An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States

De: Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Narrado por: Shaun Taylor-Corbett

New York Times Bestseller

This American Book Award winning title about Native American struggle and resistance radically reframes more than 400 years of US history

A New York Times Bestseller and the basis for the HBO docu-series Exterminate All the Brutes, directed by Raoul Peck, this 10th anniversary edition of An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States includes both a new foreword by Peck and a new introduction by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz.

Unflinchingly honest about the brutality of this nation’s founding and its legacy of settler-colonialism and genocide, the impact of Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s 2014 book is profound. This classic is revisited with new material that takes an incisive look at the post-Obama era from the war in Afghanistan to Charlottesville’s white supremacy-fueled rallies, and from the onset of the pandemic to the election of President Biden. Writing from the perspective of the peoples displaced by Europeans and their white descendants, she centers Indigenous voices over the course of four centuries, tracing their perseverance against policies intended to obliterate them.

Today in the United States, there are more than five hundred federally recognized Indigenous nations comprising nearly three million people, descendants of the fifteen million Native people who once inhabited this land. The centuries-long genocidal program of the US settler-colonial regimen has largely been omitted from history. With a new foreword from Raoul Peck and a new introduction from Dunbar Ortiz, this classic bottom-up peoples’ history explodes the silences that have haunted our national narrative.

Big Concept Myths
That America's founding was a revolution against colonial powers in pursuit of freedom from tyranny
That Native people were passive, didn’t resist and no longer exist
That the US is a “nation of immigrants” as opposed to having a racist settler colonial history

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Meticulously documented, this thought-provoking treatise is sure to generate discussion.”
—Booklist

“Justice-seekers everywhere will celebrate Dunbar-Ortiz’s unflinching commitment to truth—a truth that places settler-colonialism and genocide exactly where they belong: as foundational to the existence of the United States.”
—Waziyatawin, PhD, activist and author of For Indigenous Minds Only

“An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States helped me clarify my place in this country. . . . This book is necessary reading if we are to move into a more humane future.”
—Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street

“[An] essential historical reference for all Americans.”
—Peterson Zah, former president of the Navajo Nation

“A must-read for anyone interested in the truth behind this nation’s founding.”
—Veronica E. Velarde Tiller, PhD, Jicarilla Apache author and publisher of Tiller’s Guide to Indian Country

“This may well be the most important US history book you will read in your lifetime. . . . Here, rendered in honest, often poetic words, is the story of those tracks and the people who survived—bloodied but unbowed. Spoiler alert: the colonial era is still here, and so are the Indians.”
—Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams

“[P]ulls up the paving stones and lays bare the deep history of the United States . . . If the United States is a ‘crime scene,’ as she calls it, then Dunbar-Ortiz is its forensic scientist.”
—Vijay Prashad, author of The Poorer Nations

“Dunbar-Ortiz strips us of our forged innocence [and] shocks us into new awarenesses.”
—Bill Ayers, author of Public Enemy

“[A] fiercely honest, unwavering, and unprecedented statement.”
—Simon J. Ortiz, Regents Professor of English and American Indian Studies, Arizona State University

“[A] masterful story that relates what the Indigenous peoples of the United States have always maintained: against the settler US nation, Indigenous peoples have persevered against actions and policies intended to exterminate them, whether physically, mentally, or intellectually.”
—Jennifer Nez Denetdale, author of Reclaiming Diné History

A must listen

So important for everyone in the US to learn the real history. The truth needs to be embraced.

The Real History of our Nation

This book should be a requirement for all US History classes throughout America. We were never taught any of this when I was in school. Everyone should read this book.

Important education

I have vivid memories of my early US history lessons, and I wasn’t aware at the time how deeply entrenched in colonial myths I was. I am grateful to be one step further educated, as disgusting as the real story is, and I find myself wondering what my next step will be in the direction of taking responsibility for living in and benefiting from such atrocities.

Hard Truth I Needed to Hear

As a man with Scotch Irish roots, this book hit me in a way I did not expect. I grew up hearing the usual talk about “frontiersmen” and “settlers,” but Dunbar Ortiz pulls the curtain back and shows how many of my own ancestors were used as tools. Poor, angry, desperate people pushed forward as a human shield while someone else cashed in and wrote the heroic version later. I felt that in my gut. It was like finally being told the part of the family story everyone leaves out.

What I loved is that this book does not just bash America for the sake of it. It is honest. It is detailed. It shows how the entire system was built on deception, land theft, and broken promises, and it never tries to soften that. At the same time, it points out moments where Indigenous people came out ahead in certain battles or legal fights, where there was real resistance and real wins. That matters. It keeps Native people from being framed only as victims and shows them as nations and humans who fought, adapted, survived.

By the time I finished, I felt grief, anger, and also clarity. If you are ready to let go of the comforting myths and actually learn what was done on this land and who paid the price for it, including people like my own ancestors, this is worth your time. I will be thinking about this one for a long time.

Powerful, eye-opening, and necessary.

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States completely reshaped how I understand American history. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz tells the truth with unflinching honesty and deep respect for Indigenous voices. It’s not an easy read emotionally, but it’s essential — challenging the myths we were taught and revealing the ongoing resilience of Native peoples. Every chapter feels like a step toward seeing the past (and present) more clearly. Everyone should read this.