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cocoonofbooks 's review for:
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Having read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West, I was familiar with the long history of the U.S. government making and breaking treaties with the indigenous peoples of this land, but Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz added a new dimension to my understanding. She powerfully underscores the fact that North America was a land of multiple independent nations before Europeans came and forcibly took the land from them. People often seem to have this fascination with the question, "What if the Nazis had won?" but what Dunbar-Ortiz showed me is that we've already seen the answer to that in horrifying detail. Nation after nation was invaded, their land annexed, and their people systematically killed. And as she makes clear, this was not a case of two armies coming together and the "weaker" one losing, nor was it primarily a case of unintentional manslaughter through foreign pathogens. Again and again, white invaders — and, eventually, representatives of the U.S. government — intentionally went about killing unarmed civilians, including women and children, with the express purpose of committing genocide in order to make it easier for them to forcibly take over the land. Using both primary documents and work by modern indigenous researchers, and with compelling comparisons to the ways U.S. imperialism has played out abroad, Dunbar-Ortiz makes a strong case for the idea that the indigenous peoples in what is now the United States are victims of a form of colonization that is still in effect today.
As a comprehensive, thoroughly researched, and highly detailed work of history, the book is understandably a bit dry. I listened to it on audio and needed to rewind numerous times because my mind was wandering. I think it's worth the read/listen — and honestly, it's not that long of a book — but be prepared to give it your full attention and don't expect to get drawn in on the prose alone.
On the whole, this is extremely well done and definitely worth a read.
As a comprehensive, thoroughly researched, and highly detailed work of history, the book is understandably a bit dry. I listened to it on audio and needed to rewind numerous times because my mind was wandering. I think it's worth the read/listen — and honestly, it's not that long of a book — but be prepared to give it your full attention and don't expect to get drawn in on the prose alone.
On the whole, this is extremely well done and definitely worth a read.