An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People

Nonfiction | Book | YA | Published in 2019

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Chapter 2

Chapters 3-5

Chapters 6-8

Chapter 9-Conclusion

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Introduction-Chapter 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction Summary: “This Land”

Like many nations, the United States prefers a unifying origin story that reflects its ideals. This story is that Europeans traveled to the Western Hemisphere in search of freedom and a better life. This ignores the Doctrine of Discovery’s true intent: That Europeans owned any lands that they “discovered” and could suppress the people living there (4). As social advancements make the US’s treatment of Indigenous nations and enslaved Africans impossible to ignore, history books shift the narrative to one of either cultural conflict or multiculturalism. Neither is honest about how the United States engaged in a prolonged campaign of “settler colonialism” that promoted slavery, genocide, and land theft (11). The first law passed by the United States, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, was to let settlers live in Native lands in the Great Lakes region.

More than 15 million people lived in what is now the United States before the arrival of European settlers. That number is now 3 million people representing 500 indigenous nations. Their land base fell to 156 million acres by 1881 and 50 million acres by 1934 with further reductions afterward. Many reside in 300 reservations. Works such as the novel The Last of the Mohicans and the statue The End of the Trail depict Native people as dead or defeated, but they continue to resist settler colonialism.

Chapter 1 Summary: “Follow the Corn”

After the initial migration out of Africa over 200,000 years ago, humans occupied three areas in the Western Hemisphere: Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America), the Andes Mountains of South America, and eastern North America. All three regions domesticated crops around 8500 BCE, and the Mayans of Central Mexico raised corn in 8000 BCE. Corn, unavailable elsewhere in the world, cannot grow without human care. During the 1500s CE, the Western Hemisphere’s population of 100 million exceeded Europe’s thanks to better hygiene, medicine, and surgical capabilities.

While the Maya and Aztecs were the prominent civilizations of central Mexico, they traded and warred with other nations too. The Maya centered their agriculture and religion around corn, and the people produced advanced artwork, science, and mathematics. Nobles and the priesthood dominated political affairs, used forced labor, and rented land out to lower classes. After 500 years, the Maya civilization fell after several uprisings. The Aztecs consolidated power in the 1400s CE and developed a hydraulic agriculture system and a trading network that stretched to the North American West Coast. The nation fell after Spanish conquistadors recruited regional rivals for a three-year genocidal war.

In what would become the southwestern United States, the Hohokam maintained agriculture and trading networks in 2100 BCE despite the arid environment. One of its successors, the Akimel O’Odham, built extensive clay-lined irrigation systems. The fertile Mississippi region supported the Cahokia and other city-states in the 12th century CE, which built complex mounds and maintained a government with administrative, military, and religious branches. Its descendants include the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Muscogee Creek, and Natchez. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, or the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, developed in the northeast and is still active today. Its Great Law of Peace inspired parts of the U.S. Constitution, and its women held considerable political power.

Indigenous people practiced stewardship over the environment based on careful resource management. With controlled fires, they created patches for agriculture, berry and nut picking, and hunting. The road networks of early civilizations could take travelers from Mexico to Alaska and from the Southeastern United States to the Pacific Coast. The Standing Rock protests of the 2010s continues this tradition of stewardship.

Chapter 2 Summary: “Culture of Conquest”

The early Europeans shared common lands for farming and practiced many religions. When the nobility, aristocrats, and Catholic Church consolidated their power during the 11th Century CE, however, they privatized common lands, creating a peasant class for labor and warfare, and used witch hunts to persecute women and nonbelievers. Pope Urban II and other leaders urged religious Crusades against Muslim nations with an eye on their trade routes. The ruling powers also desired gold as a symbol of wealth.

