Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, a Graphic Interpretation

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States is a profound retelling of U.S. history, turning the hoary “nation of immigrants” narrative on its head.

This short, but dense, illustrated saga demonstrates what our country’s history looks like when Indigenous peoples are regarded as full human beings with the right of self-determination — and when we abandon the embrace of Manifest Destiny consistently baked into conventional curricula.

A typical “Oh, yeah, that’s right” passage from the book:

The invasion of Mexico has also been characterized as the FIRST U.S. ‘foreign’ war, but it was NOT. By 1846, the U.S. had INVADED, occupied, and ETHNICALLY CLEANSED dozens of foreign nations east of the Mississippi [i.e., Indigenous nations].

The book closes with a chapter “From Discovery to Sovereignty,” which is not a glib “things are getting better” conclusion, but offers hope and vision: “The Indigenous self-determination and sovereignty movement is not only TRANSFORMING Indigenous communities and nations but also, inevitably, the UNITED STATES.” (All emphases in the original.)

Are you teaching U.S. history? Read this book and rethink how you approach our past — and future. [Description from Rethinking Schools.]

ISBN: 9780807012680 | Beacon Press