Ties That Bind: An Interview with Tiya Miles
Monthly Review Zine
Ties That Bind: An Interview with Tiya Miles
by Lisa Arrastía
Ties that Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom crosses boundaries of cultural and racial prescriptions by arguing that, while "much of nineteenth-century Cherokee history has been written as a story about Cherokees and whites, it was an invisible third element, the presence of black people, on which the story often turned" (24). Miles accomplishes a powerful and innovative integration of scholarship, literary fiction, and her own narrative voice, constructing a strong model for historiographical creativity. The issues and dynamics of race, class, identity, and social violence Miles presents are of great consequence in terms of contemporary intercultural relationships and their possibilities.
In 2006, Ties That Bind was awarded the Frederick Jackson Turner Award from the Organization of American Historians. What follows is an interview with Miles about her educational background, academic life, scholarship, and the complex political and cultural issues immanent in Ties That Bind.
Full interview available at MRZine
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/arrastia050307.html