Born on the Seneca Indian Reservation in New York State, Arthur
Caswell Parker (1881-1955) was a prominent intellectual leader both
within and outside tribal circles. Of mixed Iroquois, Seneca, and
Anglican descent, Parker was also a controversial figure-recognized
as an advocate for Indians but criticized for his assimilationist
stance. In this exhaustively researched biography-the first
book-length examination of Parker's life and career-Joy Porter
explores complex issues of Indian identity that are as relevant
today as in Parker's time.
From childhood on, Parker learned from his well-connected family
how to straddle both Indian and white worlds. His great-uncle, Ely
S. Parker, was Commissioner of Indian Affairs under Ulysses S.
Grant--the first American Indian to hold the position. Influenced
by family role models and a strong formal education, Parker, who
became director of the Rochester Museum, was best known for his
work as a "museologist" (a word he coined).
Porter shows that although Parker achieved success within the
dominant Euro-American culture, he was never entirely at ease with
his role as assimilated Indian and voiced frustration at having "to
play Indian to be Indian." In expressing this frustration, Parker
articulated a challenging predicament for twentieth-century
Indians: the need to negotiate imposed stereotypes, to find ways to
transcend those stereotypes, and to assert an identity rooted in
the present rather than in the past.
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