A review by katie_greenwinginmymouth
Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance by Nick Estes

challenging informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

Extremely grateful to Nick Estes for writing this excellent account of the Standing Rock water protectors and the long history of indigenous resistance that led up to that point. As Estes notes the indigenous relationship to time is fundamentally different from the settler colonist’s linear time. Indigenous time considers the present to be structured entirely by the past and by their ancestors. There is no separation between past and present, meaning that an alternative future is also determined by an understanding of the past. The book is structured in this way, including the stories of ancestors as an integral part of the recent story of anti-colonial action.

Continuing my recent theme of books that explore the nonhuman the book set out clearly the importance of the interrelationship between the Oceti Sakowin and their nonhuman community. Not only the plant and animal life, but of course the water also. The Missouri River is a living being and nonhuman relative.

The book also showed how the political and social structures of settler colonialism are completely at odds with those of the Oceti Sakowin. The imposition of a competitive electoral system created harsh political divisions that broke down the family kinship unit, the tiospaye - an extended network of relatives that was fundamental to decision making and caretaking.

I was interested to learn how the fur trade had changed traditional gender roles - women were usually the main owners of property in the home but colonists would only trade with men. Nevertheless women remained key leaders of resistance. The book also describes how the Two-Spirit Nation played a central role in Standing Rock camp life and was represented in all aspects of everyday life at the camp.

I really like books that are structured in this way where a particular event provides an angle through which to look at a wider history. It’s also important to put the Standing Rock protest in context and to remember that indigenous people have a long history of fighting back against settler colonialism. I learnt a huge amount reading this book and would definitely recommend it.