W. Dale Weeks, PhD
Historian/Author
History Faculty at Blinn College
Visiting Lecturer at Texas A&M University
Publications
Available now, from the University of Oklahoma Press!
Cherokee Civil Warrior tells the story of how the Cherokee Nation struggled against the United States government for tribal sovereignty during the nineteenth century. From the "Trail of Tears" through the Civil War, principal chief John Ross led the tribe in its quest to retain the right to determine its own future.
It also lays the historical foundation for the struggle with Cherokee identity and citizenship that has ripped through the tribe in the twenty-first century. Forced to grant citizenship to the descendants of their former slaves following he Civil War, the Cherokee people continue to struggle for the right to determine the boundaries of Cheorkee identity.
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“Cherokee Civil Warrior boldly places Chief John Ross at the center of the political struggle for Native sovereignty, recognizing the impact of his leadership far beyond Removal and the Civil War. It offers a fresh approach to fathoming the drastic changes in federal Indian policy at the end of the nineteenth century by looking through the lens of Cherokee autonomy.”—Clarrissa Confer, author of The Cherokee Nation in the Civil War
Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other book stores across the nation
Behind the Veil: African Americans in the Texas Revolution
Book Chapter
in
In the Shadow of Eagles: Reflections on the Texas Revolution, 1820-1836
(coming in 2023 from the University of North Texas Press)
African Americans were present in Texas during the struggle for independence. However, that presence was primarily limited to a life of slavery. "Behind the Veil" tells the story of the development of African American society during the Texas Revolution and how Texans used the new republic to build perhaps the most “southern” society in the United States.