The Crimsoned Hills of Onondaga

Book excerpt: As a result, the reader gains fresh and surprising insights into Euro/Native American relations and the formation of U.S. national identity pertaining to culture. At the same time, the book enlarges the domain of American Romanticism and sheds new light on the ideological use of gothic fiction. Focusing on New York State and the Iroquois, The Crimsoned Hills of Onondaga includes studies of De Witt Clinton’s A Memoir on the Antiquities of the Western Part of the State of New York (1818); Josiah Priest’s American Antiquities, And Discoveries in the West (1833); Joshua V.H. Clark’s Onondaga (1849); and E. G. Squier’s Aboriginal Monuments of the State of New York (1849). The Cardiff Giant hoax is re-examined along with other 19th century archaeological frauds associated with antiquarians."--pub. desc.