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An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873
The first full account of the government-sanctioned genocide of California Indians under United States rule
Winner of the 2016 Los Angeles Times Book Award for History and a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice
“Gruesomely thorough. . . . Others have described some of these campaigns, but never in such strong terms and with so much blame placed directly on the United States government.”—Alexander Nazaryan, Newsweek
Between 1846 and 1873, California’s Indian population plunged from perhaps 150,000 to 30,000. Benjamin Madley is the first historian to uncover the full extent of the slaughter, the involvement of state and federal officials, the taxpayer dollars that supported the violence, indigenous resistance, who did the killing, and why the killings ended. This deeply researched book is a comprehensive and chilling history of an American genocide.
Madley describes pre-contact California and precursors to the genocide before explaining how the Gold Rush stirred vigilante violence against California Indians. He narrates the rise of a state-sanctioned killing machine and the broad societal, judicial, and political support for genocide. Many vigilantes, volunteer state militiamen, U.S. Army soldiers, U.S. congressmen, California governors, and others. The state and federal governments spent at least $1,700,000 on campaigns against California Indians. Besides evaluating government officials’ culpability, Madley considers why the slaughter constituted genocide and how other possible genocides within and beyond the Americas might be investigated using the methods presented in this groundbreaking book.
Winner of the 2016 Los Angeles Times Book Award for History and a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice
“Gruesomely thorough. . . . Others have described some of these campaigns, but never in such strong terms and with so much blame placed directly on the United States government.”—Alexander Nazaryan, Newsweek
Between 1846 and 1873, California’s Indian population plunged from perhaps 150,000 to 30,000. Benjamin Madley is the first historian to uncover the full extent of the slaughter, the involvement of state and federal officials, the taxpayer dollars that supported the violence, indigenous resistance, who did the killing, and why the killings ended. This deeply researched book is a comprehensive and chilling history of an American genocide.
Madley describes pre-contact California and precursors to the genocide before explaining how the Gold Rush stirred vigilante violence against California Indians. He narrates the rise of a state-sanctioned killing machine and the broad societal, judicial, and political support for genocide. Many vigilantes, volunteer state militiamen, U.S. Army soldiers, U.S. congressmen, California governors, and others. The state and federal governments spent at least $1,700,000 on campaigns against California Indians. Besides evaluating government officials’ culpability, Madley considers why the slaughter constituted genocide and how other possible genocides within and beyond the Americas might be investigated using the methods presented in this groundbreaking book.
712 pages, Hardcover
First published April 26, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
February 8, 2024
I’ll give this the same review I gave Bad Mexicans: Fuck the United States of America.
June 23, 2016
Wow! What an eye opening book! I had no idea the depth of terror the Native Californians endured at the hands of the white invaders. The author outlines the definition of genocide and points out each instance where those definitions fit the actions of the soldiers and vigilantes not only because of their personal hatred of the Indian, but because the government sanctioned and encouraged extermination. By the time this book was finished, I was horrified to the point of tears. The killing went on for decades, and when it was done, there wasn't much left of the age old cultures that had inhabited that region for millennia. This is the book that should be required reading for all high school US history classes when it comes to the history of the Wild West.
October 28, 2021
This is a book that is sickening and repulsive to read. Mr. Madley’s documentation about what happened to California Indians during this time period makes a person realize that the early white Americans were no better and were sometimes worse than Nazis in WWII. He also mentions from anecdotal evidence, that when they were not killed, California Indians were enslaved and treated worse than black slaves in the South. It was not only Americans who did this to California Indians, but Mexicans and Russians and other nationalities. And it was government sanctioned genocide and slavery that Americans practiced; mainly the white California government, but the Federal government assisted in the genocide with funds and lack of action and with land grants for Indian killers. Federal government soldiers also took part in Indian killing. Like the Nazis, Californians passed many laws that from this distance in history look like the same kind of laws passed against Jews in Germany in WWII. In massacre after massacre, the book mentions that there were often few or no white deaths and/or very few injuries to the white attackers, indicating the usual one sided nature of the genocidal actions. It was rifles against bows and arrows typically. Just one of the ways that additional cruelty was exhibited, was the passage of an 1854 law that made it illegal to sell or transfer guns to Indians(which was in effect until 1913). The influx of thousands of white immigrants depleted the land of formerly abundant food animals, such that bows and arrows no longer were adequate and Indian starvation was the result, especially without rifles.
