P
demands for the Cherokee’s removal to the West,
Boudinot and the rest of the Phoenix staff will be
targets of harassment by Georgia officials.
1829The last Beothuk Indian dies.
With the death of Shanawdithit, the Beothuk tribe
of present-day Newfoundland becomes extinct.
Shanawdithit had been taken captive by whites in
- She was one of the few survivors of the cen-
tury of war, disease, and starvation suffered by the
Beothuk after French traders began arriving in their
homeland (see entry for 1613). While living as a cap-
tive, Shanawdithit helped James P. Hawley compile
a list of 400 Beothuk words, one of the few primary
sources of information about Beothuk culture.
William Apess’s A Son of the Forest is
published.
The first autobiography written by an Indian, A Son
of the Forest tells the story of the abuses suffered by
Pequot William Apess as an indentured servant to
whites. Writing for white readers, Apess uses his ex-
periences to criticize whites’ treatment of Indians and
to challenge Indian stereotypes. Falling into the pop-
ular genre of spiritual confessions, the book describes
Apess’s ultimate redemption through his conversion
to Christianity. Apess is ordained as a Methodist
minister soon after writing his autobiography and
will become renowned for his sermons throughout
New England during the 1830s (see entry for 1836).
July
Gold is discovered in Cherokee territory.
News of gold in Cherokee lands sends thousands of
miners into the tribe’s territory. Although in treaties
with the Cherokee the United States has guaranteed
that it will protect their lands from white encroach-
ment, President Andrew Jackson removes all federal
troops from the area, signaling to whites that no ef-
fort will be made to keep them out.
December 15Metamora; or the Last of the Wampanoags
premieres.
Loosely based on the life of the 17th-century Wam-
panoag leader Metacom (Philip) (see entry for LATE
JUNE 1675), John Augustus Stone’s play Metamora;
or the Last of the Wampanoags is first performed in
New York City. The tragedy is the winner of a con-
test held by actor Edwin Forrest for the best play
with a hero who is “an aboriginal of this country.”
Performed, with Forrest in the title role, for more
than 40 years, Metamora is an enormous popular
success, ushering in an era in which the American
theater is inundated with “Indian dramas.” Like
many of the plays that followed, Metamora pres-
ents its Indian protagonist as noble and brave but
also implies that the subjugation of his people is
the inevitable consequence of contact with white
civilization.Oceana: Teach him, Walter;
make him like us.
Walter: ‘Twould cost him half
his native virtues. Is justice
goodly? Metamora’s just. Is
bravery virtue? Metamora’s
brave. If love of country, child
and wife and home, be to
deserve them all—he merits
them.
Oceana: Yet he is a heathen.
Walter: True, Oceana, but his
worship though untaught and
rude flows from his heart, and
Heaven alone must judge of it.
—two white characters discussing
the Indian hero of Metamora; or
the Last of the Wampanoags