From: "Heather Glaisyer" <heather-AT-teknopunx.co.uk>
Subject: Re: nomadology (book)
Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2002 17:28:06 +0100


Cooper-never heard of the other geeza
H
----- Original Message -----
From: "danceswithcarp" <dcombs-AT-bloomington.in.us>
To: "Heather Glaisyer" <heather-AT-teknopunx.co.uk>
Cc: "anarchy-list" <anarchy-list-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu>
Sent: Friday, October 18, 2002 2:25 AM
Subject: Re: nomadology (book)


At 08:34 PM 10/17/2002 +0100, Heather Glaisyer wrote:

>The essay on the Ishmaelites in
>"Gone to Croatan" fascinated me, but aside from rereading James Fenimore
>Cooper's "The Prairie," which features some version of their story, i've
>never
>followed up much.
>
>H
>Um........personally, shawn-I wouldn't give any weight to a single word
that
>dude had to say about anyone............

Don't give credence to whom?  Bey or Cooper?

The essay on the ishmaelites is accurate as far as I can determine.  I had
never heard of them until I read that book but there was a reference to the
last members of the band living in Indianapolis around 1900 and comprising
some large percentage of people on Poor Relief (the dole) and I think at
the county home (sort of a poor house, descended from the English Bridewell
Houses of 1600s).  Running the local "Poor Relief" office is my other job
and it is directly descended from those 17th and 19th century laws, so I
had our attorney look up some old statutes and history of Relief laws and
anything on the the ishmaelites and they were there in the cites.  I forget
where I put all of that stuff--those were the 18-hour wirk (WIRK?) days and
we've moved offices since then. If I can get to the records warehouse I'll
look for them.

And I read that Twain critique on Cooper right after I got out of the
army.  I took it upon myself to read the "leatherstocking series.  Yes,
Cooper used what we now see as stereotypes and a few basic literary
tricks.  But like Twain's wirk (WIRK?), as these were the first times the
sterotypes were used, they weren't stereotypes.  They only became that
after multiple uses by others.


carp