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Native Nations: A Millennium in North America
A magisterial history of Indigenous North America that places the power of Native nations at its center, telling their story from the rise of ancient cities more than a thousand years ago to fights for sovereignty that continue today
“A feat of both scholarship and storytelling.”—Claudio Saunt, author of Unworthy Republic
Long before the colonization of North America, Indigenous Americans built diverse civilizations and adapted to a changing world in ways that reverberated globally. And, as award-winning historian Kathleen DuVal vividly recounts, when Europeans did arrive, no civilization came to a halt because of a few wandering explorers, even when the strangers came well armed.
A millennium ago, North American cities rivaled urban centers around the world in size. Then, following a period of climate change and instability, numerous smaller nations emerged, moving away from rather than toward urbanization. From this urban past, egalitarian government structures, diplomacy, and complex economies spread across North America. So, when Europeans showed up in the sixteenth century, they encountered societies they did not understand—those having developed differently from their own—and whose power they often underestimated.
For centuries afterward, Indigenous people maintained an upper hand and used Europeans in pursuit of their own interests. In Native Nations, we see how Mohawks closely controlled trade with the Dutch—and influenced global markets—and how Quapaws manipulated French colonists. Power dynamics shifted after the American Revolution, but Indigenous people continued to command much of the continent’s land and resources. Shawnee brothers Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa forged new alliances and encouraged a controversial new definition of Native identity to attempt to wall off U.S. ambitions. The Cherokees created institutions to assert their sovereignty on the global stage, and the Kiowas used their power in the west to regulate the passage of white settlers across their territory.
In this important addition to the growing tradition of North American history centered on Indigenous nations, Kathleen DuVal shows how the definitions of power and means of exerting it shifted over time, but the sovereignty and influence of Native peoples remained a constant—and will continue far into the future.
*This audiobook includes a downloadable PDF that contains select photographs, illustrations, and maps from the book.
PLEASE When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
“A feat of both scholarship and storytelling.”—Claudio Saunt, author of Unworthy Republic
Long before the colonization of North America, Indigenous Americans built diverse civilizations and adapted to a changing world in ways that reverberated globally. And, as award-winning historian Kathleen DuVal vividly recounts, when Europeans did arrive, no civilization came to a halt because of a few wandering explorers, even when the strangers came well armed.
A millennium ago, North American cities rivaled urban centers around the world in size. Then, following a period of climate change and instability, numerous smaller nations emerged, moving away from rather than toward urbanization. From this urban past, egalitarian government structures, diplomacy, and complex economies spread across North America. So, when Europeans showed up in the sixteenth century, they encountered societies they did not understand—those having developed differently from their own—and whose power they often underestimated.
For centuries afterward, Indigenous people maintained an upper hand and used Europeans in pursuit of their own interests. In Native Nations, we see how Mohawks closely controlled trade with the Dutch—and influenced global markets—and how Quapaws manipulated French colonists. Power dynamics shifted after the American Revolution, but Indigenous people continued to command much of the continent’s land and resources. Shawnee brothers Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa forged new alliances and encouraged a controversial new definition of Native identity to attempt to wall off U.S. ambitions. The Cherokees created institutions to assert their sovereignty on the global stage, and the Kiowas used their power in the west to regulate the passage of white settlers across their territory.
In this important addition to the growing tradition of North American history centered on Indigenous nations, Kathleen DuVal shows how the definitions of power and means of exerting it shifted over time, but the sovereignty and influence of Native peoples remained a constant—and will continue far into the future.
*This audiobook includes a downloadable PDF that contains select photographs, illustrations, and maps from the book.
PLEASE When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
22 pages, Audible Audio
First published April 9, 2024
369 people are currently reading
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About the author
Kathleen DuVal
27 books111 followersKathleen DuVal is a historian of early American, Native American, and women's history. She is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 206 reviews
April 12, 2024
This history took me many weeks to read, not because I wasn't enjoying it, and not because it was difficult, but because I WANTED to read it slowly. I loved the way the facts here speak for themselves. As I read I thought frequently about how different this history is from Howard Zinn. It made me reconsider Zinn and conclude that he was guilty of colonizer-thinking, himself, for the way Zinn saw history as the story of winners and losers, with the Native Americans being more or less hapless bystander-victims to their fate. Kathleen DuVal's history of Native Nations in contrast makes it so clear that Native Americans at every juncture were looking out for themselves--negotiating, fighting, and doing everything they could to protect their interests. It felt so right. It brought my historical understanding to a new level.
September 6, 2024
Kathleen DuVal is not a fan of European imperialism. I know because her book Native Nations spends a lot of time throwing shade. The book is a look at various American Indian nations from way before the Europeans showed up and said, "Oh, look at the place we discovered that already has people!"
I should make it clear that DuVal's intent is a good one and American Indians have definitely been screwed over and their history largely ignored. You will hear no argument from me on that front. However, DuVal starts the book off by detailing all the ways she thinks American Indian history is shunted aside and how European history is treated as the beginning of the story unfairly. Again, same page! But then, DuVal does not stop. She keeps bringing it up. She keeps comparing American Indian society vs. European society and wouldn't you know it, she thinks the American Indian way of doing it is better. It is especially egregious in the early part of the book which is ironic. The first part of the narrative is entirely before European contact. There is no way around this in later chapters when an author would be required to bash the other side (Reminder: Andrew Jackson sucked), but pre-contact is the perfect time to focus on the subject of the book without distraction. It just doesn't happen here.
Now, I should point out that DuVal does not fall into the "noble savage" trope. American Indians are not perfect and she does point out how vicious their wars could be or other less than savory aspects which every society time immemorial has had. But again, often when pointing out a negative instance, she will immediately pivot to bashing Europeans. The sentiment is not the problem. The incessant reminders are the problem.
This is all the more heartbreaking because if DuVal cut all the unnecessary comparisons/attacks and just told the history, then this book would be very good. DuVal's research is top notch and when she finally focuses fully on American Indian culture, I was hooked. It just didn't last. There are also summaries at the end of chapters which are well done but also make the book feel closer to a textbook then I think is intended. The ingredients were here for a great book, but unfortunately, it ended up being just good instead.
(This book was provided as a review copy by the publisher.)
I should make it clear that DuVal's intent is a good one and American Indians have definitely been screwed over and their history largely ignored. You will hear no argument from me on that front. However, DuVal starts the book off by detailing all the ways she thinks American Indian history is shunted aside and how European history is treated as the beginning of the story unfairly. Again, same page! But then, DuVal does not stop. She keeps bringing it up. She keeps comparing American Indian society vs. European society and wouldn't you know it, she thinks the American Indian way of doing it is better. It is especially egregious in the early part of the book which is ironic. The first part of the narrative is entirely before European contact. There is no way around this in later chapters when an author would be required to bash the other side (Reminder: Andrew Jackson sucked), but pre-contact is the perfect time to focus on the subject of the book without distraction. It just doesn't happen here.
Now, I should point out that DuVal does not fall into the "noble savage" trope. American Indians are not perfect and she does point out how vicious their wars could be or other less than savory aspects which every society time immemorial has had. But again, often when pointing out a negative instance, she will immediately pivot to bashing Europeans. The sentiment is not the problem. The incessant reminders are the problem.
This is all the more heartbreaking because if DuVal cut all the unnecessary comparisons/attacks and just told the history, then this book would be very good. DuVal's research is top notch and when she finally focuses fully on American Indian culture, I was hooked. It just didn't last. There are also summaries at the end of chapters which are well done but also make the book feel closer to a textbook then I think is intended. The ingredients were here for a great book, but unfortunately, it ended up being just good instead.
