CULTURAL READINGS: Colonization & Print in the Americas

PRINT & NATIVE CULTURES Oral Cultures in Print

	Most native cultures preserved and passed on their traditions orally. Written texts only partially reveal this oral dimension. Nevertheless, Europeans continally testified to native oratorical abilities.
	North American Indian orality intrigued writers like William Smith, while the speeches of Red Jacket, a fierce critic of American expansionism, sold widely.
	Whereas Europeans relied upon books and manuscripts to transmit and encapsulate knowledge, native groups employed other media: some eastern North American Indian cultures used wampum, a form of writing usually accompanied by speech.

Print and Native Cultures

• Print as a (Re)source for Native Cultures
• Oral Cultures in Print
• Native Writing

Exhibition Contents | Introduction | Essays | Bibliography & Links