Life, Letters And Speeches (American Indian Lives)

Features of Life, Letters and Speeches (American Indian Lives)

George Copway Kahgegagahbowh 181869 an Ojibwe writer and lecturer rose to prominence in American literary political and social circles during the midnineteenth century His colorful kaleidoscopic life took him from the tiny Ojibwe village of his youth to the halls of state legislatures throughout the eastern United States and eventually overseas Copway converted to Methodism as a teenager and traveled throughout the Midwest as a missionary becoming a forceful and energetic spokesperson for temperance and the rights and sovereignty of Indians lecturing to large crowds in the United States and Europe and founding a newspaper devoted to Native issuesOne of the first Native American autobiographies Life Letters and Speeches chronicles Copways unique and often difficult cultural journey vividly portraying the freedom of his early childhood the dramatic moment of his spiritual awakening to Methodism the rewards and frustrations of missionary work his desperate race home to warn of a pending Sioux attack and the harrowing rescue of his son from drowning