(This book was provided as a review copy by the publisher.)
April 27, 2024
Liked this book a lot, going to put my thoughts on some of the strengths and a couple weaknesses here.
Particular strengths:
-The consistent emphasis on women and gender. This is something most of the other recent sweeping histories of Native America have not done well at, so I was pleasantly surprised.
-Pretty decent handling of the difficult reality of relations between Native and Black people, especially in the case of the Five Tribes's practice of chattel slavery. However, see below also for more thoughts here.
-All around, I liked the decision to mostly focus on specific case studies in each chapter. Yeah, we miss a lot but it makes the stories more manageable, and actually even for me as a relative "expert" on this history there were things I found new and interesting!
-Relatedly, I found the "cast of characters" impressively handled; there were enough named individuals (and specifically many named NATIVE individuals - however, see below), but often they remained across chapters or had descendants show up later, and it never felt overwhelming or confusing to me.
-LOVED the frequent inclusion of Native historians and scholars by name. We Are Our Own Experts.
Some weaknesses:
-The huge, glaring weakness of this book to me is that there is virtually no content on the entire West Coast. It's like the book just stops at the Rocky Mountains. Yeah, there's the O'odham but that's it. Partly I feel this is due to Duval's own expertise (which is fair, but if you're gonna sell a book on Native America you should probably TRY to incorporate the Pacific coast) and also the grand narrative she makes about Cahokia, Chaco, etc. which does't really reach west of the Rockies. This is, I think, the only thing I would call an actual flaw in the book.
-I am, however, somewhat skeptical of the narrative she makes regarding the Mississippians and post-Mississippian transition. This is a bigger thing I will probably write elsewhere, but basically: on the one hand, the narrative of "we centralized and then reacted against that centralization" IS a story I have heard from knowledgeable Native people, especially in Southwestern and Cherokee communities. On the other hand, it all feels a bit oversimplifying to me, especially when reaching into regions that were never actually Mississippian, like Mohawk country.
-Finally, as much as I think the issue of Black/Native relations was handled fairly well, I don't think there was a single named Black or Black Indian person in this book. (I remember one person was mentioned specifically but I don't think by name.) This is notable to me mainly because we DO get named white people. And it's not like there are no notable names that could have come up - John Horse? Bass Reeves? Olivia Ward Bush-Banks? IMO we as a field of Native studies need to work towards better integration of Black and Native histories.
Overall, I think this is my favorite of the "grand narratives of Native America" books by far.
Particular strengths:
-The consistent emphasis on women and gender. This is something most of the other recent sweeping histories of Native America have not done well at, so I was pleasantly surprised.
-Pretty decent handling of the difficult reality of relations between Native and Black people, especially in the case of the Five Tribes's practice of chattel slavery. However, see below also for more thoughts here.
-All around, I liked the decision to mostly focus on specific case studies in each chapter. Yeah, we miss a lot but it makes the stories more manageable, and actually even for me as a relative "expert" on this history there were things I found new and interesting!
-Relatedly, I found the "cast of characters" impressively handled; there were enough named individuals (and specifically many named NATIVE individuals - however, see below), but often they remained across chapters or had descendants show up later, and it never felt overwhelming or confusing to me.
-LOVED the frequent inclusion of Native historians and scholars by name. We Are Our Own Experts.
Some weaknesses:
-The huge, glaring weakness of this book to me is that there is virtually no content on the entire West Coast. It's like the book just stops at the Rocky Mountains. Yeah, there's the O'odham but that's it. Partly I feel this is due to Duval's own expertise (which is fair, but if you're gonna sell a book on Native America you should probably TRY to incorporate the Pacific coast) and also the grand narrative she makes about Cahokia, Chaco, etc. which does't really reach west of the Rockies. This is, I think, the only thing I would call an actual flaw in the book.
-I am, however, somewhat skeptical of the narrative she makes regarding the Mississippians and post-Mississippian transition. This is a bigger thing I will probably write elsewhere, but basically: on the one hand, the narrative of "we centralized and then reacted against that centralization" IS a story I have heard from knowledgeable Native people, especially in Southwestern and Cherokee communities. On the other hand, it all feels a bit oversimplifying to me, especially when reaching into regions that were never actually Mississippian, like Mohawk country.
-Finally, as much as I think the issue of Black/Native relations was handled fairly well, I don't think there was a single named Black or Black Indian person in this book. (I remember one person was mentioned specifically but I don't think by name.) This is notable to me mainly because we DO get named white people. And it's not like there are no notable names that could have come up - John Horse? Bass Reeves? Olivia Ward Bush-Banks? IMO we as a field of Native studies need to work towards better integration of Black and Native histories.
Overall, I think this is my favorite of the "grand narratives of Native America" books by far.
April 16, 2024
Everyone in America NEEDS to read this book. This is not a US History book. It is a history of the Native Peoples of the North American continent. They were not exterminated nor did they roll over to accept attempted genocide. Their descendants are alive today and their cultures deserve to be celebrated and restored.
February 17, 2025
Just finished:
New York: Random House, 2024.
A revisionist history of Native American history in what is now the United States over the last 1000 years.
Duval, a history professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, argues that too many historians portray indigenous peoples as victims to Europeans and that the collapse of native peoples way of life was "inevitable." DuVal argues that indigenous peoples really held the upper hand in relations with European people's until 1750, when the number of Europeans and the formation of the United States reversed the balance of power in what is now the area west of the Appalachians (the 1850s for the Midwest and 1880s for the West outside of the Pacific coast).
Her most persuasive evidence was the Chickasaws attacks on French forces during the Nachez War in the mid 1700s. The Chickasaws fired cannon on the French position and underestimated Chickasaws fortifications east of Memphis. The French had an alliance with the Quapaw people's at the time and had to pay tribute to them.
Things that stood out to me or should be highlighted include:
- Indigenous peoples warred against one another or made alliances with Europeans when it suited them.
- Many native peoples practiced slavery of those they defeated (it was not a mass slavery that Europeans created in the new world).
- Several groups lived in large cities before Europeans came. They chose to live in a more decentralized fashion during the middle ages. This choice slowed the rate of European diseases.
- The Cherokees formed their own constitution and had black slaves.
- Many tribes supported the Confederacy or were split between the two sides during the Civil War.
A must read for anyone interested in the topic.
New York: Random House, 2024.
A revisionist history of Native American history in what is now the United States over the last 1000 years.
Duval, a history professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, argues that too many historians portray indigenous peoples as victims to Europeans and that the collapse of native peoples way of life was "inevitable." DuVal argues that indigenous peoples really held the upper hand in relations with European people's until 1750, when the number of Europeans and the formation of the United States reversed the balance of power in what is now the area west of the Appalachians (the 1850s for the Midwest and 1880s for the West outside of the Pacific coast).
Her most persuasive evidence was the Chickasaws attacks on French forces during the Nachez War in the mid 1700s. The Chickasaws fired cannon on the French position and underestimated Chickasaws fortifications east of Memphis. The French had an alliance with the Quapaw people's at the time and had to pay tribute to them.
Things that stood out to me or should be highlighted include:
- Indigenous peoples warred against one another or made alliances with Europeans when it suited them.
- Many native peoples practiced slavery of those they defeated (it was not a mass slavery that Europeans created in the new world).
- Several groups lived in large cities before Europeans came. They chose to live in a more decentralized fashion during the middle ages. This choice slowed the rate of European diseases.
- The Cherokees formed their own constitution and had black slaves.
- Many tribes supported the Confederacy or were split between the two sides during the Civil War.
