Native Nations: A Millennium in North America

This is an important book for any US citizen. At the same time, it may be too long for the general reader who is not a history lover. I skipped the section on the subjection of native Americans west of the Mississippi, and I might have been happier with less detail about Mohawk history. Native nations in what is now the United States were overwhelmed not by a more sophisticated culture, but by its larger population. The indigenous people suffered greatly from alien diseases, but the author believes this scourge is overstated. Even in the Northeast, native people feared the Mohawks more than the Europeans during the 16th century. In the 1850’s, native Americans still controlled more than half of US territory. Due to mistreatment, the nadir of their population was in the early 1900’s, possibly about 300,000. It was sometime in the 18th century that the view of natives as inherently inferior took hold, as a way of justifying their displacement. A major cause of the American revolution was that the British tried to control white expansionism (a book TV lecture by a historian who had written about the burning of New York city in 1776, in answer to a question, noted that this was an accepted fact, not the author’s opinion). Both Washington and Jefferson, as proven by documents, were comfortable with massacring natives, if they did not voluntarily move West, or North to Canada. During the Medieval warm period there were major native town centers comparable to those in Europe. “The sprawling civilization of the Huhugam by the twelfth century had several cities of more than ten thousand people”. The cities relied on agriculture and trade. With the Little Ice Age and its effect on agriculture, the elites tended to lose their power and the towns to lose population.Native nations were often democratic, although leaders might always come from certain clans. There might be a war council and a peace council. Women had important roles, sometimes running the peace council. Many eastern nations were matrilineal, and women were in charge of agriculture and home building. There was a general readiness to borrow from other cultures, including spiritually; this later applied to Christianity. Reciprocity was a fundamental belief. Natives who travelled to Europe were shocked by the inequality, lack of freedom, and the filth; at the time of the first European small settlement in Virginia, pre- Jamestown, two Natives made the Atlantic crossing and back. These were politically astute people who for a long time exploited the Europeans in the terms of trade.In 1879 the first off reservation boarding school for Indian children was established and the emphasis became assimilation and the elimination of native culture. Graduates of these school sometimes became teachers there and weakened this approach; also, children might sometimes spend summers at home, and learn about their cultures. The US policy changed in the Franklin Roosevelt administration. “Native America is experiencing a renaissance today as more young people are learning the languages, arts and crafts, and ceremonies of their ancestors.“ The 2020 census reported “an astounding 9.7 million Native Americans. Not all of them are actual citizens of Native nations, but the vast majority do report a specific tribal affiliation.”

book could be used in a college class, yet is very readable. awesome pictures and illustrated very nice. i like the section pertaining to the shawnee. a must for anyone that is interested in culture of the native america people.

Very detailed account of native tribes. I especially appreciated the accounts of their interactions with settlers. I did find annoying the author's over stating the virtues of native Americans often putting their achievements on a par with European and Asian cultures. The native Americans are amazing people but their tangible achievements were very modest by comparison.

Loved it. Great structure of book which intertwines a long history and is very interesting and insightful. Neat art work included along with photos. Also I’ve lived in AK w/ 2 inupiaq communities and this book taught me a lot! Much thanks to author and all her hardwork.

I recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about Native history. This was by far the most detailed and inclusive book I've read on the subject. The author focuses on select tribes and follows their development in chronological order. I think this book is organized very well given the breadth of the subject matter. There are also extensive notes in the back so if you are wanting to learn more about specific tribes, the resources are right there. I also appreciate that the author takes events of the past and shows how they impact tribes to this day. It was a very enlightening read.

A Eurocentric history, in that most of what we know of the native peoples of what is now the US comes from the writings of Europeans. Before broad and frequent contact between native peoples and Europeans, we have only land formations (mounds, stone piles, etc), fast-decaying debris and small artifacts to infer history. Knowledge of native peoples spread like the sunrise, moving East across the continent. To the extent that different regional/tribal cultures were similar, early explorer/trapper/trader writings “sample” histories of native people. But the unique cultural attributes of tribes in contact with one another and local resources/geography are limited. By the time broad and frequent contact with Europeans emerges, the history of native peoples is largely that of continued displacement. Native Nations treats evidence well, deriving as complete a history as we are likely to ever devise.

I am enjoying the historical details that this author included in Native Nations, but try as I did, I could not find a history of the significant impact then and now of Pueblo Nations in New Mexico.

This book presents a powerful account of Native sovereignty and resilience across North America. Highlighting the adaptability, egalitarian governance, and complex economies of Native civilizations, it shows how they evolved after European arrival. This chronical offers a refreshing perspective that places Indigenous power at the forefront of the North American story. The book is fascinating, enjoyable, and easy to read.Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.