Hey guys! I’m working on a project highly influenced by the Wild West during 1870. The project involves a practitioner of magic during that time, however, my research has proven fruitless regarding witches during that time in America. Does anyone happen to have any sources or places I could read the information on? Europe and Asia seems to have a lot of information about different types of rituals and practices, how society treated the witches and WHO they deemed witches to be.
But when it comes to America and Native Americans, I seem to bump into a concrete wall every time.
Any help is appreciated!
Hi there - we're happy to approve your question related to your creative project, and we are happy for people to answer. However, we should warn you that many flairs have become reluctant to answer questions for aspiring novelists and the like, based on past experience: some people working on creative projects have a tendency to try to pump historians for trivia while ignoring the bigger points they were making, while others have a tendency to argue with historians when the historical reality does not line up with what's needed for a particular scene or characterization. Please respect the answers of people who have generously given you their time, even if it's not always what you want to hear.
Additionally, as amazing as our flair panel is, we should also point out that /r/AskHistorians is not a professional historical consultation service. If you're asking a question here because you need vital research for a future commercial product such as a historical novel, you may be better off engaging a historical consultant at a fair hourly rate to answer these questions for you. We don't know what the going rate for consultancy work would be in your locality, but it may be worth looking into that if you have in-depth or highly plot-reliant questions for this project. Some /r/AskHistorians flairs could be receptive to working as a consultant in this way. However, if you wish for a flair here to do this work for you, you will need to organize this with them yourselves.
For more general advice about doing research to inform a creative project, please check out our Monday Methods post on the subject. Additionally, since you are wanting to write about Native Americans, you may want to check out this FAQ section hosted by the largest Native American subreddit, /r/IndianCountry. This type of question is something that many Indigenous Peoples contend with and for those who are not part of an Indigenous community, there can be serious repercussions with undertaking such a project without proper guidance from legitimate cultural authorities--namely, the cultures themselves.