These conditions led peasants to adopt a culture of conquest. Fighting in the Crusades gave them status and plunder. Repression at home made others desire a better life elsewhere—even if they brought the same attitudes with them. The concept of “limpieza de sangre,” or “cleanliness of blood” spurred the development of White supremacy (37). Originally meant to prioritize long-practicing Christian families over new converts and other religions, this belief convinced many that their religion, and by association their skin color, gave them the right to rule over others.

England’s early 17th Century conquest of Ireland became a model for its invasion of the Americas. England declared 500,000 acres of Irish land open for settlement, forbade traditional arts, killed off many clans, and twisted the theory of evolution to suggest that the Irish were a more primitive species. Sir Humphrey Gilbert encouraged beheadings as he suppressed the northern Ulster region to make way for largely Western Scottish colonists. In 1583, Gilbert became the head of England’s first North American colony in Newfoundland.

During the 1490s, Christopher Columbus and his crew searched for gold on behalf of the Spanish royal family. He landed in the Caribbean, where he founded a colony on today’s Hispaniola and enslaved several Arawak people to show his patrons. He returned a year later with a thousand men to enslave the Arawak after they destroyed his earlier colony. In 1494, Spain and Portugal worked with the pope to split the Americas between themselves. While celebrated to this day, the explorers and conquistadors that traveled to the Americas were ultimately looking for gold and status. Although it is common for historians to portray Indigenous history as “terminal narratives” where nations die off against superior military might or disease, their descendants exist to this day (44).

Introduction-Chapter 2 Analysis

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People begins with a note about the importance of word choice. While the book primarily uses the term “Indigenous” over “Native American” or “American Indian”—names other cultures gave them—it notes that many nations use the phrases interchangeably. Dunbar-Ortiz prioritizes “nation” to reflect their sovereign status, but some prefer “tribe” or their nation’s name. She also refers to forced labor as enslaved people rather than slaves, as the other word minimizes their humanity (vii-ix).

Land ownership is central to the history of the United States. In the Introduction, the book discusses how even maps enforce a settler-centric view of America. First, it points out how teachers and students often believe that the United States’ territory stretched from coast to coast since independence when it only consisted of the first 13 colonies. Second, the book provides maps of how Indigenous lands shrank since 1492. However, the modern-day map does not accurately depict all tribal holdings.

Dunbar-Ortiz outlines the holes in two modern perspectives of American history. The cultural conflict view promotes objectivity by framing US-Indigenous relations as fluid with bad actors on both sides. This ignores the Doctrine of Discovery and the intent of US policies. The multicultural view positions the US as a nation of immigrants and highlights Indigenous contributes to society. While well-meaning, it minimizes Indigenous sovereignty and its forced inclusion into the melting pot.

Chapter 2 demonstrates the value of ancient Indigenous civilizations, which tend to be an afterthought in general classes, and clears up myths. One is that these civilizations are primitive in comparison to other early kingdoms. The Western Hemisphere hosted vast trading networks, and even nations in arid areas made sophisticated irrigation systems. National governments had separation of powers and treaties with other tribes. While some nations, like the Aztecs, conquered others and demanded tribute, others exhibited democratic ideals and political power for women. Life expectancy and hygienic standards were also higher than in Europe. Although many of these civilizations are gone, their descendants are still alive.

Dunbar-Ortiz outlines how England’s settlement of Ireland foreshadowed its overseas campaigns, including Gilbert’s brutal rule and abuse of the native Irish. This attitude lasted for centuries: While Irish ancestry is not controversial to today’s Americans, their ancestors discriminated against Irish immigrants. In addition, Christopher Columbus, who never landed in United States territory, did not receive a federal holiday until Italian and Catholic groups lobbied President Franklin D. Roosevelt to integrate them into America’s origin story (History.com Editors. “Columbus Day 2020—Facts, Celebrations & Controversy.” History. Updated 4 January 2010.) While gold has uses today for dentistry and electronics, its value in pre-colonial times was only as a symbol of wealth. Textbooks to this day depict this era as a time of exploration, but for the ruling powers their goal remained “absolute greed and cruelty” (43).