An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People

by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Jean Mendoza (Adapted by), Debbie Reese (Adapted by)

Overview

2020 American Indian Youth Literature Young Adult Honor Book

2020 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People,selected by National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and the Children’s Book Council


2019 Best-Of Lists: Best YA Nonfiction of 2019 (Kirkus Reviews) · Best Nonfiction of 2019 (School Library Journal) · Best Books for Teens (New York Public Library) · Best Informational Books for Older Readers (Chicago Public Library)
Spanning more than 400 years, this classic bottom-up history examines the legacy of Indigenous peoples’ resistance, resilience, and steadfast fight against imperialism.

Going beyond the story of America as a country “discovered” by a few brave men in the “New World,” Indigenous human rights advocate Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz reveals the roles that settler colonialism and policies of American Indian genocide played in forming our national identity.

The original academic text is fully adapted by renowned curriculum experts Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza, for middle-grade and young adult readers to include discussion topics, archival images, original maps, recommendations for further reading, and other materials to encourage students, teachers, and general readers to think critically about their own place in history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807049396
Publisher:	Beacon Press
Publication date:	07/23/2019
Series:	ReVisioning History for Young People , #2
Pages:	280
Sales rank:	55,896
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, a New York Times best-selling author, has been active in the international Indigenous movement for more than 4 decades and is known for her lifelong commitment to national and international social justice issues. She lives in San Francisco.

Debbie Reese is an educator and founder of American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL). She is tribally enrolled at Nambe Owingeh, a federally recognized tribe, and grew up on Nambe’s reservation. She holds a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Illinois.

Jean Mendoza is a curriculum specialist focusing on the representation of Indigenous peoples in children’s and young adult literature. She holds a PhD in curriculum and instruction and an M.Ed in early childhood education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Table of Contents

A Note to Readers

INTRODUCTION
This Land

CHAPTER ONE
Follow the Corn

CHAPTER TWO
Culture of Conquest

CHAPTER THREE
Cult of the Covenant

CHAPTER FOUR
Bloody Footprints

CHAPTER FIVE
The Birth of a Nation

CHAPTER SIX
Jefferson, Jackson, and the Pursuit of Indigenous Homelands

CHAPTER SEVEN
Sea to Shining Sea

CHAPTER EIGHT
Indigenous Lands Become “Indian Country”

CHAPTER NINE
The Persistence of Sovereignty

CHAPTER TEN
Indigenous Action, Indigenous Rights

CONCLUSION
“Water Is Life”: Indigenous Resistance in the Twenty-First Century

For Further Reading
Some Books We Recommend
Notes
Image Credits
Index

Editorial Reviews

An important corrective to conventional narratives of our nation’s history . . . . An accessible, engaging, and necessary addition to school libraries and classrooms. An excellent read, dismantling American mythologies and fostering critical reasoning about history and current events.”
—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“This adaptation of An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (2014) should be required reading for all middle and high schoolers—and their teachers . . . . There is much to commend here: the lack of sugar-coating, the debunking of origin stories, the linking between ideology and actions, the well-placed connections between events past and present, the quotes from British colonizers and American presidents that leave no doubt as to their violent intentions . . . . The resistance continues, and this book urges all readers to consider their own roles, whether as bystanders or upstanders.”
—Booklist, Starred Review

“Dunbar-Ortiz’s narrative history is clear, and the adapters give readers ample evidence and perspective to help them to engage with the text. A highly informative book for libraries serving high school students.”
—School Library Journal, Starred Review

“Gripping, tightly written, and packed with facts traditional textbooks and historical accounts neglect to cover.”
—Shelf Awareness

“Wide-ranging and politically engaged . . . a valuable resource.”
—The Horn Book

“This is a desperately needed corrective to existing histories for young people, and its combination of breadth and passion will spur both reflection and emotion.”
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“This is the book I wish I’d had when I started teaching. An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People represents a fundamental challenge to the textbooks that celebrate ‘liberty,’ ‘freedom,’ and the ‘rise of the American nation’ but fail to recognize the humanity—or often even the existence—of the Indigenous peoples who were here first, and are still here. Our students will see the history of this country much more clearly when we put Indigenous people’s lives at the center.”
—Bill Bigelow, curriculum editor, Rethinking Schools, and codirector, Zinn Education Project

From the Publisher

★ 07/01/2019

Gr 9 Up—This adaptation offers an Indigenous perspective of U.S. history. Beginning with an introduction and moving into the first chapter, which discusses the Indigenous peoples who populated the land and their domestication of corn before Europeans arrived, the narrative follows a chronological track. The adapters' use of language successfully conveys the complexities of Indigenous societies. Engaging sidebars with headers such as "To Do" or "Did You Know?" provide additional details about the chapter's topic or suggest critical thinking activities. Proclamations and legislation (Document of Discovery, Proclamation of 1763, and the Morrill Act) that affected Indigenous peoples are contextualized well. Some terms or phrases are defined within a sentence while others are separated out from the text in footnotes. Excerpts from primary sources, by U.S. presidents and other government officials and Indigenous men and women, are interspersed with photographs, paintings, and maps. Each visual is captioned and relevant to the corresponding text. Source notes and a recommended list of fiction and nonfiction titles, picture books, and novels by Indigenous authors are in the back matter. VERDICT Dunbar-Ortiz's narrative history is clear, and the adapters give readers ample evidence and perspective to help them to engage with the text. A highly informative book for libraries serving high school students.—Hilary Writt, Sullivan University, Lexington, KY

School Library Journal

★ 2019-04-22
A young readers' adaptation of the groundbreaking 2014 work, An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, offering an important corrective to conventional narratives of our nation's history.

Questioning the ideologies behind the belief systems that gave birth to America's dominant origin stories, this book not only challenges the standard tale of European explorers "discovering" America, it provides an Indigenous perspective on key events. The book urges students to think critically about private property and extractive industries, land conservation and environmental rights, social activism, the definition of what it means to be "civilized," and the role of the media in shaping perceptions. With an eye to the diversity and number of Indigenous nations in America, the volume untangles the many conquerors and victims of the early colonization era and beyond. From the arrival of the first Europeans through to the 21st century, the work tackles subjects as diverse as the Dakota 38, the Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee, the American Indian Movement's takeover of Alcatraz, and the Dakota Access Pipeline resistance. A deeply felt connection to the Earth's health permeates the text, along with the strength and resiliency that have kept Indigenous cultures alive. Maps, photographs, informative sidebars, points for discussion, and a recommended book list round out this accessible, engaging, and necessary addition to school libraries and classrooms.

An excellent read, dismantling American mythologies and fostering critical reasoning about history and current events. (further reading, recommended titles, notes, image credits, index) (Nonfiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews