Magawisca And The Mystic Massacre
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The quote above describes Everell’s reflections on Magawisca’s account of the Mystic massacre - an event already familiar to Everell, but which is given new light by “putting the chisel into the hands of truth.” The metaphor underscores the importance (or at least presence) of multiple perspectives in historical writing, but stops short of legitimizing it as a historically accurate account. That is to say, “her new version of an old story,” however compelling, does not necessarily change the accepted historical facts. Nonetheless, Catherine Maria Sedgwick’s broaching of the subject calls into question a larger theme in her work: the extent to which historical romanticism can act as an agent for historical revision.
Taking aim at the ethnocentric