Real Native Genius

“Highlights the significant social and demographic changes sweeping the nation in the antebellum period.” — Library Journal

“Real Native Genius is a brisk and intelligent examination of a complex story of ‘identity performance’.” — Patheos

"Sometimes an author produces work of such cultural insight and creative research that it demands special notice. That historian is Angela Pulley Hudson and that book is Real Native Genius. — Western Historical Quarterly

“[Hudson] joins the best scholars in Mormon history in placing her work in conversation with wider developments in the field. She is equally adept at feminist theory, the antebellum South, and Native American history.” — Reviews in American History

“With ingenious research, inventive interpretation, and an elegant style, Hudson relates an improbable, yet wholly American, gothic tale characterized by racial, religious, and gender ambiguities.” — Journal of Southern History

“I recommend this provocative volume not just to historians studying the themes covered within its pages, but also to anyone desirous of reading a captivating book that will open their eyes to people and events nearly forgotten, yet so odd, it’s almost hard to remember it’s not fiction.” — Association for Mormon Letters

“Remarkably well-written [and] could be used in both undergraduate and graduate classes to cover various links among race, gender, and religion in America.” — Ethnohistory

“Provides useful connections between seemingly disparate topics and an intriguing discussion of how Indianness could be leveraged for power by non-Native people.” — Journal of the North Carolina Association of Historians

“Accomplishes the herculean task of constructing a book on identity, race, performance, and gender which undergraduate students and scholars will not only read, but eagerly devour.” — American Nineteenth Century History

“This book is mesmerizing and ingeniously researched. Angela Pulley Hudson threads together Mormonism, Indian removal, popular culture, revolution, and slavery with engaging stories and beautiful writing.” — Karen Halttunen, University of Southern California