The ship -- The Gay Head harpooner -- Race, nationality, and gender -- The primacy of rank -- The beach -- Cultural encounters -- Cycles of conquest -- New heaven -- Islands -- Native American beachcombers in the Pacific -- Race and indigeneity in the life of Elisha Apes -- Beachcombers in New England -- The reservation -- Degradation and respect -- Conclusion -- Appendix A: Native American whalemen's database -- Appendix B: Native American logbooks and journals
Summary
In the 19th century, nearly all Native American men living along the southern New England coast made their living travelling the world's oceans on whaleships. Many were career whalemen, spending 20 years or more at sea. Exploring the shifting racial ideologies that shaped their lives, Nancy Shoemaker shows how the category of 'Indian' was as fluid as the whalemen were mobile
