Uniqueness and the American identity

At the Nez Perce National Historical Park museum, I met park ranger Beth Erdey,  IMG_0581
who happens to be getting her PhD in history from Washington State University.

She believes Americans latched onto the idea of the "Indian" early, exaggerating aspects of it, in part, because it was unique and we could claim it as "ours."

"American identity, even while it is so nebulous and complex, is constantly struggling to develop this uniqueness,"
she says.

One thought on “Uniqueness and the American identity

  1. Hi Sharon, Just looked at your website. GREAT!!! I’m a horse lover so I especially love the horse pictures. 🙂 Harvey and I have been to Coeur d’Alene many times and LOVE it! The drive from there to Montana is “beautiful”. My mom is from Libby Montana. (small but cute town)My cousin works for the Parks/Ranger there, so thought I’d try and contact her to see if she could show you around town. She’s a christian and quite a hoot!
    I’ll let you know later. I understand if you can’t go thru there so no worries. I’ll keep in touch. Keep up the great work! Love and Prayers
    Paula & Harvey Marks from Evergreen Church.

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