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(More customer reviews)The boundary that separated the territory of Pennsylvania's Indians and colonists indicated more than just a physical change in the landscape. The vast stretches of forest and mountain that encompassed the Pennsylvania woods designated a spiritual transformation between the colonial frontier and what Europeans considered the "hideous and desolate lands." The woods' edge marked the difference between order and disorder, darkness and light, and for many colonists it was a forbidding domain where the peoples and creatures were shunned. Likewise, for Indians, the margin between the Pennsylvania woods and what colonists haughtily termed "the inhabited parts," marked the divide between their world and one of mistrust and apprehension. Although there were overlapping notions among Indians and colonists about where the woods began and ended, both groups thought the darkness of that territory to be strange and unpredictable.
In his book, Into the American Woods: Negotiators on the Pennsylvania Frontier, James Merrell explains the role and purpose of the individuals who straddled the divide between woods and clearing. More than that, these go-betweens, asserts Merrell, stood straddling Indian and colonial cultures in order to mediate a number of negotiations, land disputes, trade issues, and the occasional murder. Merrell's comprehensive discussion of the role of the cultural broker in colonial Pennsylvania during the "Long Peace" from 1680 to 1750 unravels not only the mystery behind eighteenth century frontier diplomacy, but also the curious life of the go-between. He takes the reader across that threshold between Indian and white ground in order to enter in and examine the frontier. It is his attempt to discover what it was like for the go-between to be the link between Indian and colonist, and to obtain a richer, fuller, and more colorful picture of the early American scene.
At the outset of his work, Merrell stresses the complexities involved with defining the go-between; picking them out of the crowd in America's border country can be difficult work for historians. Thus, the strength of this work lies in Merrell's ability to define nearly every aspect of the frontier experience, and pick the brain of Pennsylvania's go-betweens. He contends that not every trader, missionary, or convert was a go-between. Moreover, a role in state affairs did not necessarily give one the credentials that would distinguish him from the common man. Canasatego, an Onondaga, summed it up vividly, with a hint of sarcasm, when he explained to Pennsylvania officials in 1742 that negotiator Conrad Weiser "has wore out his shoes in our messages, and has dirty'd his clothes by being amongst us, so that he is as nasty as an Indian." Merrell expands on Canasatego's idea by explaining that the role of go-between entailed a certain amount of dirty work, both figuratively and literally; once the trip was made across unforgiving terrain to reach the far side of the frontier, the traveler still had the passage into another culture to look forward to. Merrell explains that the go-between was a shadowy figure that carried the letters but did not sign and seal them; who memorized the speeches inscribed on wampum belts, but did not draft them; who translated, but did hold the floor at councils. Essentially, this complex and necessary figure stood between the tables crowded with colonial and Indian officials to make sure that the liquor and talk flowed freely, but did not join the feast. A behind-the-scenes character, the go-between is not a figure of the past whose position in colonial society is easy to uncover.
In order to facilitate this laborious task of assessing the life and role of the cultural broker, Merrell chose to tap into a source that, he alleges, few scholars choose to probe. The numerous volumes of treaty minutes recorded for every official interaction between Indians and colonists reveal in great detail the demands placed upon the go-between. Every formal proceeding required an intermediary to perform a multitude of tasks, and in these documented accounts, Merrell has managed to illustrate the role of the go-between after a careful inspection of these sources. Also, in chronicling the life of the Pennsylvania frontier, Merrell does not take the conventional approach to telling history; his book takes on an unconventional role because he is dealing with exceptional characters. He starts and ends the book with what he calls woodslore, to offer a fresh view of historical sites and instances that might otherwise be common knowledge to the reader. While telling the stories of Jack Armstrong's murder in 1744 and concluding with the killing of Young Seneca George in 1769, Merrell systematically interweaves discussions about the recruitment of negotiators, their travels, talks, and treaties. By recounting the rough texture and gritty feel of the colonial frontier, Merrell proves himself to be an authority on the topic.
No detail is left out of this work, and no stone goes unturned throughout Merrell's journey into the minds and duties of the go-between. His argument is both convincing and original, his prose innovative and direct. More compelling is his approach to telling the history of Pennsylvania's frontier diplomats as pivotal players on the frontier who are often excluded from conventional historiography. Merrell tells the story from both sides of the council fire, on behalf of both Indians and colonists uniformly. Into the American Woods is not only a fascinating read, but also a fundamental and comprehensive resource for those investigating the role of the cultural broker.
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