An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States

by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

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Book Overview: An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States

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

ISBN-13	97808070578349780807013076
ISBN-10	08070578350807013072
Publisher	Beacon PressBeacon Press
Publication Date	2015-08-112023
Edition	Reprint
Language	enen
Pages	320328
Dimensions	in x in x in
Weight	lbs

Editorial Reviews

“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

About the Author

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz is an acclaimed academic, historian, and feminist who has made significant contributions to the field of indigenous history. With an emphasis on Western Hemisphere and U.S. History, she has spent more than four decades investigating, teaching, and advocating for the rights of indigenous communities. Having earned a doctorate in history from the University of California, Los Angeles, her scholastic endeavors are grounded in her deep understanding and dedication to social justice issues.

An accomplished author, Dunbar-Ortiz has written and edited numerous influential books such as “An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States,” which received the 2015 American Book Award. Her innovative approach to historical narrative challenges the usual Eurocentric reading of history, carving out space for the voices and stories of Indigenous nations. Her body of work has greatly influenced scholars, activists, and students across the globe.

Beyond the academic realm, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz is known for her activism. A fervent advocate for civil rights, she co-founded the Women’s Liberation Movement in the late 1960s. She has also worked extensively with the International Indigenous Movement for the past four decades. Through her work as an educator, author, and advocate, Dunbar-Ortiz continues to inspire and bring to light the untold history of indigenous peoples.