i want to do something ive thought about doing before, but never got around to. i want to compile a list of books about indian country / history / policy for people who might be interested. im thinking two types of books, basically.

ones that have large, overarching themes, address big picture history, etc., and ones that address specific instances that are nonetheless very important. there are so many people on here who would be interested in a list like this, and its always the thing i go back to when...

i give a public talk, or am on a panel, which is that one talk is not enough, and there are people who will follow up on this stuff if you give them a direction to go. so im going to tag a few people i know have thoughts about this sort of thing, and we can go from there.

anyone who has suggestions we dont come up with can add them to this thread - but if you do, please add them to the end of the thread, so its easier for people to look at the list in its totality.

also, im thinking nonfiction books, not fiction or creative non-f. educational.

so here goes. my initial tags, mostly my friends i know have read a lot of this kind of work bc why not: @DeadDogLake @KirosAuld @elissawashuta @AJawort

im going to list my books one at a time, with amazon links (not bc you should order from amazon, but just so its clear) and a brief line or two about why i think its worth reading.

1. the rights of indians and tribes, by stephen pevar. a major work outlining the legal aspects of being an american indian and what is mean by "tribe" according to the US gov. read this and youll know why indians arent like anyone else in the country.

https://www.amazon.com/Rights-Indians-Tribes-Stephen-Pevar/dp/0199795355/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+rights+of+indian+and+tribes&qid=1584496069&sr=8-1

2. the middle ground, by richard white. one line says it all: "americans invented indians and forced indians to live with the consequences of this invention.” the most profound exploration ive read of the failure of two cultures to understand one another.

https://www.amazon.com/Middle-Ground-Republics-1650-1815-American/dp/0521183448/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+middle+ground+richard+white&qid=1584496715&sr=8-1

3. american indian law in a nutshell. more summaries of the legal position of indians in this country. i love this stuff, if you cant tell, and this is a handbook used by some students of indian law, so.

https://www.amazon.com/American-Indian-Law-Nutshell-Nutshells/dp/1628100087/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WVVUQM4PUT78&keywords=american+indian+law+in+a+nutshell&qid=1584496891&sprefix=american+indian+law+in+a+nu%2Caps%2C250&sr=8-1

4. american indian sovereignty and the supreme court: the masking of justice. covers major USSC cases that determined why indian country is the way it is now.

https://www.amazon.com/American-Indian-Sovereignty-Supreme-Court/dp/0292791097/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=the+masking+of+justice&qid=1584497035&sr=8-2&swrs=5892DE541AE7A205ABE9B0512F4DCAD5

5. invisible indigenes: the politics of nonrecognition, by bruce granville miller. a few years i asked a prof if there were any books that addressed indigeneity from a global perspective. he said, not many. but this is one.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=invisible+indigenes&ref=nb_sb_noss

as a follow up note about the above book, it addresses how the colonial concept of blood quantum has been applied to tribal people over time across the world, and how the concept has developed as empires have figured out how to use it more efficiently as a tool of destruction.

6. dancing with a ghost: exploring aboriginal reality, by rupert ross. its the first and only book that has ever explained me and many people i love *to me*. our behavior, thought patterns, etc. a must read.

https://www.amazon.com/s?i=aps&k=dancing%20with%20a%20ghost&ref=nb_sb_noss_2&url=search-alias%3Daps

theres so much i want to say about the above book, but wont. suffice to say, ross with the help of some very profound first nations thinkers identifies a set of what he calls "ethics" that governed behavior in the pre-contact days. relatively universal, i think.

7. returning to the teachings, by rupert ross. in which ross discusses an indigenous approach to healing trauma within a community, and how vastly different it is compared to a western approach.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143055593/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

8. lone wolf v. hitchcock: treaty rights and indian law at the end of the 19th c. one of those jaw dropping moments in US history when the US broke its own laws to justify the conquest of indian country and the acquisition of indian land. great book.

https://www.amazon.com/Lone-Wolf-v-Hitchcock-Nineteenth/dp/0803264011/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=lone+wolf+v+hitchcock&qid=1584498264&s=books&sr=1-1

9. the inconvenient indian: a curious account of native people in north america, by thomas king. a little lighter, and very funny, but a great, great primer for people who want to get into this ish. king is a pro at pointing out the essential ironies.

https://www.amazon.com/Inconvenient-Indian-Curious-Account-America/dp/1517904463/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+inconvenient+indian&qid=1584498571&s=books&sr=1-1

im going to cheat on the next few, bc i havent read them, but i know they are excellent, because they have been recommended by people i have a lot of respect for, who have done serious research in these areas.

