"The Undiscovered" is an alternate history short story by William Sanders that won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History.[1] It was originally published in the March 1997 issue of Asimov's[2] and, in addition to its Sidewise Award nomination, was nominated for the Hugo Award,[3] the Nebula Award,[4] and the Theodore Sturgeon Award.[5] It was subsequently reprinted in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifteenth Annual Collection,[6] The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century,[7] and Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction.[8]
Plot
The story is narrated by a Cherokee man in the late 16th century. An English immigrant called Spear-Shaker has been captured by the narrator's tribe, and is essentially adopted by them. Spear-Shaker tries to introduce the concept of stage play to the tribe by producing a version of Hamlet for them, but mutual cultural misunderstandings make this very difficult.