Here is a typical newspaper quote in the book, from the March 26, 1853 Shasta Courier: “They must be whipped – if needs be, exterminated, hunted through the mountains and shot down without mercy. What are the lives of a hundred of these savages to the life of a single American citizen? Their total annihilation is certain, and it is now but a question of time—whether that event shall not be hastened by a war of extermination waged by the whites.” The book is filled with similar quotes from other California newspapers, calling for the extermination of Indians.
I thought the writing in this book was not good, and consisted of page after page of quotes from reports and other correspondence written in the era. However, the subject matter was important in that most people in the U.S. don’t know how our ancestors in California were no better than Nazis. 2 stars for the writing, 4 stars for the subject, thus the 3 star rating for the book.
10/28/21 -https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/27/us...
The article above mentions another book regarding the California Indian massacres, Murder State: California’s Native American Genocide, 1846-1873, by Brendan Lindsay
Here is a typical newspaper quote in the book, from the March 26, 1853 Shasta Courier: “They must be whipped – if needs be, exterminated, hunted through the mountains and shot down without mercy. What are the lives of a hundred of these savages to the life of a single American citizen? Their total annihilation is certain, and it is now but a question of time—whether that event shall not be hastened by a war of extermination waged by the whites.” The book is filled with similar quotes from other California newspapers, calling for the extermination of Indians.
I thought the writing in this book was not good, and consisted of page after page of quotes from reports and other correspondence written in the era. However, the subject matter was important in that most people in the U.S. don’t know how our ancestors in California were no better than Nazis. 2 stars for the writing, 4 stars for the subject, thus the 3 star rating for the book.
10/28/21 -https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/27/us...
The article above mentions another book regarding the California Indian massacres, Murder State: California’s Native American Genocide, 1846-1873, by Brendan Lindsay
May 19, 2017
Wow. This book was dry and detailed but hard-hitting. Don't be intimidated by the size - almost half of it is footnotes and a thorough listing of ALL the recorded deaths of California Native Americans at the hands of white settlers (as well as all the recorded deaths of white settlers at the hands of Native Americans - a much shorter list). This book lays out the argument that genocide was committed against Native Americans in California, something I didn't think was controversial but apparently it is. If this book doesn't convince you, I'm not sure what will. The book gives an extremely detailed picture of how laws (about voting, employment, and other rights), white vigilantes, state-sponsored militias, reservations, and the support of the federal government all combined to produce genocide ("extermination" was the word used at the time).
My main take-away from the book was: White people with power are pretty terrible.
I'll spare you some of the gory details (of which the book is full) but to give an example of the way this issue was being discussed at the time:
"Two San Francisco newspapers now openly condoned genocide. The Daily Alta California asserted that 'since the existence and persistence of one race implies the annihilation of the other, we are content that the red men should be that 'other.''"
4 stars instead of 5 because the writing is kind of repetitive.
My main take-away from the book was: White people with power are pretty terrible.
I'll spare you some of the gory details (of which the book is full) but to give an example of the way this issue was being discussed at the time:
"Two San Francisco newspapers now openly condoned genocide. The Daily Alta California asserted that 'since the existence and persistence of one race implies the annihilation of the other, we are content that the red men should be that 'other.''"
4 stars instead of 5 because the writing is kind of repetitive.
July 27, 2019
"A war of extermination will continue to be waged between the races, until the Indian race becomes extinct." California Governor Peter H Burnett, 1851
California with US Federal support and financial backing was on a war path in the third quarter of the 19th century to exterminate the American Indian population of California. It was brutal and pursued without regret. The Indians were 150,000 in 1847, and thirty years later were at the 20,000-30,000 range. Indians were enslaved, starved, massacred, sold , and just killed almost like a sport.
There is nothing pretty about this book. It's detailed, and gruesome, and almost written like a text book. It is readable, and heartbreaking. California takes pride in being the seventh largest economy in the world, and maintaining a left of center outlook, but their schools do not teach their kids this part of the history.
California with US Federal support and financial backing was on a war path in the third quarter of the 19th century to exterminate the American Indian population of California. It was brutal and pursued without regret. The Indians were 150,000 in 1847, and thirty years later were at the 20,000-30,000 range. Indians were enslaved, starved, massacred, sold , and just killed almost like a sport.
