As a non-American person, I don't see much media on the topic of Native-American history. I'd like to hear some reading suggestions, preferably works intended for a general audience, rather than academic texts. Thanks!
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown is the classic as far as I know.
I recently read A Sorrow in Our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh by Allan Eckert and I thought it was very digestible, read almost like a historical fiction would.
For a more novelized account of a historical event, I really thought that Ridgeline by Michael Punke was phenomenal. Its about the Battle of the Hundred in Hand aka the Fetterman Massacre by the author of The Revenant
TheGlitch41 on
omg “bury my heart at wounded knee” by dee brown changed my perspective completely. it’s heartbreaking but super accessible for anyone new to learning about indigenous history.
de_pizan23 on
1491 and 1493 by Charles Mann
Stolen Continents by Ronald Wright
Skull Wars by David Thomas Hurst
On specific tribes:
Cherokee Women by Theda Purdue
Shadow Tribe by Andrew Fisher
Selling Your Father’s Bones by Brian Schofield
jtm961 on
Try Pekka Hämäläinen’s _Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America_. Written by a fellow non-American who has made a huge impact on our understanding of Native American history.
ModernHaruspex on
An Indigenous People’s History of the United States is a book for a general audience written by an historian on the topic, though she is not Indigenous herself.
I also recommend Braiding Sweetgrass, which is by a scientist who is also a Native American writer and storyteller, Robin Wall Kimmerer. She’s lovely and the book is more about integrating Indigenous perspectives into a Westernized worldview. So less specific history than philosophy. It’s a very compassionate book.
If you’re interested in more philosophical or lyrical stuff, I also recommend picking up some Richard Wagamese.
Crafty_Praline726 on
Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas, by Mari Sandoz
dnthasslehof on
Killers of the flower Moon and Empire of the Summer Moon
GambonGambon on
The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and another David has a really great section about how European contact with Native Americans led to Enlightenment thought.
9 Comments
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown is the classic as far as I know.
I recently read A Sorrow in Our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh by Allan Eckert and I thought it was very digestible, read almost like a historical fiction would.
For a more novelized account of a historical event, I really thought that Ridgeline by Michael Punke was phenomenal. Its about the Battle of the Hundred in Hand aka the Fetterman Massacre by the author of The Revenant
omg “bury my heart at wounded knee” by dee brown changed my perspective completely. it’s heartbreaking but super accessible for anyone new to learning about indigenous history.
1491 and 1493 by Charles Mann
Stolen Continents by Ronald Wright
Skull Wars by David Thomas Hurst
On specific tribes:
Cherokee Women by Theda Purdue
Shadow Tribe by Andrew Fisher
Selling Your Father’s Bones by Brian Schofield
Try Pekka Hämäläinen’s _Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America_. Written by a fellow non-American who has made a huge impact on our understanding of Native American history.
An Indigenous People’s History of the United States is a book for a general audience written by an historian on the topic, though she is not Indigenous herself.
I also recommend Braiding Sweetgrass, which is by a scientist who is also a Native American writer and storyteller, Robin Wall Kimmerer. She’s lovely and the book is more about integrating Indigenous perspectives into a Westernized worldview. So less specific history than philosophy. It’s a very compassionate book.
If you’re interested in more philosophical or lyrical stuff, I also recommend picking up some Richard Wagamese.
Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas, by Mari Sandoz
Killers of the flower Moon and Empire of the Summer Moon
The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and another David has a really great section about how European contact with Native Americans led to Enlightenment thought.
Native Nations by Kathleen Duval