Through the analysis of the lifetime of a plantation, Diamond Hill, Tiya Miles reveals the gaps in contemporary historical memory and describes a past that placed both Cherokees and African-American slaves in an intertwined world of suffering. Miles employs analysis that touches on the most central issues of the southern past: enslavement, freedom, sovereignty, colonialism, and patriarchy. All of this helps Miles answer the complex question: “What does this house stand for?” The answer Miles gives is well argued: the house represents an era of “layered and entangled culpability for both black and Indian suffering” (p. 17).
Miles’ work contributes most significantly to the understanding of race and borders in the antebellum American South. Her
Miles’ work contributes most significantly to the understanding of race and borders in the antebellum American South. Her