William Apess (1798-1839)was the first Native American to write and publish his own autobiography, A Son in the Forest, and was the most prolific nineteenth century Indian writer in the English language. He internalized the values of the conquering Americans, but utilized a religious zeal to construct a renewed sense of Native American identity and selfhood.

As a Pequot Indian, Apess inherited the legacy of defeat and nearly total annihilation of his people during the Pequot War of 1637. Survivors of this war were sold into slavery in the West Indies or were dispersed to live a hidden existence in southeastern Connecticut. By the late eighteenth century, the Pequots lived on two reservations, where they took care of their families through day labor and domestic work, and where a vanquished sense of tribal pride made them ripe victims for alcohol abuse and depression. Yet, Native Americans were among...