Conclusion Toward a Black Indian Poetics and Politics

Abstract

American authors who include the black Indian figure in their literary landscape include Carson McCullers, Zora Neale Hurston, Jack Kerouac, Alice Walker. The effect that these persistent and pervasive sightings often have on the American conscience is that readers begin to conceive of black Indians as little more than a passing, exotic curiosity instead of the abiding manifestation of real histories and realities. However, three contemporary poets envision black Indians in politically useful and aesthetically liberatory ways: Lucille Clifton, Joy Harjo, and Sherman Alexie. This specific detail of American identity, literature and history is important because both slavery and removal continue to impact American culture and politics.