Indigenous history

Canada Day Festivities Spark Controversy over National History

The dispossession of indigenous peoples and the exclusion of Chinese immigrants are among the historical episodes that have complicated the celebration of Canadian nationhood in recent years. 

"Indigenous Continent" Seeks Shakeup of American History

by Sean T. Byrnes

Pekka Hämäläinen seeks to frame the history of North America in terms of the indigenous peoples who settled the continent before the arrival of Europeans and, crucially, continued to dominate the continent into the nineteenth century. 

Caroline Dodds Pennock on The Indigenous Americans Who Visited Europe

by Karin Wulf

In contrast to the stock story of the "Age of Exploration," Indigenous Americans often traveled to Europe afte 1492. A new book looks to this history to examine the origins of a cosmopolitan world. 

OAH, AHA File Joint SCOTUS Brief in Case Affecting Indigenous Adoption and Family Rights

"If the court strikes down the ICWA in whole or in part, the decision could have devastating impacts on Native American families and, potentially, on federal Indian law writ large. Resuming the practice of Native child removal would cause active harm to Native families as well as jeopardize the future sovereignty of tribal governments.

Remarks by LA City Council Members Struck at Local Oaxacan Community

by A.S. Dillingham

Remarks stigmatizing Mexican immigrants with indigenous ancestry point to the fallacy of a unitary Latino identity and highlight the persistence of racial hierarchies in Latin America. 

New Project to Interrogate Indigenous Enslavement in Americas

The project hopes to build a publicly accessible database of documents to allow descendants of enslaved indigenous people to locate information about their ancestors. 

Indigenous Singer-Activist Buffy Sainte-Marie Condemns Doctrine of Discovery at Heart of Colonialism

Indigenous musician and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie has written and sung about the struggles of Native American and First Nations peoples for decades.

A Finnish Historian's Ambitious Rethinking of Native American History Draws Praise and Criticism

Pekka Hamalainen describes a four-centuries long continental war between settlers and indigenous Americans during which the indigenous frequently won. Critics, including Native historians, contend he doesn't reckon with the ultimate consolidation of conquest. 

Stephen Aron's Work Examines Moments of Intercultural Peace in the West

by James Thornton Harris

Both triumphalist and revisionist histories of America's westward expansion emphasize violence, and disagree about whether to understand it with pride or guilt. But what can we make of the moments where understanding and accommodation temporarily prevailed? 

A Brief History of the Vatican and Western Canadian Missions

by Roberto Perin

"Residential schools and the papal bulls justifying the fallacious doctrine of discovery call out for concrete acts of atonement and reparation on the part of the church."

The Thirty Meter Telescope Project Exemplifies Scientific Progress and Indigenous Dispossession

by Marissa Gavin

The narrative of progress inspired by a new astronomy project clashes with the ongoing reality of indigenous dispossession in the selection of Mauna Kea, sacred to native Hawaiians, as the telescope's site. 

Are Native Land Acknowledgments Empty Gestures?

by Graeme Wood

Too often, says Atlantic writer Graeme Wood, the rote ackowledgment by a speaker that an event is taking place on land historically occupied by an indigenous people is an empty gesture that short-circuits discussion of Native demands.

New Translations Give Indigenous Perspective on Brazilian Colonization

The Potiguara people split their alliances between the Dutch and Portuguese in 1645; the letters show the consequences of the split and the internal politics of the indigenous nation. 

New England Once Hunted and Killed Indigenous People for Money, Say Survivors' Descendants

"We are part of the team behind the new short documentary Bounty. In New England alone, we’ve uncovered government payments for 375 human scalps, submitted in 94 separate claims and equaling government payments of millions of dollars in today’s money."

Pre-Colombian City in Peru site of Mass Grave of Women, Children

The discovery at Chan Chan is another important archaeological find in the UNESCO World Heritage site. 

Rethinking Afro-Indigenous History in the United States

by Kyle T. Mays

A historian argues for rethinking the cultural practices of enslaved Africans and their encounters with Native Americans by considering that both were, in a sense, "indigenous" resistance to the European settler-colonialist agenda. 

The Trouble with Truth, Reconciliation, Peace and Friendship Treaties: Indigenous Land and Resource Rights Among the Mi’kmaq  

by Rachel Herrington

Honoring the history of the treaties is not just about the past but also about the present and future of indigenous Canadians. 

The Fantasy of Hispanic Heritage Month

by Frank P. Barajas

Conceived by a Congressman to honor the contributions of ethnic Mexicans to American society, Hispanic Heritage Month is based in a mythical Spanish past that obscures the indigenous history of the west and legitimates the succession of power from Iberian to Anglo elites. 

The Canadian Historical Association's Genocide Statement "Brazenly Unscholarly" (Opinion)

Columnist Barbara Kay supports Canadian historians who have dissented from the Canadian Historical Association's statement that Canadian treatment of First Nations peoples was genocidal. 

Texas Plan to Direct Tourists to Sites of Native Displacement Draws Criticism

Even as the state's educational authorities move to diminish coverage of Native displacement in school curricula, the Texas Historical Commission wants help from the state's tribes to identify historical heritage sites.