There is nothing pretty about this book. It's detailed, and gruesome, and almost written like a text book. It is readable, and heartbreaking. California takes pride in being the seventh largest economy in the world, and maintaining a left of center outlook, but their schools do not teach their kids this part of the history.
November 28, 2017
A definitive and detailed history of the systematic extermination of the native peoples of California. His research was meticulous, including much material from newspapers of the time and even the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion (California regiments didn't go to the war back east but did accelerate the killing). He begins, as he should, with the abusive Spanish -- and Russian -- colonial outposts but shows, in excruciating detail, how it became systematic genocide once Americans started arriving in the 1840s, and continuing only until there were few people left to exterminate. He shows, over and over, that it wasn't just an organized effort by military or militia units but a spontaneous effort by the civilian settlers generally. He also tells how the collateral evils of rape and enslavement accompanied the killings.
It's not easy reading, but it's an important contribution to U.S. history and that of California and the West. It's not taught much in U.S. or California schools -- and, he notes in summation, there's still a lot of denialism among historians. It does show, however, a side of American history that needs telling, if only because it shows how a holocaust can start, can be sustained by a common mind-set, rationalized, and then, afterward, largely forgotten or put aside. Highly recommend.
It's not easy reading, but it's an important contribution to U.S. history and that of California and the West. It's not taught much in U.S. or California schools -- and, he notes in summation, there's still a lot of denialism among historians. It does show, however, a side of American history that needs telling, if only because it shows how a holocaust can start, can be sustained by a common mind-set, rationalized, and then, afterward, largely forgotten or put aside. Highly recommend.
December 15, 2016
This book is a long and thorough chronicle of Indian genocide at the hands of white Americans. it is not an easy read but Madley has been supremely thorough in documenting incidents of deliberate mass extermination. The premise of Madley's book is that by the 20th century legal definition the destruction of California Indians is a genocide. By doing so, Madley invites us to reconsider 19th century American history.
August 9, 2016
Well done! Well researched and an important read
Ben Madley's book is an important one and highlights a period not often discussed in California history. He highlights key ways that the state of California sponsored violence, assault, and murder on indigenous/first peoples of California. It is a heavy read, but an important one!
Ben Madley's book is an important one and highlights a period not often discussed in California history. He highlights key ways that the state of California sponsored violence, assault, and murder on indigenous/first peoples of California. It is a heavy read, but an important one!
November 7, 2021
I rarely write reviews, because I feel that others have already covered the ground that my thoughts have led me. However, this book was so compelling that I am taking the time to write a review.
I am a history nerd. I am also a fifth generation Californian. One of my ancestors was literally a 49'er in the Marysville, CA area. I've always been proud of that. We'd been here a long time! We were pioneers! Great!
Well, not so much. They might have been murderers. In fact, it's pretty likely.
My reading the past few years has occasionally wandered into California history. I've read Life in a California Mission: Monterey in 1786: The Journals of Jean François de la Pérouse, as well as sections of Testimonios: Early California Through the Eyes of Women, 1815-1848. I learned about the Konkow Trail of Tears https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nome_Cu... as a middle-aged adult . Bear in mind that the Konkow Trail of Tears started in my home town of Chico, CA, near where I went to junior high and high school. Incredibly this was never mentioned in 13 years of public school education. We did read Ishi, Last of His Tribe in junior high, but I don't remember any discussion of why he was the last of his tribe or why they were hiding in the hills near Oroville, CA for decades, beyond "the Indians died of disease." It's possible that this was discussed, and my hormone-riddled mind just didn't retain it, but I was a burgeoning (and I say this with mild irony) SJW even at age 14, so I think I'd remember it. There was a Mechoopda cemetery in Chico, but there was never any discussion of why the only Indians around town were actually dead, and buried in a separate location as the white people.
The point of this diatribe is this: The story that Californians, and by extension, Americans, have been telling themselves about who we are as a people has been a comforting lie for many generations. Mr. Madley has brilliantly done the work of documenting the truth of what we did, and what we thought about what we did during the California settlement through meticulous research in government documents, contemporary newspapers, personal letters, and first-hand sources. The facts are undeniable. It's there in black and white. To try to make sense of these horrors of murder, land theft, concentration camps, slavery, and the removal of children from their tribal families, he presents it in the framework of meeting UN definitions for genocide, which makes for some emotionally hard reading, but definitely works. That being said, it took me months to finish this book, because it was just so damn hard to take it all in. To repeatedly read of heart-wrenching, totally unnecessary tragedies inflicted by "ordinary people" who were also capable of great evil is some difficult work. Still, I think it is work that we as humans should do, and I think that everyone should read this book.
