Reddit reviews An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States (REVISIONING HISTORY)

And after just finishing An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, much less fervently. Actually, I've mainly done it for the BBQ for quite a few years now.

And even still, that doesn't justify supporting/honoring the Confederacy. Though the United States committed genocide against the Native Americans, Southerners still participated in that genocide, still fought a war to own slaves, and then lost that war. And today is a state holiday in honor of the man that led that failed rebellion.

As a body the Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee pursued a policy of neutrality with both Britain and France. This was the general of the Haudenosaunee towards the Europeans from the time of the first wampum belt with the Dutch, the famous two row wampum and from before contact stretching back to the Great Peace which united the Haudenosaunee. Haudenosaunee policy was one of non-interference (as symbolized with the two rivers of purple wampum running in parallel but not crossing). The Great Peace was a policy to pursue peaceful relations whenever possible, however, in defense the Haudenosaunee were a formidable fighting force and their expansion across the continent during the Great Pursuit shows that once war was triggered the Haudenosaunee would fight fiercely. In 1760 the Grand Council met with William Johnson to reaffirm this neutrality with regards to British affairs.

However the grand council governed by consensus and each of the nations under the confederacy had considerable freedom to pursue their own affairs. When war broke out the Haudenosaunee heard appeals from both the British and the French for support but decided to remain neutral in keeping with their long standing treaties and the core policy of the Grand Peace. Primarily the Oneida and Tuscarora favored the Americans. William Johnson, however, tried to use his influence to bring the Kainen'keha (Mohawk) into the conflict. During a speech to the council fire of the eastern door Johnson suffered a heart attack and never recovered. However Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant) who had a family relationship with Johnson through his half sister and ties to England continued to push for Kainen'keha to enter the conflict. Theyendanegea already had a considerable position within the British military and was pursuing promises on the part of the crown to redress territorial grievances by settlers on Haudenosaunee territory. Thayendanegea managed to win promises of support and land in quebec in exchange for supporting the British cause in the war. Through marriage to Adonwentishon who became clan mother of the Turtle Clan of Kainen'keha (clan mothers had the power to appoint and revoke the sanchem of each clan who sat at the council fire and represented the nation at the grand council), and his skill in negotiation and european education, Thayendanegea had considerable influence in the Kainen'keha council. Through this he was able to muster forces within Kainen'keha which in defiance of the Grand Council, Thayendanegea led into attacks into Canada and against the United States.

In 1777 the British launched a plan to cut off the other colonies from New England by seizing the Hudson Valley. However this meant moving south through the heart of Haudenosaunee territory and required the consent of the Grand Council. Thayendanegea argued the Haudenosaunee were in danger of losing their territories by remaining neutral in the conflict and managed to win over the Seneca and Cayuga but was still opposed by the Oneida. Unable to resolve the issue and come to consensus the Onondaga extinguished the council fire. Officially the Haudenosaunee had not sided with the British but the individual nations were free to pursue their own affairs and the general support was towards England. When fighting broke out some Oneida sided with the Americans and some Seneca and Kainen'keha sided with England.

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Have you read An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States?

There's a section on North America and the intertribal relations and commerce that existed in precolonial times.

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/reconciled-to-colonialism-ireland-in-the-virginian-sea-colonialism-in-the-british-atlantic-1.1803796?mode=amp

https://www.historyireland.com/book-reviews/the-mere-irish-and-the-colonisation-of-ulster-1570-1641/

https://www.amazon.com/Indigenous-Peoples-History-ReVisioning-American/dp/0807057835

Agreed, His section in this book is horrible

Not exactly what you want but all three of these books give rare perspectives on US history:

A People's History of the United States

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States

> She keeps the reparations bullshit alive. That does more harm that good.

And what kind of harm did centuries of slavery, Jim Crow, redlining, reneging on "40 acres and a mule", being permanently cut off from any knowledge of their origins and who they really are, etc. do to the relevant subset of black Americans?

Not to mention the toll on everyone else (economically, racial-divsion-wise, the souls of non-afflicted Americans, etc.) for the U.S. government not only not doing the right thing in a timely fashion, but not ever doing it. Not even an apology.

It's really amazing.

Especially when you see how other groups were compensated to some degree -- e.g., Jews by Germany after the holocaust, Japanese-Americans, even Native Americans (though most Americans are still completely in the dark about their actual history:

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States (ReVisioning American History).

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Of course reparations is a politically toxic wedge issue, you're living proof of why -- Why do you think the brilliant, very-well-versed-in-the-relevant-U.S.-history Dr. Cornel West supports Bernie Sanders? I'm sure he like I knows it's never going to happen in a country as extensively brainwashed and ignorant of history as ours.

Doesn't mean it's still not the right thing to do.

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz in her book An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States eloquently pointed out that for whites, the entire rest of the world is the Western frontier. The manifest destiny never stopped at the Pacific ocean; it extends far beyond the boundaries. In her book she contrasts the war on Iraq with the wars against the Indigenous tribes in the past. I am sure that many other examples come to mind. In this sense, we are all native Americans to whites, we even share the same stereotypes: backward, rife with mysticism and occasional brutality, willing women, fertile land, open to exploitation by whites. The only difference is our fate, but even that I am not so sure if we contemplate all the possibilities lying awaits us in the next couple hundred of years.

Along with what /u/Riztonium suggested, I'd highly recommend reading An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz.

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus and 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created by Charles C. Mann are both great books to start in this direction. 1491 will give you an idea of what was here before Columbus showed up and 1493 will let you know the results of his arrival and how it impacted history.

An Indigenous People's History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz also gives some good insight into pre-Columbian America.

I've personally become very interested in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 which ended colonial occupation of native lands in New Mexico for a period of 12 years. Here's a short article on it from the Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanties and here is a podcast from r/askhistorians briefly covering the subject AskHistorians Podcast 038 - Pueblo Revolt of 1680. I'm waiting for my copy of [The Pueblo Revolt of 1680: Conquest and Resistance in Seventeenth-Century New Mexico](https://www.amazon.com/Pueblo-Revolt-1680-Resistance-Seventeenth-Century/dp/B0118255A8/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1477984977&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=Knaut%2C+Andrew+L.+The+Pueblo+Revolt+of+1680%2C+Norman%3A+University+of+Oklahoma+Press%2C+1995.+14.%5D(https://www.amazon.com/Pueblo-Revolt-1680-Resistance-Seventeenth-Century/dp/B0118255A8/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1477984977&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=Knaut%2C+Andrew+L.+The+Pueblo+Revolt+of+1680%2C+Norman%3A+University+of+Oklahoma+Press%2C+1995.+14.)

edit: words, words, words...

Try this.

https://www.amazon.com/Indigenous-Peoples-History-ReVisioning-American/dp/0807057835/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8