An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States

Author: Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Genre: Nonfiction, History, US History

Format: Digital via Libby (Library)

Publish Date: September 2014

Read: September 2023

Favorite Quote: Those who seek history with an upbeat ending, a history of redemption and reconciliation, may look around and observe that such a conclusion is not visible, not even in utopian dreams of a better society.

Synopsis: An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States looks at mainstream US history and revises it to include the story of the indigenous nations before European arrival. Native Americans had complex road systems, governments, and trade networks that spanned the continent. Europeans didn’t discover or build anything - they took it and wiped out the people who lived here first, rewriting history to look favorably upon them. Dunbar-Ortiz starts prior to Columbus’ journey across the Atlantic and brings us to the twenty-first century in her necessary and important revision of US History.

Why does this book beguile? A friend of mine recommended this book to me, and I was delighted to get it at the library. I knew my understanding of US history was abridged and whitewashed, but I didn’t know to what degree. I should not have been shocked at the sheer level of violence that occurred at the hands of the Europeans, but… I was. I also felt disheartened that this history has been kept from so many of us. This book will upset, rankle, and frustrate you, but it’s critical that you read this to understand what happened and draw parallels for today and the future.

One more quote: “The late Native historian Jack Forbes always stressed that while living persons are not responsible for what their ancestors did, they are responsible for the society they live in.”

Rating: 4/5

Link*: An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

If you’re interested in this, read*: Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer