Native Nations

A Millennium in North America

De: Kathleen DuVal

Narrado por: Carolina Hoyos

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.

History we should have learned.

This book writes the side of Native American history, and US history often left out of the lessons. Duval also reframes familiar events with the lens of a Native Nation, providing fascinating context and often disrupting long held assumptions and beliefs about those events and the people who made them happen. However, Duval always provides nuance and never skips over uncomfortable facts. Nor does she provide a one-sided view of US history with native nations. She is as forthcoming about some native nations being authoritarian, owning slaves, or having racist beliefs; just as she is forthcoming about the many disingenuous and dishonest actions of the United States government. This book also takes the reader to the modem day, as most of the dozens of native nations covered in this book are still here and just as modern.

amazing

nothing it was a comprehensive well told survey of native american history. every american should know this history

Eye opening. Liberating.

Inconvenient truths that can free us from our entrenched epistemological ignorance. Grateful for all those whose labor and insight had made this work possible.

Outstanding book -both narrative and narrator

The author tells the story in a clear, comprehensible, and well-documented narrative. Outstanding narrator. Really enjoyed listening to this book though the story is shameful for the Euro-American descendants. It should never be forgotten that we live on stolen lands

About time

About time I heard a story from the Native point of view!! It helps the author mentioned my Lumbee Nation, now federally recognized after a century and millions in lawyer fees. Just to tell everyone what they tried to forget!!