As a side note, I honestly haven't taken a deep dive into learning about the Critical Race Theory that conservatives have their panties in a bunch about, but we must tell our children the truth about our nation's past. No one should learn the mostly sugar-coated fictional stuff that I learned: Father Serra taught the Indians to farm; Johann Sutter was a great guy; the 49'ers were brave, intrepid adventurers; the North Coast loggers were strong, hardy men who tamed the Redwood Forest with their hands etc.
"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32
Thank you, Mr. Benjamin Madley, for this brilliant book.
I am a history nerd. I am also a fifth generation Californian. One of my ancestors was literally a 49'er in the Marysville, CA area. I've always been proud of that. We'd been here a long time! We were pioneers! Great!
Well, not so much. They might have been murderers. In fact, it's pretty likely.
My reading the past few years has occasionally wandered into California history. I've read Life in a California Mission: Monterey in 1786: The Journals of Jean François de la Pérouse, as well as sections of Testimonios: Early California Through the Eyes of Women, 1815-1848. I learned about the Konkow Trail of Tears https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nome_Cu... as a middle-aged adult . Bear in mind that the Konkow Trail of Tears started in my home town of Chico, CA, near where I went to junior high and high school. Incredibly this was never mentioned in 13 years of public school education. We did read Ishi, Last of His Tribe in junior high, but I don't remember any discussion of why he was the last of his tribe or why they were hiding in the hills near Oroville, CA for decades, beyond "the Indians died of disease." It's possible that this was discussed, and my hormone-riddled mind just didn't retain it, but I was a burgeoning (and I say this with mild irony) SJW even at age 14, so I think I'd remember it. There was a Mechoopda cemetery in Chico, but there was never any discussion of why the only Indians around town were actually dead, and buried in a separate location as the white people.
The point of this diatribe is this: The story that Californians, and by extension, Americans, have been telling themselves about who we are as a people has been a comforting lie for many generations. Mr. Madley has brilliantly done the work of documenting the truth of what we did, and what we thought about what we did during the California settlement through meticulous research in government documents, contemporary newspapers, personal letters, and first-hand sources. The facts are undeniable. It's there in black and white. To try to make sense of these horrors of murder, land theft, concentration camps, slavery, and the removal of children from their tribal families, he presents it in the framework of meeting UN definitions for genocide, which makes for some emotionally hard reading, but definitely works. That being said, it took me months to finish this book, because it was just so damn hard to take it all in. To repeatedly read of heart-wrenching, totally unnecessary tragedies inflicted by "ordinary people" who were also capable of great evil is some difficult work. Still, I think it is work that we as humans should do, and I think that everyone should read this book.
As a side note, I honestly haven't taken a deep dive into learning about the Critical Race Theory that conservatives have their panties in a bunch about, but we must tell our children the truth about our nation's past. No one should learn the mostly sugar-coated fictional stuff that I learned: Father Serra taught the Indians to farm; Johann Sutter was a great guy; the 49'ers were brave, intrepid adventurers; the North Coast loggers were strong, hardy men who tamed the Redwood Forest with their hands etc.
"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32
Thank you, Mr. Benjamin Madley, for this brilliant book.
March 2, 2025
It was an eye opener. Not that we didn’t know things like this happen. But seriously, what horrible things humans are capable of is terrifying. This book was written so anyone could understand. I recommend this book to everyone.
