much maligned and marginalized Yurok whom she referred to as being 'wild' " (57). Lowry suggests that Thompson strategically framed Yurok villages as "civilized" places, and as the opposite of the "the wilderness" where "wild Indians" lived, to underscore that Yurok villages were places of sophisticated culture and society. Through her rhetorical strategies, Thompson implied that Euroamericans were truly the uncivilized "wild" ones and that they were strangers in Yurok land (66). Overall, Indigenous Rhetoric and Survival in the Nineteenth Century: A Yurok Woman Speaks Out is a noteworthy contribution to the field of rhetoric, with relevance to other fields as well. I appreciate how Lowry situates herself as a non-Native scholar and the effort she makes to underscore Thompson's relevance and impact on contemporary Yurok life. Lowry's book is highly accessible in terms of length and content and should be considered a companion text for anyone who reads Thompson. Educators who teach To the American Indian could also enrich their curriculum by including Lowry's work as an additional perspective on Thompson's invaluable writings.
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