Culturally Responsive Persuasion in Alexander Posey’s Fus Fixico Letters

Abstract:Alexander Posey (1873–1908) was a Creek humorist, journalist, editor, and poet who crafted his Fus Fixico letters to help fellow Creeks negotiate upheavals wrought by allotment, dissolution of their tribal government, and Oklahoma’s impending statehood (which ultimately incorporated Indian Territory). While validating his people’s varied perspectives with a culturally responsive approach to literary persuasion, Posey nudged readers toward positions he thought best for Creek cultural continuance and economic survival. The letters’ dialogic structure—inclusive of diverse political perspectives—validated his people’s community-oriented values and was more persuasive than prescriptive. Posey utilized four overlapping rhetorical strategies in his literary approach to political activism: satire and repetition to critique the delay of allotment deeds; illustrative logic to argue against U.S. assimilationism; and appeals to civic inclusion to protest settlers’ hobbling of Indigenous Peoples’ political agency and autonomy. Critical attention to Posey’s use of these strategies illuminates his vision for Creek futurity as engaging with a politics of recognition while grappling with its limitations.