Description: Talking Indian explores community, tribal identity, and language during rapid economic and demographic shifts in the Chickasaw Nation. These shifts have dramatically impacted who participates in the semiotic trends of language revitalization, as well as their motivations. Jenny L. Davis uncovers how such language processes are intertwined with economic growth.
Review Quotes: "Davis's book presents an optimistic view of the role that emergent ethnolinguistic identities might play in the future of urban and reservation Chickasaw communities."--Tarren Andrews, Language in Society
"One of the many strengths of this book lies in the depth and breadth of the theoretical expertise brought to bear by the author combined with the intimacy of the relationship she has with the language and community, a hallmark of Native ethnography."--Jocelyn C. Ahlers, Linguistic Society of America "Scholars and students interested in the important work of language revitalization and the equally important topic of language and identity will find Talking Indian to be an instructive and indispensable contribution to this emerging field."--Paul V. Kroskrity, editor of Telling Stories in the Face of Danger: Language Renewal in Native American Communities