July 24, 2017
That. Was. Thoroughly. Disturbing. Indians were basically plantation slaves under the Spanish. When the US settlers arrived (down from Oregon and across the Great Basin) they didn't like paying farmworkers and servants, either. And when gold was discovered Indians were either on land the miners wanted or worked for them mining gold. But the 49ers all came heavily armed. That made it easy to take California from the Mexicans, and since they feared Indians, made it much easier to prey on them and kill them. The new government was set up to give Indians no rights. Their testimony in a court had as much weight as a madman's. They could be bought and sold, dismissed when the harvest was over. And if they stole a cow to feed their village, they should be taught the lesson never to do it again. Soon after California became a US state the politicians got the US to provide guns and payment for citizen militias, which paid a man much better than panning for gold. And who cares if a few squaws and pappooses died along with the bucks. Madley absolutely makes the case for genocide. The killing only slowed down when the US government won't pay for militias a few years after the Civil War, and when Congress passed the 13th Amendment (involuntary servitude was still legal as punishment for a crime), and prohibited debt peonage.
December 4, 2017
This is a very important book and seems incredibly well researched. However, I stopped reading about halfway through it. I'm glad I read that much of it. I've been reading about treatment of the Indians in the West but had never known what happened to the California Indians. I now know and agree with the author that a genocide took place in California, beginning in earnest about the time of the gold rush in the mid-1800s. But the book is excruciatingly detailed, and because my husband had already read it and we had discussed the overall events, I felt my time might be better spent reading something else.
As a former college-textbook editor, I also was frustrated with the book's lack of discipline. Reading through the preface, I'd gotten the impression that a couple dozen people had added their two cents' worth, creating a monster of repetition and overly fussy sentences. It wouldn't necessarily be easy to convert, but the book has the meat for a horrifying narrative history, which would make its argument and information much more palatable for other readers.
As a former college-textbook editor, I also was frustrated with the book's lack of discipline. Reading through the preface, I'd gotten the impression that a couple dozen people had added their two cents' worth, creating a monster of repetition and overly fussy sentences. It wouldn't necessarily be easy to convert, but the book has the meat for a horrifying narrative history, which would make its argument and information much more palatable for other readers.
August 1, 2025
I cried reading this, a lot.
What made me the angriest was how alike the federal funding of the genocide machine is to so many moments in our history, especially right now, when it feels like the mercenary "private contractor" army has been taken to a degree that is unique in history in it's scope, and is following a fairly typical historical path for mercenary armies -- longer, bloodier, costlier wars, more focus on civilians, women and children, and more of them.
I'm depressed. It's not that the general thrust of genocide is new, but I've deliberately skipped several chances to take a good look at it. I rather wish I hadn't done so now, but new material for the mind will either break you or make you stronger, so let's use this fire to temper.
In that spirit, yeah, I recommend it.
Edit 2025: If suffering ever tempered me, I am long past brittled and broken.
What made me the angriest was how alike the federal funding of the genocide machine is to so many moments in our history, especially right now, when it feels like the mercenary "private contractor" army has been taken to a degree that is unique in history in it's scope, and is following a fairly typical historical path for mercenary armies -- longer, bloodier, costlier wars, more focus on civilians, women and children, and more of them.
I'm depressed. It's not that the general thrust of genocide is new, but I've deliberately skipped several chances to take a good look at it. I rather wish I hadn't done so now, but new material for the mind will either break you or make you stronger, so let's use this fire to temper.
In that spirit, yeah, I recommend it.
Edit 2025: If suffering ever tempered me, I am long past brittled and broken.
September 12, 2018
A scholarly work that answers the question should the word "genocide" be used when referring to the Native American experience with European expansion in California during the mid-1800's and were these events sponsored at state and federal levels.
Spoiler alert: The answer is yes
This book reads like a reference manual and is relentless in its depictions of often hair raising atrocities against Native Americans. It is a dark read but important especially for anyone wanting to argue the case of genocide in America.
I especially appreciated the paper trails listed in the book that connect the dots between the federal and state governments proving partnership with local militia and vigilantes who directly committed genocide against Native Americans.
As a California Native American, I found this book to be a vindication and acknowledgment.
Spoiler alert: The answer is yes
This book reads like a reference manual and is relentless in its depictions of often hair raising atrocities against Native Americans. It is a dark read but important especially for anyone wanting to argue the case of genocide in America.
I especially appreciated the paper trails listed in the book that connect the dots between the federal and state governments proving partnership with local militia and vigilantes who directly committed genocide against Native Americans.
As a California Native American, I found this book to be a vindication and acknowledgment.
June 17, 2016
This book reads like a thesis, especially the first chapter. It's written by an academic, for academics. I would have preferred something more relatable from an author who was good at relaying reliable research, who can still manage to be a good storyteller. I skipped some sections because I was having trouble paying attention. However, I thought that 1491 was pretty dry, and many people disagree with me about that. So, I feel certain other people won't find this as dry as I did.
