Denson, Andrew

PERSONAL:

Education: University of Illinois, B.A., 1992; Indiana University, M.A., 1994, Ph.D., 2000.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of History, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC 28723. E-mail—denson@email.wcu.edu.

CAREER:

Affiliated with Butler University, Indianapolis, IN, until 2004; Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, assistant professor of history, 2004—.

MEMBER:

American Society for Ethnohistory.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Hunter Scholar, Western Carolina University, 2006.

WRITINGS:

Demanding the Cherokee Nation: Indian Autonomy and American Culture, 1830-1900, University of Nebraska Press (Lincoln, NE), 2004.

Contributor to periodicals, including American Historical Review, American Indian Culture and Research Journal, Chronicles of Oklahoma, Journal of American History, Journal of Southern History, North Carolina Historical Review, and Western Historical Quarterly.

SIDELIGHTS:

In 2004 historian Andrew Denson published his first book, Demanding the Cherokee Nation: Indian Autonomy and American Culture, 1830-1900, for which he received a number of positive reviews. Acknowledging that the Cherokee people have been the subject of much scholarship already, American Indian Quarterly reviewer Gary C. Cheek, Jr., pointed out that Denson brings "a new perspective" by focusing on the tribe's efforts to use politics and documents to preserve its autonomy and sense of nationhood. Tribal leaders used speeches, petitions, editorials, and other political literature to argue for their civilization in the face of repeated U.S. efforts to assimilate the tribe. "The author has done admirable research that highlights the often ignored literary intelligence of the American Indian, especially that of the Cherokee Nation," noted Doyle Logan, Jr., in Southwest Book Views. Claudio Saunt, writing in the Journal of Southern History, claimed that Denson's use of public statements limited his analysis by reflecting the views of "a small group of elites," but he maintained that "it is laudable that Denson has finally given their views serious scholarly attention." Cheek felt that Denson's use of published materials "provides an interesting and often overlooked dynamic of the Cherokee experience in Oklahoma." He also commented on Denson's prose, calling the book "wonderfully written and an absolute joy to read."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, February, 2006, Steven C. Hahn, review of Demanding the Cherokee Nation: Indian Autonomy and American Culture, 1830-1900, p. 188.

American Indian Culture and Research Journal, summer, 2005, D. Anthony Tyeeme Clark, review of Demanding the Cherokee Nation, pp. 135-138.

American Indian Quarterly, summer-fall, 2005, Gary C. Cheek, Jr., review of Demanding the Cherokee Nation, p. 724.

Journal of American Ethnic History, winter, 2007, Steve Amerman, "Colonialism and Autonomy in the United States: The Sioux and the Cherokee in the Nineteenth Century," p. 100.

Journal of American History, December, 2005, Walter H. Conser, Jr., review of Demanding the Cherokee Nation, p. 1009.

Journal of Southern History, February, 2006, Claudio Saunt, review of Demanding the Cherokee Nation, p. 166.

Southwest Book Views, summer, 2005, Doyle Logan, Jr., review of Demanding the Cherokee Nation.

Western Historical Quarterly, autumn, 2006, Rennard Strickland, review of Demanding the Cherokee Nation, p. 375.

ONLINE

Western Carolina University Web site,http://psds.wcu.edu/ (September 19, 2008), faculty profile.