What Jane Knew

“By considering Jane’s retellings of Anishinaabe stories in proximity to American readers and the Johnston family, Konkle subverts settler efforts to trap, define, and confine Indigenous stories within colonial knowledge systems—and invites readers to resist white American imperatives by participating in messy, complex, and ongoing acts of interpretation. . . . What Jane Knew . . . constitutes a call to read nineteenth-century Indigenous literature within kinship-based storytelling traditions and a model for imagining the elusive outlines of what colonial archives do not—cannot—preserve.”—American Periodicals

“Necessary and impressive. . . . I fully expect What Jane Knew to become an essential text for those working in the fields of Anishinaabe studies and Indigenous literature. . . . Examining, as it does, the history of US settler colonialism, early nineteenth-century literary culture, and the development of American ethnology, What Jane Knew should be read by scholars across multiple fields. . . . [A] compellingly readable volume.”—Early American Literature

“Konkle has crafted the fullest, most textured scholarly account of the Johnstons’ lives and writing to date. . . . [A] beautiful celebration of the knowledge and resilience of Indigenous writers.”—Legacy

“This book is, by any account, an incredible achievement and one that will stand as the definitive account of the Johnston family and their literary legacy. Konkle’s scholarship here is beyond reproach, demonstrating her exemplary skills as a researcher, critic, and writer.”—Daniel Heath Justice (Cherokee Nation), University of British Columbia

“Konkle brings us a new understanding of Jane Johnston Schoolcraft’s work with Ojibwe stories, opening new understandings of her work as a translator and as a writer dedicated to demonstrating Ojibwe peoples' humanity. This book is a signal achievement that promises to reshape future scholarship on Schoolcraft, her family, and early Indigenous literatures.”—Kelly Wisecup, Northwestern University