A must read for anyone interested in the topic.
August 2, 2024
This was one of my impulse selections from my local public library's New Nonfiction shelf. I have some personal and professional interest in Native American history. I'm glad it gets more attention nowadays, but I don't care for how many modern history writers cover it.
Native Nations is over 500 pages of main text, and it's trying to cover a lot. A thousand years of history is a lot to cover, and it requires using representative examples of a people who often stress they shouldn't be lumped together because they are far from monolithic. DuVal makes some obvious choices (Cherokees, Mohawks) and some inspired choices (Kiowas over Sioux, O'odham over Navajo). The book tries as much as it can to tell a native story.
Some chapters I found very interesting, such as the Mohawks and Kiowas. Other chapters I found more tedious. Generally speaking, the tribes I already had loose knowledge of going in gave me existing points of reference to build on.
Language choices added to the difficulty. A common trend with modern works is to emphasis native names and terminology. Fine in theory, but in practice too much of it in some languages simply throws too many foreign words from a foreign language at me that I've only ever seen written and my brain struggles to pronounce and process while reading (I don't read much about Asian history for that reason). Just one example: after looking it up I'm not sure if my tongue is physically capable of pronouncing "Oʼodham" the way that tribe pronounces its name. Broad linguistic skills, especially exposure to Native American spoken language, probably helps a lot with this kind of book. A lesser challenge: I completely agree with the author's use of Haudenosaunee (and that's at least a name I can pronounce), but after four decades of Iroquois it's going to take some getting used to - especially since "Iroquoian" is still the accepted name for the language family (and mentioned in this book).
Although 99% of the book is written in third person, there were a number of times, especially in the early chapters, where the author recounts some tangentially-related modern personal experience in first-person. I found that jarring, and a bad editorial choice.
The chapter on the last few centuries of precontact history paints an entirely too egalitarian picture of native society that felt like it was treading on Noble Savage trope territory. The author briefly admits what has been described was more an ideal not necessarily followed in practice, but that's much too little too late.
The book does do a good job of presenting Native Americans as resourceful, retaining de facto power centuries past when European and American claimed control, and attempting to use the white newcomers for their advantage - as trade partners and/or leverage against enemies. There is a lot about inter-tribal relations. Natives were clearly not passive or defeatist, and the book tries to capture their perseverance and endurance to modern day. It is very informative.
I started and stopped this book several times over the span of several months, and skipped some parts. I'd give it a 2.5 rating if I could, but I'll round up because I appreciate the effort. To me, this book probably reflects the best and worst of modern Native American history: both providing better perspective free of a lot of past prejudices, while also having insufficient skepticism and being linguistically inclusive to the point of difficulty for some readers. I'm not going to recommend it, but I can see why other people like it more than I do.
Native Nations is over 500 pages of main text, and it's trying to cover a lot. A thousand years of history is a lot to cover, and it requires using representative examples of a people who often stress they shouldn't be lumped together because they are far from monolithic. DuVal makes some obvious choices (Cherokees, Mohawks) and some inspired choices (Kiowas over Sioux, O'odham over Navajo). The book tries as much as it can to tell a native story.
Some chapters I found very interesting, such as the Mohawks and Kiowas. Other chapters I found more tedious. Generally speaking, the tribes I already had loose knowledge of going in gave me existing points of reference to build on.
Language choices added to the difficulty. A common trend with modern works is to emphasis native names and terminology. Fine in theory, but in practice too much of it in some languages simply throws too many foreign words from a foreign language at me that I've only ever seen written and my brain struggles to pronounce and process while reading (I don't read much about Asian history for that reason). Just one example: after looking it up I'm not sure if my tongue is physically capable of pronouncing "Oʼodham" the way that tribe pronounces its name. Broad linguistic skills, especially exposure to Native American spoken language, probably helps a lot with this kind of book. A lesser challenge: I completely agree with the author's use of Haudenosaunee (and that's at least a name I can pronounce), but after four decades of Iroquois it's going to take some getting used to - especially since "Iroquoian" is still the accepted name for the language family (and mentioned in this book).
Although 99% of the book is written in third person, there were a number of times, especially in the early chapters, where the author recounts some tangentially-related modern personal experience in first-person. I found that jarring, and a bad editorial choice.
The chapter on the last few centuries of precontact history paints an entirely too egalitarian picture of native society that felt like it was treading on Noble Savage trope territory. The author briefly admits what has been described was more an ideal not necessarily followed in practice, but that's much too little too late.
The book does do a good job of presenting Native Americans as resourceful, retaining de facto power centuries past when European and American claimed control, and attempting to use the white newcomers for their advantage - as trade partners and/or leverage against enemies. There is a lot about inter-tribal relations. Natives were clearly not passive or defeatist, and the book tries to capture their perseverance and endurance to modern day. It is very informative.
I started and stopped this book several times over the span of several months, and skipped some parts. I'd give it a 2.5 rating if I could, but I'll round up because I appreciate the effort. To me, this book probably reflects the best and worst of modern Native American history: both providing better perspective free of a lot of past prejudices, while also having insufficient skepticism and being linguistically inclusive to the point of difficulty for some readers. I'm not going to recommend it, but I can see why other people like it more than I do.
May 30, 2025
It's unfortunate that this very informative and well written book will most likely be called a banned book because of the new regime and their anti-DEI manifest. While it is still available I hope that a number of people will read this because it is a well researched and an important historic work relating to the first peoples of the North American continent and how they were tossed out of their beloved home by white Europeans who failed to understand their cultures and worth. Difference is a good thing, it's a human thing, and it's worth remembering. History can be stifled but someday it always breaks free. I do recommend this work as I recommend reading all works written by the American historians.
July 27, 2024
"Native Nations" is a significant addition to the growing corpus of revisionist history of Native America and Native Americans. This book challenges the traditional narrative that Native Americans were passive victims lacking agency in the face of existential challenges from colonial powers, indigenous rivals, and nature itself. Instead, DuVal argues that Native Americans were fully empowered agents who managed complex political, social, and economic matters for over a thousand years. The book asserts that Native Americans, not Europeans, wielded greater power and influence over North America for most of the past five hundred years and have skillfully maintained agency and sovereignty to the present day. Despite some flaws, including a progressive approach that at times undermines its neutrality, "Native Nations" contributes valuable insights and supports the reinterpretation of Native American history through a Native lens.
Overall, I found the book a valuable addition to the new literature reinterpreting Native American history through a Native perspective. It aligns with previous works in this field while also presenting many new claims of its own. DuVal’s storytelling is compelling, and her scholarship is extensive. However, the progressive stance of many of her arguments can be off-putting and sometimes self-contradictory.
Many of DuVal’s claims seem to be her attempts to address the racial reckoning in the United States since 2020. In several instances, DuVal goes beyond a neutral reinterpretation of Native American history by displaying outright contempt for European or American contemporaries or making claims that lack sufficient evidence. She also downplays some clearly terrible Native practices by suggesting that the actions of the whites, although equivalent, were still worse.
One example is DuVal’s treatment of the Beaver Wars of the 17th century when the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy embarked on a massive and brutal expansion that resulted in the destruction of several other Native tribes. The incredibly violent and exterminatory nature of Haudenosaunee warfare has led some historians to label the wars as acts of genocide. However, in DuVal’s eyes, only white settlers were capable of “imperialism” and genocidal brutality. She takes the Haudenosaunee view at face value, explaining that the wars were meant to “transform the violent and chaotic world beyond” and “enhance Haudenosaunee spiritual and political power.” When white colonists beheaded peaceful Natives, the Natives found it abhorrent. When the Haudenosaunee ritualistically tortured and killed captive Native men, that was apparently just the accepted style of Native warfare. Whites enslaving Africans and Native Americans is an example of white views of racial supremacy. Natives abducting women and children is not problematic because they were “adopted” into the victorious tribes. I’m not sure the women who were “adopted” as wives (i.e., sex slaves) would have been so sanguine about the nature of their enslavement.
