With the death of Shanawdithit, the Beothuk tribe of present-day Newfoundland becomes extinct. Shanawdithit had been taken captive by whites in 1823. She was one of the few survivors of the century of war, disease, and starvation suffered by the Beothuk after French traders began arriving in their homeland (see entry for 1613). While living as a captive, Shanawdithit helped James P. Hawley compile a list of 400 Beothuk words, one of the few primary sources of information about Beothuk culture.
William Apess’s A Son of the Forest is published.
The first autobiography written by an Indian, A Son of the Forest tells the story of the abuses suffered by Pequot William Apess as an indentured servant to whites. Writing for white readers, Apess uses his experiences to criticize whites’ treatment of Indians and to challenge Indian stereotypes. Falling into the popular genre of spiritual confessions, the book describes Apess’s ultimate redemption through his conversion to Christianity. Apess is ordained as a Methodist minister soon after writing his autobiography and will become renowned for his sermons throughout New England during the 1830s (see entry for 1836).
July
Gold is discovered in Cherokee territory.
News of gold in Cherokee lands sends thousands of miners into the tribe’s territory. Although in treaties with the Cherokee the United States has guaranteed that it will protect their lands from white encroachment, President Andrew Jackson removes all federal troops from the area, signaling to whites that no effort will be made to keep them out.
Metamora; or the Last of the Wampanoags
Loosely based on the life of the 17th-century Wam-panoag leader Metacom (Philip) (see entry for LATE JUNE 1675), John Augustus Stone’s play Metamora; or the Last of the Wampanoags is first performed in New York City. The tragedy is the winner of a contest held by actor Edwin Forrest for the best play with a hero who is “an aboriginal of this country.” Performed, with Forrest in the title role, for more than 40 years, Metamora is an enormous popular success, ushering in an era in which the American theater is inundated with “Indian dramas.” Like many of the plays that followed, Metamora presents its Indian protagonist as noble and brave but also implies that the subjugation of his people is the inevitable consequence of contact with white civilization.
Oceana: Teach him, Walter; make him like us.
Walter: ‘Twould cost him half his native virtues. Is justice goodly? Metamora's just. Is bravery virtue? Metamora's brave. If love of country, child and wife and home, be to deserve them all—he merits them.
World History
