The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee

Wonderful. I think all U.S. history taught in high school include An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States and this book - maybe bookending the year? Treuer powerfully interweaves historical documents, speeches, policy, etc. with personal narrative in his central argument: the story of Indigenous Americans has never ended, but persisted, with all the complexity that any human history has. His interviewees were generous in sharing their stories, and Treuer is also generous in sharing his own positionality. At the end, I did find myself wondering what this book would look like if published after 2020, but I think that's all part of Treuer's point: Native peoples will continue to change and adapt with the times as will we all.

3.5, rounding up as a nudge for you to read it but with a caveat: it's dry. Less so when he focuses on individual stories, he comes alive then, but the historical background parts can be a slog to read through. Read it anyway: for the perspective, for the insight, and even for the history. There's much here to learn, including perhaps new inspiring ways to think about Native cultures and their future.

Don't expect romanticized outlook or Native Wisdom woo woo: Treuer is remarkably objective not only about the destruction wrought by whites but also by Natives upon themselves, through inter- and intra-tribal conflicts, corruption, and greed. All the parties throughout history, it turns out, have been human. And don't expect a sob story either: Treuer consistently points out instances of astounding resilience and adaptability, individual and collective, from 1493 through today.

I don't know what I'll do with all this knowledge—forget most of it, to be honest. There's so much. But some of it will stay with me, and I intend to keep reading and learning from Native sources, and over time more and more will be part of me. And maybe it'll change how I act and who I am.