Analysis Of 'Firsting And Lasting By Jean O' Brien

Local histories written in the nineteenth century are often neglected today. Yet from these accounts, one can see a pattern develop: the myth of Indian extinction, the superiority of White colonists and also to understand how American attitudes and values evolved. The myths were put forth for a reason according to Jean O’Brien. O’Brien explains how the process came to fruition in Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians Out of Existence in New England. In the majority of local town histories, Indians are mentioned in passing, as a past that will never return. Indians were ancient, whereas English colonists brought modernity to New England. Jean O’Brien argues that local histories were the primary means by which white European Americans asserted

their own modernity, and at the same time denying it to Indians.
Firsting and Lasting is organized into four chapters, with an introduction beforehand and a conclusion. O’Brien’s approach is by a process she explains in her introduction. The themes that rid New England of Indian history is by: “firsting, replacing, and lasting.” A final theme of “resisting,” is explained to point out the contradiction of including Indians in these histories. Figures, maps, and tables are included, which add to the accessibility of this study. Perhaps the only thing missing is a formal bibliography at the end to go in accordance with her notes.
O’Brien in chapter one explains “firsting.” White settlements were the “first” signs of modernization in Southern New England. Reverend Solomon Clark in his 1882 history of Northampton, Massachusetts argued that Indian people never participated in social, cultural, or political practices of note (6). It was thus up to the colonists to create their own history, which began the modern period. They started this process by recording “firsts” in each and every town histories. They included first births, first prison, first Sabbath, first church, first division of lands, and so on. While it may seem laughable to point out these instances, most being trivial, to the New England colonists it was serious. They saw this as their identity, and essential in the modernization of their social order in the area. Indians could not be seen as legitimate, ongoing, and part of the future the whites wanted. This chapter is essential in laying the groundwork for O’Brien’s argument.
“Replacing” continues the process of rendering Indian history powerless in the modernization of Southern New England. Local historians argued that Indian history was a dead end, and thus replaced it with their own history, which started upon the foundations of American diplomacy and American land claims. The replacement narrative can be found throughout New England in monuments, historical commemorations, excavating Indian sites, and selective retention of Indian place names. If an Indian was given a monument, it was on the terms of the White settlers. The monument to Miantonomi, was erected in Norwich, which replaced a former Indian site. Thus, the people in Norwich sent a message, this was now our history, not complicit with Indians way of making history (59).
“Lasting,” chapter three, furthers the process.

O’Brien argues the multiple Indians who are put forth in histories as being the last of their tribe: Eunice Mahwee of the Pequots, Esther of the Royal Narragansetts. This phenomenon falsely narrates the disappearance of Indian people, being relegated to anonymity except for the “last of their kind.” These stories also discuss the purity of Indians, downplaying their current environment. Indians were only Indians if they had complete pure blood, one drop of anything other than their own tribe meant they were not Indians. The racist contradictions in this logic is pointed out by O’Brien. For whites, any claim to one “drop” of New England Puritan blood meant this person could claim to be a descendant of the Puritan Fathers. The children or grandchildren of the “last” Indians were not truly Indian because they did not grow up in a wigwam, or possess their native

homeland.
In Chapter 4, “Resisting” occurs and focuses on the contradictions, found in the same local histories.

Local histories insisted on Indians no longer existing, or having moved to another area. Yet, these histories included enclaves of Indian settlements. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Indians continue to live in New England, and defend their homeland and their identity. William Apess, a Pequot Indian who was also a Methodist minister was able to write on the persistence of Indians. Whites were not explicitly acknowledging it, but Indians were continuing their history.
O’Brien concludes by explaining the struggle for official recognition for Indian nations in Southern New England. The records needed to apply and get approval for official government recognition is the culmination of the process that started with “firsting.” The documents were meant to bureaucratically make Indians disappear. The fight still continues for Indians, but they will continue to seek recognition. The trend continued past the eighteenth and nineteenth

centuries.
To do all this research, O’Brien used extensive local histories from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island written between 1820 and 1880. In addition she consults censuses, monuments and historical commemorations. The local histories were mostly written by white, middle-class authors who all had one goal in mind, to end Indian historical writing. When O’Brien discusses the work of William Apess, she no longer is following the methodology she uses in previous chapters up until Chapter 4. Apess represents an Indian voice who did write on his experiences, but it seem to be out of place in the overall theme of O’Brien’s argument. Including an Indian voice takes away from the analysis of local white historians.
Regardless, Firsting and Lasting is a must read. It is clearly written, well-organized, and meticulously researched. O’Brien left her readers with a clear picture on how white nineteenth century historians wanted to erase Indian history completely. This narrative is not a history of Indians in Southern New England, rather an analysis on how historians saw no need for a complete and true history of Indians. It is essential reading in order to understand the importance of consulting local historical studies as a starting point in research.