X-Marks: Native Signatures of Assent (Indigenous Americas)

In X-Marks, Scott Richard Lyons explores the complexity of contemporary Indian identity and current debates among Indians about traditionalism, nationalism, and tribalism.

In writing X-Marks , Scott Richard Lyons brilliantly draws, delineates, and exemplifies what the x-mark on treaties may have meant to native treaty signers. He asks us to make our own x-mark.

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During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, North American Indian leaders commonly signed treaties with the European powers and the American and Canadian governments with an X, signifying their presence and assent to the terms. These x-marks indicated coercion because the treaties were made under unfair conditions , resistance because they were often met with protest , and acquiescence to both a European modernity and the end of a particular moment of Indian history and identity.

Drawing on his personal experiences and family history on the Leech Lake Ojibwe Reservation in northern Minnesota, discourses embedded in Ojibwemowin the Ojibwe language , and disagreements about Indian identity within Native American studies, Lyons contends that Indians should be able to choose nontraditional ways of living, thinking, and being without fear of being condemned as inauthentic. Arguing for a greater recognition of the diversity of Native America, X-Marks analyzes ongoing controversies about Indian identity, addresses the issue of culture and its use and misuse by essentialists, and considers the implications of the idea of an Indian nation.

At once intellectually rigorous and deeply personal, X-Marks holds that indigenous peoples can operate in modern times while simultaneously honoring and defending their communities, practices, and values. He has worked with grassroots organizations on issues ranging from Ojibwe language revitalization to Native theater. The first three chapters of X-Marks center on these three concepts—identity, culture, and the nation—with a fourth chapter offering a more detailed examination of citizenship.

X-Marks: Native Signatures of Assent

Each chapter first engages with the current debates surrounding these terms and relies on Ojibwe and English etymology to shed light on them as historically situated concepts and, significantly, modern constructions. These acts transformed Indian ethnies into modern, sovereign nations recognized by and engaging with other nations.

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Though his analysis covers any tribal nation with a treaty relation to the United States, Lyons also takes a tribally specific approach, drawing many of his examples from Ojibwe language Ojibwemowin and sources. In his second chapter, for instance, Lyons examines the controversy surrounding the Sweetgrass Road drummers.

Kirby Brown on "X-Marks"

Citing a customary ban on female drum singers, the powwow committee rejected this group of six Ojibwe women from the annual powwow at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota due to their gender. The women subsequently filed a discrimination lawsuit against the university, and to avoid further litigation, the university shut down the annual powwow for good. Please re-enter recipient e-mail address es. You may send this item to up to five recipients. The name field is required. Please enter your name. The E-mail message field is required.

X-Marks: Native Signatures of Assent by Scott Richard Lyons

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Native Signatures of Assent

Your rating has been recorded. Write a review Rate this item: Preview this item Preview this item. Scott Richard Lyons Publisher: State or province government publication: English View all editions and formats Summary: During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, North American Indian leaders commonly signed treaties with the European powers and the American and Canadian governments with an X, signifying their presence and assent to the terms. These x-marks indicated coercion because the treaties were made under unfair conditions , resistance because they were often met with protest , and acquiescence to both a European modernity and the end of a particular moment of Indian history and identity.

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