DuVal could have made her points as an independent voice, but it seems that she often could not help herself. She could have simply reinterpreted actions and situations to give agency and self-determination to the Native Americans involved. However, it seems she felt compelled to take swipes at the Natives’ white counterparts and drive home a point that not only were Natives the nobles in these situations, but it was the whites who were the savages.
It is interesting that DuVal did not cite any works by Pekka Hämäläinen and omitted him from her extensive list of further readings. This is surprising, as Hämäläinen has been writing this kind of revisionist history for many years. I suspect that Hämäläinen is one of the unnamed authors that DuVal passively criticizes in the book by refuting their claims but refusing to name them.
Despite its flaws, "Native Nations" is a good and important work. However, if you are looking for histories that successfully reinterpret Native Americans as sophisticated and empowered agents in their own right, I would recommend one of Pekka Hämäläinen’s excellent works, which manage to positively reinterpret Native actors without demonizing their counterparts.
Overall, I found the book a valuable addition to the new literature reinterpreting Native American history through a Native perspective. It aligns with previous works in this field while also presenting many new claims of its own. DuVal’s storytelling is compelling, and her scholarship is extensive. However, the progressive stance of many of her arguments can be off-putting and sometimes self-contradictory.
Many of DuVal’s claims seem to be her attempts to address the racial reckoning in the United States since 2020. In several instances, DuVal goes beyond a neutral reinterpretation of Native American history by displaying outright contempt for European or American contemporaries or making claims that lack sufficient evidence. She also downplays some clearly terrible Native practices by suggesting that the actions of the whites, although equivalent, were still worse.
One example is DuVal’s treatment of the Beaver Wars of the 17th century when the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy embarked on a massive and brutal expansion that resulted in the destruction of several other Native tribes. The incredibly violent and exterminatory nature of Haudenosaunee warfare has led some historians to label the wars as acts of genocide. However, in DuVal’s eyes, only white settlers were capable of “imperialism” and genocidal brutality. She takes the Haudenosaunee view at face value, explaining that the wars were meant to “transform the violent and chaotic world beyond” and “enhance Haudenosaunee spiritual and political power.” When white colonists beheaded peaceful Natives, the Natives found it abhorrent. When the Haudenosaunee ritualistically tortured and killed captive Native men, that was apparently just the accepted style of Native warfare. Whites enslaving Africans and Native Americans is an example of white views of racial supremacy. Natives abducting women and children is not problematic because they were “adopted” into the victorious tribes. I’m not sure the women who were “adopted” as wives (i.e., sex slaves) would have been so sanguine about the nature of their enslavement.
DuVal could have made her points as an independent voice, but it seems that she often could not help herself. She could have simply reinterpreted actions and situations to give agency and self-determination to the Native Americans involved. However, it seems she felt compelled to take swipes at the Natives’ white counterparts and drive home a point that not only were Natives the nobles in these situations, but it was the whites who were the savages.
It is interesting that DuVal did not cite any works by Pekka Hämäläinen and omitted him from her extensive list of further readings. This is surprising, as Hämäläinen has been writing this kind of revisionist history for many years. I suspect that Hämäläinen is one of the unnamed authors that DuVal passively criticizes in the book by refuting their claims but refusing to name them.
Despite its flaws, "Native Nations" is a good and important work. However, if you are looking for histories that successfully reinterpret Native Americans as sophisticated and empowered agents in their own right, I would recommend one of Pekka Hämäläinen’s excellent works, which manage to positively reinterpret Native actors without demonizing their counterparts.
August 24, 2025
4.5 stars actually. An impressive and engaging work of scholarship on Native American history that rejects the idea that US dominance (and thus, the genocide of native peoples) was inevitable. Duval’s best work, in my opinion, is her writing on the functioning of native nations and how they adapted to changes in their environment. I particularly liked reading about the Cherokee newspaper The Phoenix (ch 9) and Mohawk dominance in Dutch trade relations (ch 4). 4.5 instead of 5 stars because (I might be partial) I felt the lack of California and PNW native history.
July 5, 2025
What I find so powerful about this book is that, beyond revealing vast amounts of knowledge about Native history and cultures, it reconfigures the lens with which you view their history. At least for me (who knew very little about Native people in the US besides US policy in the nineteenth century and immediately post-Civil War era), Kathryn DuVal constantly confronts and reworks the colonial, Western narratives about Indigenous people.
Even if you’re not keen on modern history, this is an excellent example of how to balance different sorts of evidence between two communities where one has a more robust historical record and the other does not. This gave me a lot of ideas of how to rethink Roman narratives of the “barbarians,” for example.
Structurally, DuVal deftly navigates providing specific case studies that connect to wider continental trends (balancing the trees and the forest), as well as handles all sorts of different types of evidence. It is, first and foremost, a work of history, but there is plenty of archaeology and environmental/palaeoclimate too. I will say that you can tell that DuVal’s speciality is pre-Civil War history, so the book feels a bit lopsided, but her expertise is so engaging and her further reading suggestions so thorough that it doesn’t mar the overall experience of reading the book, it just leaves you wanting to read more. I also thought the way she connecting historical events to the modern-day was very effective (e.g. “The Colony” musical)
It was interesting to see DuVal integrate climate data into an early modern history. I didn’t always agree with her interpretations of the data, but I think she used it effectively and responsibly. It was also more heavily featured in the beginning of the book and I was slightly disappointed that she didn’t take up the issue of disproportionate impact of climate/environmental change, but I understand not being able to include everything given the complexity of the topic.
In the end, one of the best new US history books since Isabel Wilkerson’s books.
Even if you’re not keen on modern history, this is an excellent example of how to balance different sorts of evidence between two communities where one has a more robust historical record and the other does not. This gave me a lot of ideas of how to rethink Roman narratives of the “barbarians,” for example.
Structurally, DuVal deftly navigates providing specific case studies that connect to wider continental trends (balancing the trees and the forest), as well as handles all sorts of different types of evidence. It is, first and foremost, a work of history, but there is plenty of archaeology and environmental/palaeoclimate too. I will say that you can tell that DuVal’s speciality is pre-Civil War history, so the book feels a bit lopsided, but her expertise is so engaging and her further reading suggestions so thorough that it doesn’t mar the overall experience of reading the book, it just leaves you wanting to read more. I also thought the way she connecting historical events to the modern-day was very effective (e.g. “The Colony” musical)
It was interesting to see DuVal integrate climate data into an early modern history. I didn’t always agree with her interpretations of the data, but I think she used it effectively and responsibly. It was also more heavily featured in the beginning of the book and I was slightly disappointed that she didn’t take up the issue of disproportionate impact of climate/environmental change, but I understand not being able to include everything given the complexity of the topic.
In the end, one of the best new US history books since Isabel Wilkerson’s books.
July 27, 2025
This is a new view on the histories (plural!) of Native Americans, both before and especially after Columbus. I read it as a part of the monthly reading for May-June 2025 at Non Fiction Book Club group.
