- https://doi.org/10.1353/ecs.2023.0001
Occom's Arrow
- Jan 1, 2023
- Eighteenth-Century Studies
- Joshua David Bellin
Abstract
"Occom's Arrow" explores the nature of Indigenous personhood in eighteenth century America. Focusing on Jonathan Spilsbury's 1768 mezzotint portrait of Mohegan minister Samson Occom, the essay examines how cultural intermediaries such as Occom challenged widespread assumptions concerning the opposition of "Christian" and "Indian." In Occom's portrait, as well as in his life, we witness the emergence of a strategic enterprise dedicated to producing a colonial identity at once Indigenous and "civilized." The essay thus proposes a model for reading the complex and contested quality of Indigenous lives and writings under conditions of settler colonialism.
