[Narcissa] Owen's identity becomes fluid in the process of self-representation: both less noble and less savage than the dominant culture has constantly demanded, she is a Cherokee, southerner, Confederate, Christian, friend, family member, teacher, community organizer, tribal translator, socialite, trickster, mother, Indian queen, wife, social activist, healer, painter, storyteller, widow and gardener, to name just a few.A Cherokee Woman's America: Memoirs of Narcissa Owen, 1831-1907. Edited by Karen L. Kilcup. Gainesville, University Press of Florida, 2005, p. 42. On Narcissa Owen's Memoirs, see also: Native American Women's Writing, An Anthology c. 1800-1924. Edited by Karen L. Kilcup. Wiley-Blackwell, 2000; and Brandon, Stephen. "'Mother Of U.S. Senator An Indian Queen': Cultural Challenge and Appropriation in The Memoirs of Narcissa Owen, 1831-1907." Studies in American Indian Literatures, Series 2, Volume 13, Number 2 & 3, Summer/Fall 2001.