The main change popularized by this book is to look at the history of the Native Americans not just as victims but as survivors. The ‘usual’ approach was: the white men brought diseases, locals died away, sad, but now the history of the continent is the story of colonizers. The author argues that while the death toll was staggering, but, like Europe after the black death, the remainder of the local population recovered and in terms of numbers and they were the main pushers, they remained the most important players on the land even up to the mid-19th century. I do not know how this view is supported in the USA academia, but it sounds great.
After outlining the new narrative, the author in each chapter looks at more specific cases. All chapters are interesting and worth reading but here is the list of what strikes me the most.
1. During the Medieval Warm Period there were sizable urban settlements on what is now the USA. When the small Ice Age came the people there, unlike Europeans, dispersed, so the Europeans later met not ‘savages’ but a post-urban cultures
2. Agriculture was ‘women’s work’, unlike Europe and Asia (I guess because they lacked large cattle for ploughing fields) and this gave women much more power.
3. We often look at the Native Americans as at an amorphous unity, while they were just like many European nations – more divided than united, so individual tribes and states should be studied, not ‘Indians’ as a whole.
4. It isn’t colonists vs wilderness, it is a small group (often hundreds) of colonists vs. locals counted in thousands, who, among other thing,s set the rules
5. There were attempts to keep an independent Cherokee state, which actually managed to remain in a changed form to this day. The author doesn’t shy away from unpleasant truths, like that the share of Cherokee slave-owners was the same as of their white neighbors – they actually tried to fit in and even won cases in the USA Supreme Court, but when needed, these court verdicts aren’t binding to ‘law abiding’ colonists.
A very interesting book, recommended!
The main change popularized by this book is to look at the history of the Native Americans not just as victims but as survivors. The ‘usual’ approach was: the white men brought diseases, locals died away, sad, but now the history of the continent is the story of colonizers. The author argues that while the death toll was staggering, but, like Europe after the black death, the remainder of the local population recovered and in terms of numbers and they were the main pushers, they remained the most important players on the land even up to the mid-19th century. I do not know how this view is supported in the USA academia, but it sounds great.
After outlining the new narrative, the author in each chapter looks at more specific cases. All chapters are interesting and worth reading but here is the list of what strikes me the most.
1. During the Medieval Warm Period there were sizable urban settlements on what is now the USA. When the small Ice Age came the people there, unlike Europeans, dispersed, so the Europeans later met not ‘savages’ but a post-urban cultures
2. Agriculture was ‘women’s work’, unlike Europe and Asia (I guess because they lacked large cattle for ploughing fields) and this gave women much more power.
3. We often look at the Native Americans as at an amorphous unity, while they were just like many European nations – more divided than united, so individual tribes and states should be studied, not ‘Indians’ as a whole.
4. It isn’t colonists vs wilderness, it is a small group (often hundreds) of colonists vs. locals counted in thousands, who, among other thing,s set the rules
5. There were attempts to keep an independent Cherokee state, which actually managed to remain in a changed form to this day. The author doesn’t shy away from unpleasant truths, like that the share of Cherokee slave-owners was the same as of their white neighbors – they actually tried to fit in and even won cases in the USA Supreme Court, but when needed, these court verdicts aren’t binding to ‘law abiding’ colonists.
A very interesting book, recommended!
Read
May 4, 2025This is an excellent, eye-opening history of what we generally refer to as the tribes indigenous to what is now the continental United States, with a focus on certain nations in each area except the West Coast. The theme is simple: for the first several hundred years of European presence, it was the indigenous who were in charge of the relationship and who, beyond European diseases, benefitted most from the relationship, helping Europeans (to the extent they were reciprocally friendly), using Europeans in battles between nations (yes, indigenous nations were often not peaceful nor anything else that infantilizes them), and trading for European objects they didn’t have, such as guns. The nations west of the Appalachians withstood European encroachment for much longer. In addition, the nations’ cultures are shown to have changed throughout the millenium, especially from a centralizing period to a decentralizing period.
This is just the sort of book that shows how not only ridiculous it is, but also deeply unethical, for the current federal administration to try to limit American history to the misrepresentation and covering up of what happened, so that the descendants of white immigrants can feel proud of their ancestors (or, mostly, other white people’s ancestors), when any mature adult knows that we are for the most part out for what we can get, even if someone already has it (as long as we are in a position to take it).
This is just the sort of book that shows how not only ridiculous it is, but also deeply unethical, for the current federal administration to try to limit American history to the misrepresentation and covering up of what happened, so that the descendants of white immigrants can feel proud of their ancestors (or, mostly, other white people’s ancestors), when any mature adult knows that we are for the most part out for what we can get, even if someone already has it (as long as we are in a position to take it).
November 24, 2024
3.5 stars. I’d still recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of indigenous American people outside of the lens of colonialism. What fell short of a 4 or 5 star read for me was more of a matter of style rather than substance. Several sections could have been more concise and took me out of being immersed in the material. And while I appreciate what the author was intending with the structure, I would’ve found focusing on the chronology of specific nations more engaging.
December 25, 2023
I won this book in a goodreads drawing.
This book covers North America from the years 1000-2000 AD. To be honest, the Pre-Colombian years were the most interesting to me.
Very detailed, with lots of maps and illustrations.
A recommended book.
This book covers North America from the years 1000-2000 AD. To be honest, the Pre-Colombian years were the most interesting to me.
Very detailed, with lots of maps and illustrations.
A recommended book.
Want to read
October 19, 2024Nice excerpt:
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/a...
Interesting reading.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/a...
Interesting reading.
Read
May 16, 2025Excellent. I could have merely read about the ancient city states of Huhugam and Cahokia, their descents, the fact that native people intentionally left consolidated, centralized cities to form smaller democratic institutions is, well, I’m pretty sure it’s imperative to understand.
Not just because it confounds the settler narrative so much, "the end of history" white man’s arc of history so much - and that would be enough, wouldn’t it? - but because it actually gives you some of your own ideas.
In “Creation Lake” by Racher Kushner, one of the characters asks “Currently, we are headed toward extinction in a shiny, driverless car. The question is, how do we exit the car?” And yes, that is the question, isn’t it. Rather than scratch our heads and assume we’re the first to ever encounter a question like that, I get a lot more juice from asking history to weigh in. So, a 559p read that does echo with a classroom instructor’s intonations may not be your idea of a good time, but it inspired me to think my own thoughts in meaningful detail, not to just circle the bowl arguing with the author. Now that’s a good time, to me.
Not just because it confounds the settler narrative so much, "the end of history" white man’s arc of history so much - and that would be enough, wouldn’t it? - but because it actually gives you some of your own ideas.
In “Creation Lake” by Racher Kushner, one of the characters asks “Currently, we are headed toward extinction in a shiny, driverless car. The question is, how do we exit the car?” And yes, that is the question, isn’t it. Rather than scratch our heads and assume we’re the first to ever encounter a question like that, I get a lot more juice from asking history to weigh in. So, a 559p read that does echo with a classroom instructor’s intonations may not be your idea of a good time, but it inspired me to think my own thoughts in meaningful detail, not to just circle the bowl arguing with the author. Now that’s a good time, to me.
Read
May 16, 2025It's one thing to know a thing was done, or even how it was done, and another to realize all of the implications. This book is relentless in calling out the lies and manipulation used to discredit Native nations and people, kill them, steal their land, and try to erase them from both the past and the present.
I've been guilty of thinking that of course the government and settlers knew the land they were colonizing was inhabited, but...
And there really is no but.
I also appreciated how, while the horror of Native history was included, it was not the focus of the book. This isn't about trauma, it's about how great these sovereign nations really were.
I've been guilty of thinking that of course the government and settlers knew the land they were colonizing was inhabited, but...
And there really is no but.
