AHDC2021 Keynote: "Ned Christie and the Consequences of Fake News" by Dr. Devon Mihesuah
Channel: AskHistorians
Date: 2021-12-14

In 1887, Cherokee Ned Christie was accused of murdering U.S. Deputy Marshall Dan Maples in Tahlequah, Indian Territory. Despite there being no evidence, hundreds of “fake news” stories about Ned were printed. This presentation discusses how fake news shaped Christie's image as an iconic symbol of Wild West violence and Native savagery.

Dr. Devon Mihesuah, an enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, is the Cora Lee Beers Price Professor in the Humanities Program at the University of Kansas and the former editor of the American Indian Quarterly. A historian by training, she is the author of numerous award-winning books on Indigenous history and current issues, including Ned Christie: The Creation of an Outlaw and Cherokee Hero; Choctaw Crime and Punishment: 1884-1907; American Indigenous Women: Decolonization, Empowerment, Activism; Hatak Witches and the forthcoming Dance of the Returned. See her blog at: https://devonmihesuah.blog.ku.edu/

Ned Christie and the Consequences of Fake News was streamed live as part of the AskHistorians Digital Conference, 2021, but is now available for posterity!