Sensitive Negotiations: Indigenous Diplomacy and British Romantic Poetry

272 Pages·2021·1.859 MB·English

by  Nikki Hessell

Sensitive Negotiations
SUNY series, Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century
——————
Pamela K. Gilbert, editor
Sensitive Negotiations
Indigenous Diplomacy and
British Romantic Poetry
Nikki Hessell
Cover image: Photo by Takeshi Arai from Pexels.
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2021 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
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For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hessell, Nikki, author.
Title: Sensitive negotiations : indigenous diplomacy and British Romantic
poetry / Nikki Hessell.
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2021] | Series:
SUNY series, studies in the long nineteenth century | Includes bibliographical
references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020048370 | ISBN 9781438484778 (hardcover : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781438484785 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: English poetry—19th century—History and criticism. |
Politics and literature—Great Britain—History—19th century. |
Indigenous peoples—Government relations. | Diplomacy—Language. | Great
Britain—Foreign relations—19th century. | Politics and culture—Great
Britain—History—19th century. | Romanticism—Great Britain.
Classification: LCC PR590 .H47 2021 | DDC 821/.709145—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020048370
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Evan and Chele
Truth—Dignity—Justice

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Preface xiii
Introduction: The Power of (Poetic) Promises 1
1 Truth and Reconciliation: The Case of “the Monster Brandt” 21
2 Romanticism and Removal: Elias Boudinot, Felicia Hemans,
and the Cherokee Phoenix 61
3 Digressive Diplomacy: George Copway and Byron’s Lines
on the Rhine 103
4 “Always Build a Fence around the King’s Word”: Sol Plaatje
and The Deserted Village 143
5 Petitions and Repetitions: Re¯weti Ko¯here and the
Ashes of Byron and Macaulay 173
Conclusion: Coming to Terms with Romantic Poetry 203
Coda 219
Bibliography 223
Index 247

Acknowledgments
Diplomacy, by its very nature, generates an enormous global archive. I am
very grateful to the librarians and archivists who helped me navigate this
material, including those at the Victoria University of Wellington Library,
National Library, Alexander Turnbull Library, and National Archives in
New Zealand; the British Library, National Archives, Guildhall Library,
School of Oriental and African Studies Library, and Special Collections
at the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom; the Beinecke
Library, Wisconsin Historical Society, Newberry Library, Stuart A. Rose
Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Book Library at Emory University, and
American Antiquarian Society in the United States; the Ontario Archives
in Canada; and the Australian National University (ANU) Library and
National Library of Australia in Canberra.
Some of these places provided very generous fellowship schemes that
made the work both possible and enjoyable. My deepest thanks go to
the American Antiquarian Society (especially Nan Wolverton and all the
wonderful visiting fellows who were there in early 2019); the Stuart A.
Rose Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Book Library at Emory University;
and the Humanities Research Centre at ANU, whose generous scholarly
community, led by Will Christie, provided a home away from home.
My own institution has been similarly generous in both financial
and intellectual support. I am grateful to the Joint Research Committee
of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences for the grants that made
parts of this work possible, especially in the early phases of the project,
and to the Enriching National Culture group, led by Lydia Wevers and
Maria Bargh, which awarded me an internal Treaty of Waitangi Fellowship
and a chance to work at the Stout Centre and Te Kawa a Ma¯ui (the
School of Ma¯ori Studies). These investments in research and collegiality
ix