I also appreciated how, while the horror of Native history was included, it was not the focus of the book. This isn't about trauma, it's about how great these sovereign nations really were.
December 9, 2025
This book took me a while to read because it is filled with an incredible amount of detailed information. I do not know much about Native American culture or history, and it was a lot to absorb! I learned a tremendous amount from this narrative, and definitely recommend reading it!
December 9, 2024
An in depth history of native nations in North America featuring the good and the bad from coast to coast. A comprehensive worthwhile read.
December 25, 2025
should be assigned reading!
Read
September 4, 2024I loved reading this. The reframing of history that generally everyone has been taught about how Native Americans have been victims, which is true but also takes away their agencies. This book shows how they lived and evolved before Europeans came but also after and how their was at first more of an equal relationship and most of the things we heard about happened in the 18th/19th and 20th century. This novel also talked about how histories were preserved, which was often oral histories which aren't taken as serious sources even though they are provable.
There were a lot of fascinating things that were mentioned that had nothing to do with colonizers as well, e.g. a lot of Native Nations had cities but dropped the concept because of how it unevenly distributes power, which was interesting to learn about. I probably will have to read this again or at least passages because there was so much information in here, I can only recommend this.
There were a lot of fascinating things that were mentioned that had nothing to do with colonizers as well, e.g. a lot of Native Nations had cities but dropped the concept because of how it unevenly distributes power, which was interesting to learn about. I probably will have to read this again or at least passages because there was so much information in here, I can only recommend this.
March 7, 2025
Actually amazing paradigm shifting history!!
July 18, 2024
Native Nations looks at the chronology of various tribes indigenous to North America, mainly the United States. Kathleen DuVal discusses different tribes such as Mohawk, Cherokee, Quapaw, and Shawnee underscoring their similarities and diversities. When Europeans arrive in North America, the dynamic changes. DuVal's book is a fresh take for me looking at the history of Native Americans. Because some held significant numbers of slaves, they fought in the Civil War. I really enjoyed learning about Tecumseh and his serendipitous predictions impressing Red and White people alike.
While DuVal touches on contemporary Native American affairs, I would've appreciated more about current issues. (Not that I think this book could be much longer.) I've read a little about how Casino wealth has affected tribal life. And I wonder how tribes feel about sports mascots. I've seen interviews with Native Americans on both sides of the issue. This was an interesting read, and I learned a lot.
While DuVal touches on contemporary Native American affairs, I would've appreciated more about current issues. (Not that I think this book could be much longer.) I've read a little about how Casino wealth has affected tribal life. And I wonder how tribes feel about sports mascots. I've seen interviews with Native Americans on both sides of the issue. This was an interesting read, and I learned a lot.
November 20, 2023
(Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this work courtesy of NetGalley)
Through a combination of extensive research and a historical narrative that utilizes a range of selected Native nations as her examples, DuVal very successfully highlights the impressive resilience and adaptability that the indigenous peoples of what is today America employed over the course of centuries in the face of numerous changes and threats. European encroachment and settlement, and the assimilationist and eliminationist policies of the US government of course receive due coverage here, as I expected, but much more surprising was the coverage provided to the shifts and adjustments made by native peoples to accommodate climate change and also their always-evolving relationships with one another. As if that wasn’t enough in the way of an eye-opening mini-education packed into just one book, DuVal was able to spend ample time illustrating some of the great diversity and complexity that was present in the various native societies. And in case any readers at all run even the smallest risk of viewing all of this information through the all-too-common false narrative Native Americans as a vanished people lost to history, the author constantly connects indigenous peoples of the past with their present-day descendants who have never stopped adapting, resisting, exerting themselves culturally, politically and economically - and she does so with a dogged persistence that I not just understand, but greatly appreciate, especially in light of the widespread aforementioned misperceptions that DuVal highlights over and over.
In succinct summarization - I found this to be a wonderfully informative read! Native Nations is an excellent addition in its own right to any academic library, public library, or home library thanks to all that it has to teach. Likewise, it’s a great addition to the growing ranks of books such as Ned Blackhawk’s The Rediscovery of America, David Treuer’s The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee,and similar publications that collectively are gradually correcting a major failure (to say the least) of the historical educations for readers such as myself.
Through a combination of extensive research and a historical narrative that utilizes a range of selected Native nations as her examples, DuVal very successfully highlights the impressive resilience and adaptability that the indigenous peoples of what is today America employed over the course of centuries in the face of numerous changes and threats. European encroachment and settlement, and the assimilationist and eliminationist policies of the US government of course receive due coverage here, as I expected, but much more surprising was the coverage provided to the shifts and adjustments made by native peoples to accommodate climate change and also their always-evolving relationships with one another. As if that wasn’t enough in the way of an eye-opening mini-education packed into just one book, DuVal was able to spend ample time illustrating some of the great diversity and complexity that was present in the various native societies. And in case any readers at all run even the smallest risk of viewing all of this information through the all-too-common false narrative Native Americans as a vanished people lost to history, the author constantly connects indigenous peoples of the past with their present-day descendants who have never stopped adapting, resisting, exerting themselves culturally, politically and economically - and she does so with a dogged persistence that I not just understand, but greatly appreciate, especially in light of the widespread aforementioned misperceptions that DuVal highlights over and over.
In succinct summarization - I found this to be a wonderfully informative read! Native Nations is an excellent addition in its own right to any academic library, public library, or home library thanks to all that it has to teach. Likewise, it’s a great addition to the growing ranks of books such as Ned Blackhawk’s The Rediscovery of America, David Treuer’s The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee,and similar publications that collectively are gradually correcting a major failure (to say the least) of the historical educations for readers such as myself.
February 4, 2025
This book was an interesting read. It was a slow read throughout most of the book, but it still held my interest throughout. I think I wish she would have expanded some areas further, and maybe talked a bit more about the last century of Native American affairs and interactions with the U.S government.
It's perspective is very interesting - the Native Americans are never portrayed as "victims" until the citizens of the United States started moving west of the Appalachians and began seriously encroaching upon and stealing Native American land (moreso than what happened during England colonizing the East Coast and prior to the "Americans" reaching the Appalachians). I think the author does a solid job of showing how the Europeans lived on the North American continent at the good pleasure of the Indigenous population, and had the Indigenous population truly sought to they could have utterly wiped out the European presence in North America at nearly any given moment (up until the Northeastern colonies reached a certain population density, and then it would have become more difficult). The Dutch, French, and Spanish truly appeared to survive only because of the good graces of the tribes living around them. The history of the North American continent is not usually presented in terms of the European settlers being completely at the mercy of surrounding tribes for existence. Nor was the conquest of North America ever guaranteed during the first 200-300 years of exploration and colonialism. History usually presents the conquest and colonization of "the New World" as inevitable and guaranteed to happen. I think the author did an excellent job of showing how wrong that mindset or view of history actually is.
The book was interesting for me to read because of how it starts out. She came across to me as extremely negative about historians (especially "European" ("white") historians) and their need to have historical facts recorded in some fashion - otherwise, it's just not history! She really craps on historians for not considering sources unless they are documented somewhere. And then she turns around and spends a chapter or two speculating about what Native American life must have been like in "ancient Native American" towns and societies (such as Cahokia). She begins a lot of paragraphs with "this probably happened" and "we think this happened" being presented as "factual in nature" when it is nothing more than theories on how life might have transpired in these ancient civilizations. I was laughing quite a bit in the beginning of the book because of these statements. It also shows how important we moderns consider the written word to be versus oral traditions or trying to interpret history in terms of pictographs, carvings, or other items used to record history. Eventually, though, she relies upon written records when discussing life amidst specific tribes, between different tribes, and with settlers moving west.
