The People of the Eye

Abstract What are ethnic groups? Are Deaf people who sign American Sign Language (ASL) an ethnic group? The book brings deaf studies, history, cultural anthropology, genetics, sociology, and disability studies to bear as it compares the values, customs and social organization of the Deaf-World to those in ethnic groups. The common representation of ASL signers as a disability group is disputed and many other challenges to Deaf ethnicity are examined. This book also describes the founding families of the Deaf-World in the U.S. and traces their ancestry and descendants. It reveals that Deaf people's preference to marry other Deaf people led to the creation of Deaf clans and thus to shared ancestry; most ASL signers are born into the Deaf World and many are kin. In a major contribution to the historical record of Deaf people in the U.S., The book portrays how Deaf people—and hearing people, too—lived in early America. For those curious about their own ancestry in relation to the Deaf-World, the figures and an associated website present pedigrees for over two hundred lineages that extend as many as three hundred years and are unique in genealogy research. The book contains an every name index to the pedigrees.