Extremely well researched, this book provides and incredible amount of information on an extremely important topic.
Extremely well researched, this book provides and incredible amount of information on an extremely important topic.
October 27, 2017
Heartbreaking—makes you want to turn back the hands of time and have it not be this way. Madley has done yeoman's research and documented every atrocity against California Indians, aka native Americans. This is a powerful document that every Californian, every student of American history, should read. Madley details the definition of, and debate over, "genocide" and "extermination" and there is little argument that what the American government did to Indians was explicit state-sponsored extermination of native peoples. While we are re-considering Confederate monuments on public land, we might do the same for monuments of those guilty of these crimes against humanity.
June 2, 2017
This book documents an extremely important history. But unfortunately, it's written more as a collection of facts than as a book, which makes it very difficult to get through while retaining anything beyond the most general points. It's likely more valuable for specialists—which I think is unfortunate, because a generally accessible treatment of this topic would be very meaningful.
September 3, 2020
An important and very gruesome and thus difficult to read accounting of treatment of Native Californians by white colonists. Especially disturbing as I grew up in and still live in an area referred to multiple times in the book yet had heard almost nothing of the events described.
February 1, 2023
There was an extensive amount of research and new history to me but the writing was only okay
February 6, 2025
3.85 ⭐️
A comprehensive deep-dive into the indiscriminate slaughter and genocide of California Indians. Originally a piece of research conducted by my UCLA professor Benjamin Madley, he resolved to transform it into a novel that can be read like one. While it certainly suffers from the dryness that comes with reading an academic paper, it was still an enjoyable read that taught me a lot.
A comprehensive deep-dive into the indiscriminate slaughter and genocide of California Indians. Originally a piece of research conducted by my UCLA professor Benjamin Madley, he resolved to transform it into a novel that can be read like one. While it certainly suffers from the dryness that comes with reading an academic paper, it was still an enjoyable read that taught me a lot.
April 16, 2021
Mostly a history based on existing settler records of genocide in California from 1848-1871. This is highly detailed account of how vigilante, state & federal actors produced wars of extermination against the various indigenous nations of California in the midst of gold and land fever. The author relies heavily on the UN definition of genocide and repeatedly circles back to the letter of international law to make a kind of judicial case for what happened in California as genocide. I am sure this is very meaningful for California nations’ legal claims, but it’s also a little limiting. Nevertheless this is a very informative book.
April 3, 2018
This book is outstanding. While I had a general sense of US policy and practice towards Native Americans as brutal and racist (Trail of Tears, etc.), Madley presents really exhaustive information documenting just how systematic, violent and deliberate white Americans were in eliminating the Native American population (it dropped from 150K to 30K in just over 20 years; a staggering amount). He seems to have read every single newspaper or courtroom account of an Indian massacre or murder, but is skillful in how he presents and organizes the chapters. It is tough to read (lots of accounts of children being murdered as their mothers hold them). He's also careful in his final chapter about connecting the dots according to the legal standard of genocide. He notes the ways in which laws supported these actions (multiple acts passed by the state or federal governments that empowered and funded militias for the sole purpose of hunting Indians; creation of servitude/slavery status for Indians--worse than they had it when California was Mexican territory; legal diminishment of Indians' testimony in the courtroom, thus incentivizing consequence-free violence against Native Americans). Rhetoric in newspapers and public debates is also clearly genocidal in tone ("extermination," "concentration camps," and endless dehumanizing words and phrases). In other words, he concludes (totally persuasively to me), just because there's no single Hitler figure in California doesn't make this any less fitting of the title of genocide. He's careful not to over-c0nclude; he argues that these kinds of case studies should be conducted throughout the nation. But there are enough hints in this account (plenty of the NA hunters come from campaigns out east) that it seems likely that this isn't simply a California phenomenon. One warning: this book started out as a dissertation, and is daunting (600 pages!) to read. But almost half of that is an appendix (listing the massacres), notes and index, so the actual text is about 350 pages. I wish he would get a contract with a major publisher to rewrite this for a general audience, because I think this is a crucial story that needs the widest audience possible; we clearly still live with the effects of this genocide.
