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From Chicaza to Chickasaw: The European Invasion and the Transformation of the Mississippian World, 1540-1715. By Robbie Ethridge. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, c 2010. Pp. [xiv], 344. $37.50, ISBN 978-0-8078-3435-0.)
Historians and archaeologists struggle to understand the emergence of postcontact Indian communities in the American South from their Mississippi period (circa 900-1700 ce.) predecessors. Part of the difficulty derives from the tremendous upheavals that Indians experienced before and after Europeans arrived. These upheavals produced societies in the postcontact era that cannot be linked directly to precontact manifestations. Another problem has to do with sources. The evidence about what happened during this period comes from two very different contexts: the written historical record produced by Europeans and the archaeological record produced by Indians. Few scholars possess the ability to work effectively across both domains. Robbie Ethridge is an exception, and her book From Chicaza to Chickasaw: The European Invasion and the Transformation of the Mississippian World, 1540-1715 advances our synthetic understanding of native history in the American South.
Though the title suggests a focus on Chickasaw Indians, the scope is much wider,...