She has a big, generic bit about the earliest known Native American civilizations in North America, talking about one in the American Southwest as well as Cahokia (there were a couple of others, but my copy of the book is too far away from me to reach, and I am currently too lazy to walk over and grab it to use as a reference). Those were interesting chapters even if they were filled with an inordinate amount of speculation on her part due to the lack of written records. It was fascinating to learn how these ancient civilizations were able to live in environments that most modern people would probably consider to barren for a person to live, and how there was an abundance of resources to allow humans to live and even thrive (granted, methods were taken to preserve the land and not drain it dry of resources).
It was also fascinating to learn about how these various tribes interacted with each other on various levels. There were complex Native American politics, and warfare and being "bullies" were used far more than I expected or was presented to me in my classes. Bigger tribes preyed upon smaller tribes, and smaller tribes banded together to form alliances of mutual protection against the depredations of the bigger tribes. It was mildly amusing how the Indigenous capturing of slaves and kidnapping of other tribal members was justified as long as it occurred between tribes, but it was always intrinsically wrong when the Europeans (and later Americans) did it. She does not touch very much upon how tribes in the American Southwest would prey upon smaller, weaker tribes to sell members of those tribes into slavery to the Spanish once the Spanish took over the Aztec silver mines and slave trade after conquering the Aztec Empire.
I found myself enjoying the book far more than I expected (especially after her crapping on historians and their desire to find "written records" is to the exclusion of considering any other sources of information as valid or worthy of intention), which was a pleasant surprise. I thought by the end of the book she did a solid job of defending her thesis (that the Natives were never "victims" throughout most of their collective and individual tribal experiences with European settlers, and that the conquest of what became the United States of North America was never guaranteed to be a success). It turned out to be a good book; I might have some issues with it, still, but I am glad that I took a chance on reading this book (it was given to me as a gift by a lady from church, so that was cool; I figured I had better read it sooner rather than later 'cuz she kept asking me if I liked it, hahahah!). I don't know if I can quite rate it 4 stars, but I do think it was at least 3.3 stars rounded down (maybe 3.5, rounded down). I am glad I read this book.
It's perspective is very interesting - the Native Americans are never portrayed as "victims" until the citizens of the United States started moving west of the Appalachians and began seriously encroaching upon and stealing Native American land (moreso than what happened during England colonizing the East Coast and prior to the "Americans" reaching the Appalachians). I think the author does a solid job of showing how the Europeans lived on the North American continent at the good pleasure of the Indigenous population, and had the Indigenous population truly sought to they could have utterly wiped out the European presence in North America at nearly any given moment (up until the Northeastern colonies reached a certain population density, and then it would have become more difficult). The Dutch, French, and Spanish truly appeared to survive only because of the good graces of the tribes living around them. The history of the North American continent is not usually presented in terms of the European settlers being completely at the mercy of surrounding tribes for existence. Nor was the conquest of North America ever guaranteed during the first 200-300 years of exploration and colonialism. History usually presents the conquest and colonization of "the New World" as inevitable and guaranteed to happen. I think the author did an excellent job of showing how wrong that mindset or view of history actually is.
The book was interesting for me to read because of how it starts out. She came across to me as extremely negative about historians (especially "European" ("white") historians) and their need to have historical facts recorded in some fashion - otherwise, it's just not history! She really craps on historians for not considering sources unless they are documented somewhere. And then she turns around and spends a chapter or two speculating about what Native American life must have been like in "ancient Native American" towns and societies (such as Cahokia). She begins a lot of paragraphs with "this probably happened" and "we think this happened" being presented as "factual in nature" when it is nothing more than theories on how life might have transpired in these ancient civilizations. I was laughing quite a bit in the beginning of the book because of these statements. It also shows how important we moderns consider the written word to be versus oral traditions or trying to interpret history in terms of pictographs, carvings, or other items used to record history. Eventually, though, she relies upon written records when discussing life amidst specific tribes, between different tribes, and with settlers moving west.
She has a big, generic bit about the earliest known Native American civilizations in North America, talking about one in the American Southwest as well as Cahokia (there were a couple of others, but my copy of the book is too far away from me to reach, and I am currently too lazy to walk over and grab it to use as a reference). Those were interesting chapters even if they were filled with an inordinate amount of speculation on her part due to the lack of written records. It was fascinating to learn how these ancient civilizations were able to live in environments that most modern people would probably consider to barren for a person to live, and how there was an abundance of resources to allow humans to live and even thrive (granted, methods were taken to preserve the land and not drain it dry of resources).
It was also fascinating to learn about how these various tribes interacted with each other on various levels. There were complex Native American politics, and warfare and being "bullies" were used far more than I expected or was presented to me in my classes. Bigger tribes preyed upon smaller tribes, and smaller tribes banded together to form alliances of mutual protection against the depredations of the bigger tribes. It was mildly amusing how the Indigenous capturing of slaves and kidnapping of other tribal members was justified as long as it occurred between tribes, but it was always intrinsically wrong when the Europeans (and later Americans) did it. She does not touch very much upon how tribes in the American Southwest would prey upon smaller, weaker tribes to sell members of those tribes into slavery to the Spanish once the Spanish took over the Aztec silver mines and slave trade after conquering the Aztec Empire.
I found myself enjoying the book far more than I expected (especially after her crapping on historians and their desire to find "written records" is to the exclusion of considering any other sources of information as valid or worthy of intention), which was a pleasant surprise. I thought by the end of the book she did a solid job of defending her thesis (that the Natives were never "victims" throughout most of their collective and individual tribal experiences with European settlers, and that the conquest of what became the United States of North America was never guaranteed to be a success). It turned out to be a good book; I might have some issues with it, still, but I am glad that I took a chance on reading this book (it was given to me as a gift by a lady from church, so that was cool; I figured I had better read it sooner rather than later 'cuz she kept asking me if I liked it, hahahah!). I don't know if I can quite rate it 4 stars, but I do think it was at least 3.3 stars rounded down (maybe 3.5, rounded down). I am glad I read this book.
December 20, 2025
I think it probable that I know significantly more than the average Anglo-American about the native peoples of what today is the US, southern Canada and northern Mexico. That's not saying much. Because, as much as I do know, I actually know next to nothing. I did know enough that the concept of a Noble Savage was hoakum to me. The concept of tribes as constantly warring and ignorant was only an Anglo excuse for committing genocide. And I knew the attacks on settlers by tribes were because the settlers were encroaching where they weren't supposed to be in the first place. The tribes were protecting their land. And I was keenly aware that it was intentional, malicious genocide on the part, not of just the settlers nor just the government, but of both. And it was a real and major effort to totally cancel the culture of native peoples. Anglo conservatives, stop whining. You are not experiencing Cancel Culture. You are experiencing merely minor discomfort. The indigineous peoples of the Americas experience Cancel Culture. Even today.
I learned so much from this book but still I know so little. What is most important, I understand some of today's challenges much better (still not a lot, but much better). I did not know the base for our Democracy was not from the Greek tradition as we were taught in school, but from the Northeastern Five Tribes Haudenosaunee Confederacy. I knew that as Iriquois and had never heard their name for themselves, but I digress. I did not know that irrigation was not brought to the western US by Mormons who got it from Egyptian history but that irrigation was practiced by the people already there for hundred of years before any European set foot in that region.
What I gained the most from was the discussion of the intertwinings of the relationship between the multitude of tribes and the US Government throught the Constitution, treaties and court decisions. What an incredibly immense and complex matrix!
