Review by Choice Review
Cultural anthropologist Ethridge (Univ. of Mississippi) has written an excellent book about the Creek Indians of Alabama and Georgia at the close of the 18th century. Although not a history in the classic narrative sense, the book successfully recreates the Creek world in much of its detail and complexity. As Ethridge writes, this is a snapshot in time, an attempt to capture Creek men and women in their day-to-day lives. Because this was not a purely Indian world and the lives of people on the frontier in the American South were so thoroughly interwoven, Ethridge also tells about Creek relationships with others living in Creek country--whites, blacks, other Indians, and people of mixed parentage. Although much of the reconstruction of Creek life and the Creek country is based on the letters, journals, and records of Benjamin Hawkins, that remarkable US Indian agent to the Creeks from 1796 until his death in 1816, Ethridge also relies on oral and archaeological records. This book is well researched and contains some wonderful maps and interesting illustrations that depict Creek towns, places, and landscapes at a local level. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. All libraries. E. M. Thomas Gordon College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
