Overview

"A sweeping history of the power of Indigenous North America from ancient cities to fights for sovereignty that continue today, from an award-winning historian ""An essential American history"" (The Wall Street Journal) 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."

Full Product Details

9780525511038

Table of Contents

Reviews

“A revelatory account of the power and influence of Indigenous peoples in North America.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “[A] prodigiously researched and enlightening study [that] recenters the past 1,000 years of Native North American history around the political power exercised by Indigenous governments.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “An exemplary model of how Native American history should be written.”—Brooke M. Bauer, author of Becoming Catawba “A page-turner . . .”—Anne F. Hyde, author of Born of Lakes and Plains “Even the most expert reader is likely to learn something new from DuVal’s deep research and carefully crafted narrative.”—Warren Eugene Milteer, Jr., author of Beyond Slavery’s Shadow “DuVal recounts this remarkable and fascinating story of power and endurance with sympathy, eloquence, and attention to all kinds of different people. A stunning achievement.”—Sarah M. S. Pearsall, author of Polygamy: An Early American History “Without minimizing the destructive effects of Euro-American colonialism, Kathleen DuVal has given us a vital new history leading to today’s more than five hundred Native nations in the United States.”—Andrés Reséndez, author of The Other Slavery “Native Nations provides a new way of understanding the long sweep of Native American history.”—Daniel K. Richter, author of Before the Revolution: America’s Ancient Pasts “In this sensible, lucid, and wide-ranging book, Kathleen DuVal recounts a sobering yet remarkable history of survival despite sweeping efforts to destroy Native peoples.”—Alan Taylor, author of American Republics: A Continental History, 1783–1850 “Native Nations is a sweeping history of Indigenous peoples in North America. While much of the history written about Native American people has focused on white experiences . . . Kathleen DuVal focuses on the growth and change of Indigenous polities and cultures.”—Anton Treuer, author of The Cultural Toolbox “Native Nations is a feat of both scholarship and storytelling. . . . DuVal introduces us to ancient Indigenous cities, eighteenth-century square grounds, and modern tribal capitals, showing how, against all odds, Native peoples defended their sovereignty and sustained their cultural traditions.”—Claudio Saunt, author of Unworthy Republic “Native Nations provides a much-needed corrective to the popular myth of Indigenous decline and disappearance.”—Christina Nicole Snyder, author of Great Crossings “In DuVal’s hands, the bleak picture that many readers have been shown of Native people is not inevitable or nonsensical—it is a product of a history of white Americans’ choices to wage a cultural war, when the military war did not succeed.”—Malinda Maynor Lowery, author of The Lumbee Indians “A triumph.”—Elizabeth N. Ellis, author of The Great Power of Small Nations

“Scores of Native nations defend their sovereignty within the United States—to the confusion of many Americans. In this sensible, lucid, and wide-ranging book, Kathleen DuVal recounts a sobering yet remarkable history of survival despite sweeping efforts to destroy Native peoples. Resourceful and determined, Native Americans have endured by resisting while adapting—ultimately to the benefit of all who now share this continent.”—Alan Taylor, author of American Republics: A Continental History, 1783–1850 “Kathleen DuVal has crafted a masterful new narrative of Indigenous North America. Drawing from extensive research, DuVal weaves centuries of Native American history into crisp and engaging stories of Indigenous power, adaptation, and resilience. Throughout her chapters, DuVal keeps women, families, and Native commoners at the center of her stories, so readers are treated to an analysis that moves beyond the examination of lives of great men and showcases the myriad ways Native people from all walks of life shaped the continent. Most impressively, even as she unearths stories from hundreds of years ago, DuVal never loses sight of the critical significance of these pasts for contemporary Native communities and for the United States writ large. A triumph.”—Elizabeth N. Ellis, author of The Great Power of Small Nations “Demonstrating that Native peoples’ collective efforts to resist colonialism and racism often depended paradoxically on asserting their distinct national identities, Native Nations provides a new way of understanding the long sweep of Native American history. Based on prodigious research, reflecting the latest scholarship, and incorporating diverse perspectives, Kathleen DuVal’s engagingly written new book reveals how Indigenous peoples’ varied strategies of presence, resistance, and endurance fundamentally shaped the governmental and social structures of the United States as we know it today.”—Daniel K. Richter, author of Before the Revolution: America’s Ancient Pasts

“Kathleen DuVal has crafted a masterful new narrative of Indigenous North America. Drawing from extensive research, DuVal weaves centuries of Native American history into crisp and engaging stories of Indigenous power, adaptation, and resilience. Throughout her chapters, DuVal keeps women, families, and Native commoners at the center of her stories, and so readers are treated to analysis that moves beyond the examination of lives of great men and showcases the myriad ways Native people from all walks of life shaped the continent. Most impressively, even as she unearths stories from hundreds of years ago, DuVal never loses sight of the critical significance of these pasts for contemporary Native communities and for the U.S writ large. A triumph.”—Elizabeth Ellis, author of The Great Power of Small Nations “Demonstrating that Native peoples’ collective efforts to resist colonialism and racism often depended paradoxically on asserting their distinct national identities, Native Nations provides a new way of understanding the long sweep of Native American history. Based on prodigious research, reflecting the latest scholarship, and incorporating diverse perspectives, Kathleen DuVal’s engagingly written new book reveals how Indigenous peoples’ varied strategies of presence, resistance, and endurance fundamentally shaped the governmental and social structures of the United States as we know it today.”—Daniel K. Richter, author of Before the Revolution: America’s Ancient Pasts

“Kathleen DuVal has crafted a masterful new narrative of Indigenous North America. Drawing from extensive research, DuVal weaves centuries of Native American history into crisp and engaging stories of Indigenous power, adaptation, and resilience. Throughout her chapters, DuVal keeps women, families, and Native commoners at the center of her stories, so readers are treated to an analysis that moves beyond the examination of lives of great men and showcases the myriad ways Native people from all walks of life shaped the continent. Most impressively, even as she unearths stories from hundreds of years ago, DuVal never loses sight of the critical significance of these pasts for contemporary Native communities and for the United States writ large. A triumph.”—Elizabeth N. Ellis, author of The Great Power of Small Nations “Demonstrating that Native peoples’ collective efforts to resist colonialism and racism often depended paradoxically on asserting their distinct national identities, Native Nations provides a new way of understanding the long sweep of Native American history. Based on prodigious research, reflecting the latest scholarship, and incorporating diverse perspectives, Kathleen DuVal’s engagingly written new book reveals how Indigenous peoples’ varied strategies of presence, resistance, and endurance fundamentally shaped the governmental and social structures of the United States as we know it today.”—Daniel K. Richter, author of Before the Revolution: America’s Ancient Pasts

Author Information

Kathleen DuVal is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she teaches early American and American Indian history. Her previous work includes Independence Lost, which was a finalist for the George Washington Prize, and The Native Ground- Indians and Colonists in the Heart of the Continent. She is a coauthor of Give Me Liberty! and coeditor of Interpreting a Continent- Voices from Colonial America.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available