I learned so much from this book but still I know so little. What is most important, I understand some of today's challenges much better (still not a lot, but much better). I did not know the base for our Democracy was not from the Greek tradition as we were taught in school, but from the Northeastern Five Tribes Haudenosaunee Confederacy. I knew that as Iriquois and had never heard their name for themselves, but I digress. I did not know that irrigation was not brought to the western US by Mormons who got it from Egyptian history but that irrigation was practiced by the people already there for hundred of years before any European set foot in that region.
What I gained the most from was the discussion of the intertwinings of the relationship between the multitude of tribes and the US Government throught the Constitution, treaties and court decisions. What an incredibly immense and complex matrix!
August 16, 2024
Kathleen gives a sweeping overview of history in this book, with lots of collaboration with native historians and a huge amount of research. She focuses on a few nations in particular but also zooms out to give you more context.
Some of the most eye-opening content for me was about ancient North American cities, and how deliberately the decentralization of dense urban and hierarchical societies along the Mississippi river and in the Southwest deserts led to smaller, more egalitarian structures of government. DuVal's narrative of the first 250 years of European colonization in North America points out that the diplomats of indigenous nations were the ones brokering the terms of much of the trade with settlers, and that the truly genocidal approach of US government did not come till later on.
I also really liked the chapters about invention of the Cherokee syllabary and written language, the quick success of Cherokee literacy, and the Phoenix newspaper that was published bilingually by Cherokee writers. I also had no idea that the Haudenosaunee nation itself declared war on Germany in World War 1.
As a west coast inhabitant, I hoped there would be more information about the history of California. DuVal does mention that California hosted "the continent's fastest and most purposeful genocide." But there are other books on that topic, and they are grim. Like many authors, DuVal points to native resilience through the hard times of removal, reservations, allotments, boarding schools, and federal termination.
I like the way DuVal weaves her narrative of history, connecting the past to modern events and people throughout, and leading up to a brief synopsis of native nations today, with their mosaic of contributions to the modern world despite being survivors of an often unrecognized federal and state-sanctioned genocide. There are many optimistic takes in the book; for example, even though English and European American cultural values were forced upon native kids during the dark times of mandatory boarding schools, kids from various native nations found solidarity with fellow kids from faraway regions and were able to connect with a common language.
I think it's got to be a huge task to write a thousand years of history about so many peoples and nations. DuVal does it in a very readable way.
Some of the most eye-opening content for me was about ancient North American cities, and how deliberately the decentralization of dense urban and hierarchical societies along the Mississippi river and in the Southwest deserts led to smaller, more egalitarian structures of government. DuVal's narrative of the first 250 years of European colonization in North America points out that the diplomats of indigenous nations were the ones brokering the terms of much of the trade with settlers, and that the truly genocidal approach of US government did not come till later on.
I also really liked the chapters about invention of the Cherokee syllabary and written language, the quick success of Cherokee literacy, and the Phoenix newspaper that was published bilingually by Cherokee writers. I also had no idea that the Haudenosaunee nation itself declared war on Germany in World War 1.
As a west coast inhabitant, I hoped there would be more information about the history of California. DuVal does mention that California hosted "the continent's fastest and most purposeful genocide." But there are other books on that topic, and they are grim. Like many authors, DuVal points to native resilience through the hard times of removal, reservations, allotments, boarding schools, and federal termination.
I like the way DuVal weaves her narrative of history, connecting the past to modern events and people throughout, and leading up to a brief synopsis of native nations today, with their mosaic of contributions to the modern world despite being survivors of an often unrecognized federal and state-sanctioned genocide. There are many optimistic takes in the book; for example, even though English and European American cultural values were forced upon native kids during the dark times of mandatory boarding schools, kids from various native nations found solidarity with fellow kids from faraway regions and were able to connect with a common language.
I think it's got to be a huge task to write a thousand years of history about so many peoples and nations. DuVal does it in a very readable way.
October 26, 2024
The Cundill History Prize Finalists
Native Nations: A Millennium in North America by Kathleen DuVal.
Reclaiming the last 1,000 years of Native North American history, Kathleen DuVal offers a revelatory account of the power and politics behind the Indigenous governments. Tracing the ancient roots of civilisations from formative areas such as the Mississippi Valley to the trials against life occurring during the Little Ice Age of the 13th century, DuVal pieces together the disintegration of larger governing into small-scale states that highlighted the importance of combined success and decision-making.
Leading to sophisticated structures of governance, these Indigenous communities are often presented convincingly to equally or outmatch their European counterparts. In turn this would create an array of interesting trade relationships as the settlers became fascinated by learning many profitable Indigenous ways.
An empowering book, DuVal successfully argues the rightful place of the Indigenous peoples, not as the long-cast victims of American history, but as the influential figures they deserve to be known as. Exceptionally researched and tastefully written, this book will appeal to all readers of the human being's history.
Native Nations is another worthy winner of this esteemed prize, which will be announced on 30 October 2024.
Native Nations: A Millennium in North America by Kathleen DuVal.
Reclaiming the last 1,000 years of Native North American history, Kathleen DuVal offers a revelatory account of the power and politics behind the Indigenous governments. Tracing the ancient roots of civilisations from formative areas such as the Mississippi Valley to the trials against life occurring during the Little Ice Age of the 13th century, DuVal pieces together the disintegration of larger governing into small-scale states that highlighted the importance of combined success and decision-making.
Leading to sophisticated structures of governance, these Indigenous communities are often presented convincingly to equally or outmatch their European counterparts. In turn this would create an array of interesting trade relationships as the settlers became fascinated by learning many profitable Indigenous ways.
An empowering book, DuVal successfully argues the rightful place of the Indigenous peoples, not as the long-cast victims of American history, but as the influential figures they deserve to be known as. Exceptionally researched and tastefully written, this book will appeal to all readers of the human being's history.
Native Nations is another worthy winner of this esteemed prize, which will be announced on 30 October 2024.
March 6, 2024
This is the part of American history that is missing from the history textbooks. The section that was most interesting was about Roanoke Colony, which I visited on a trip to the Outer Banks. The colony was settled by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585. Five years later, the 120 residents had all disappeared. John White, an artist, returned to the area and established a second colony which in 1587 and the residents from that settlement also went missing. Archeologists now believe that the settlers joined the Native American tribes as personal belongings have been found near the site of the Native American villages. This may have been the result of trading, but the evidence is that the settlers lived in these villages. It's an eerie story but the most interesting part to me is that john White painted beautiful watercolors of the Native Americans and the fauna in that area. Its a large contrast to the harsh life that settlers must have experienced. There is a small museum on the site that contains his artwork.
September 17, 2024
I was hoping for a more extensive education on the natives in this country. Although it makes sense that only a few could be concentrated on for logistical reasons, I found it extremely repetitive. Over and over again, the natives trusted the newcomers to their lands. Over and over again, the natives offered goods and services and expected reciprocity but were consistently deceived. The new people took everything and the natives always ended up trying to work with them and offer peace. It's maddening to see all the ruined treaties signed through manipulation and the movement of peoples to acceptable lands and then the changing of details after agreements and the ideas of reform based on religion or supposed wiser white man ways. It's sickening to discuss missions and boarding schools. What lies. I ended up skimming a good bit of the 2nd half of the book, reading bits of each paragraph, but not really willing to give more attention to it. I very very rarely will ignore parts of a book because all reads have great aspects within them. It just didn't have enough to dedicate myself, though I didn't quit and did finish the book so I'm glad. But I definitely wouldn't recommend it.
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