A review by thegr8estangell
Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America by Pekka Hämäläinen

challenging informative sad medium-paced

4.5

This was really interesting. It’s an extremely, in depth analysis of the political landscape of the various indigenous nations from pre-Columbus to Wounded Knee. It really explains how they were in control of a lot of the negotiations and had a lot of political and military weight. If it wasn’t for the disease and out-right genocidal American government, things would’ve been very different. My favorite part was the interview with a Blackfoot man who was there when his tribe encountered horses for the first time and witnessed a technological shift in his culture in real time when they were embraced by his tribe. That was really cool. I didn’t know that that story was ever written down or existed. This book was extremely informative. I really enjoyed it