August 5, 2020
I read this in Madley's class, History of American Indians from 19th century to present. This was a good history book! It has a lot of truth, especially exposing a lot of the atrocities of the California Indian Genocide. What I'm remembering now from it though is that it quoted so much from white men, which bothered me. If this is a history about Native people it should have more Native voices. However, I understand that like 1) our education system and records probably have so much more access to white narratives/quotes and 2) there's a lot of erasure about who is connected to specific events due to a bunch of reasons (silence conditioning of boarding schools, denying Native identity to save your children from BIA boarding schools, death of anyone who was at the event, etc.). A praise of this book is how Madley talks about the UN Definition of Genocide, and claims the tragedy against California Indians as genocide, which is totally true. That was something I didn't really know before this class. The UN definition of genocide helps us realize the intensity of these calamities. It also helped me think about how the treatment of Africans and African-Americans in the centuries from the Middle Passage and even through the Jim Crow time was actually genocide, and it seems like no one ever talks about that. Or at least I've never heard of it referred to as genocide. Genocide is a really heavy word, and I think our education systems purposefully avoided using it when talking about the treatment of Black people to disguise its severity and absolve guilt. You should look up the UN definition of genocide! Very thorough, I think. This book is totally worth the read, especially since I'm an American Indian Studies major!
February 11, 2017
Clear and concise writing, with a clear and well-argued thesis! It has spurned a lot of debate by entering the fray of what terms to use in regards to US treatment of American Indians, and it thoroughly succeeds in proving that, at least in California, the action of the US towards Native Americans can and should be called genocide.
Just as important, Madley sets up a methodology that can be applied to individual local and regional cases throughout US history, which allows us to see when genocide occurred as opposed to ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, etc.
A crucial weakness is its lack of Native American perspectives/voices throughout. By not adding them into a history about their genocide, Madley unfortunately contributes to the myth of the "vanishing Indian," which is at best not true, and at worst harmful. While it doesn't seem to be his intent to do this, the lack of perspective inevitably contributes to this view, no matter of his intent, in contrast to the use of that word in relation to genocide.
Just as important, Madley sets up a methodology that can be applied to individual local and regional cases throughout US history, which allows us to see when genocide occurred as opposed to ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, etc.
A crucial weakness is its lack of Native American perspectives/voices throughout. By not adding them into a history about their genocide, Madley unfortunately contributes to the myth of the "vanishing Indian," which is at best not true, and at worst harmful. While it doesn't seem to be his intent to do this, the lack of perspective inevitably contributes to this view, no matter of his intent, in contrast to the use of that word in relation to genocide.
September 15, 2018
This book will forever change your image of sunny California. It helped me understand the Japanese American concentration camps of World War 2 (in which my parents were incarcerated) as an inevitable phenomenon, a trickle of racism flowing down a gorge carved out by the bodies of hundreds of thousands of California's Indigenous peoples. Read this book, and please change the history books that glorify the likes of Junipero Serra and Johann Sutter, fascists who enslaved and tortured Native Americans (the latter fed his victims from troughs and raped little children.) "An American Genocide" offers a detailed, documented account of U.S. capitalism at its rapacious worst. It also illuminates the ongoing militance and spiritual integrity of the Native nations who are leading the worldwide struggle to save Mother Earth, and all of us, including the descendants of their ancestor's oppressors.
October 20, 2017
Heartbreaking
After the pipeline sellout by Trump we slide into the same abyss. The same white supremacy genocide, of people and culture.
After the pipeline sellout by Trump we slide into the same abyss. The same white supremacy genocide, of people and culture.
November 15, 2020
Hoe do you assign stars to a book describing and documenting the genocide of most of California's native peoples? This was not a fun read, but it was edifying on many levels. Sickening on all levels. It is very hard to reconcile the ideals the USA was founded on, with the country's actions from per-Colonial days up to the present time. Everyone should read this book, but it is hard, hard rading.
October 17, 2016
Review: https://www.thenation.com/article/nam...
More on other California Indians http://daily.jstor.org/juana-maria-bl...
More on other California Indians http://daily.jstor.org/juana-maria-bl...
December 26, 2016
Well written in exposing the truth of the United States of America and that we are hypocrites in not admitting to these and other atrocities in colonizing the americas. And the government still does not honor treaties that were signed.
May 5, 2016
exemplary.
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