ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the colonial subject has sought to resist colonial imposition, which in turn has meant a resistance to the very classifying of the Native American. It focuses specifically on Homi K. Bhabha's idea of mimicry as a particular tool used by subaltern communities to undermine colonial knowledge. The chapter combines Michel Foucault's recognition that resistance includes discursive statements and Bhabha's incorporation of Foucault's discursive theory within the context of a colonial relationship. It posits that Marshall's silence with respect to Cherokee resistance an anxiety born from Bhabha's menace and it explains Edward Said's analysis of nineteenth-century British colonialism is relevant since his discourse theory is heavily influenced by Foucault. The chapter focuses on two particular areas of Cherokee resistance: the resistance against land pressures and resistance to the dominant American literary discourse. It demonstrates that neither Said nor Bhabha's theories of colonial discourse and mimicry account for the unique Cherokee resistance.