10. masters of empire: great lakes indians and the making of of america.

"In Masters of Empire, the historian Michael A. McDonnell reveals the vital role played by the native peoples of the Great Lakes in the history of North America."

https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Empire-Indians-Making-America/dp/0809068001/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=masters+of+empire&qid=1584498905&s=books&sr=1-1

11. the other slavery: the uncovered story of indian enslavement in america.

"Since the time of Columbus, Indian slavery was illegal in much of the American continent. Yet...it was practiced for centuries."

https://www.amazon.com/Other-Slavery-Uncovered-Enslavement-America/dp/054494710X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+other+slavery&qid=1584498969&s=books&sr=1-1

12. common and contested ground: a human and environmental history of the northwestern plains.

"The real history of the northwestern plains between a.d. 200 and 1806 was far more complex, nuanced, and paradoxical than often imagined."

https://www.amazon.com/Common-Contested-Ground-Environmental-Northwestern/dp/0806164697/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=common+and+contested+ground&qid=1584499223&s=books&sr=1-1

13. like a hurricane: the american indian movement, from alcatraz to wounded knee.

i have read this one; a great history of a period of indian resistance, from the 50s to the early 70s. smith & warrior are unflinching in their assessment.

https://www.amazon.com/Like-Hurricane-Movement-Alcatraz-Wounded/dp/1565844025/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=like+a+hurricane&qid=1584499562&s=books&sr=1-1

14. the heartbeat of wounded knee: native america from 1890 to the present. a legitimately great book by david treuer that tells the general history of 20th century indian country through a number of different reservations.

https://www.amazon.com/Heartbeat-Wounded-Knee-America-Present/dp/0399573194/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=heartbeat+of+wounded+knee&qid=1584499898&s=books&sr=1-1

15. rez life: an indians journey through reservation life.

treuers precursor to heartbeat. covers reservations in the central part of the country.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=rez+life&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

16. a will to survive: indigenous essays on the politics of culture, language and identity.

greymorning does the thing other indians mostly talk about: he provides a multiple-pov take on the most pressing issues in indian country.

https://www.amazon.com/Will-Survive-Indigenous-Politics-Language/dp/007249638X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=stephen+greymorning&qid=1584500193&s=books&sr=1-1&swrs=6D2FCA35D5A864BE2360FC33A050A255

17. being indigenous: perspectives on activism, culture, language and identity.

greymornings follow up to a will to survive; again a set of essays from various indigenous writers & academics. must read.

https://www.amazon.com/Being-Indigenous-Perspectives-Activism-Language/dp/1138314900/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=neyooxet+greymorning&qid=1584500392&s=books&sr=1-1

18. rebirth of the blackfeet nation: 1912 - 1954.

"Drawing on interviews, democratic theory, and extensive archival research...focuses on the internal political, economic, and ethnic forces shaping the Blackfeet Nation..."

https://www.amazon.com/Rebirth-Blackfeet-Nation-1912-1954-Rosier/dp/0803290047/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=rebirth+of+the+blackfeet+nation&qid=1584500681&s=books&sr=1-1

19. american indians and national parks.

outlines something americans never talk about: how our national parks system = indigenous land loss, and the struggles native people gone through to use those traditional lands.

https://www.amazon.com/American-Indians-National-Robert-Keller/dp/0816520143/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=indians+and+the+national+parks&qid=1584500861&s=books&sr=1-1

the chapter on glacier park, and the ways in which the park continued for decades to attempt to dispossess the blackfeet of more land, was shocking to me. most blackfeet and current GNP employees have never heard this history.

20. an indigenous peoples history of the united states.

"adroitly challenges the founding myth of the United States and shows how policy against the Indigenous peoples was colonialist and designed to seize the territories of the original inhabitants..."

https://www.amazon.com/Indigenous-Peoples-History-ReVisioning-American/dp/0807057835/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1K72E7PBTCZDC&keywords=an+indigenous+peoples+history+of+the+united+states&qid=1584501678&s=books&sprefix=an+indigenous+peoples+history+of+%2Cstripbooks%2C240&sr=1-1