What Shall We Do with the Bodies? Reconsidering the Archive in the Aftermath of Fraud

Abstract

This article examines how Jimmie Durham’s false claims to Cherokee identity demand a radical reassessment of the entirety of his body of work and the scholarship that supports it. This essay takes into account the extent to which Durham’s work—much of which consisted of sardonic critiques of Native American stereotypes—depended upon its enunciation by an authentic Native voice. Now that this voice has been determined to be false, his work and the vast supporting archive require reevaluation.