Why You Can't Teach United States History without American Indians

A resource for all who teach and study history, this book illuminates the unmistakable centrality of American Indian history to the full sweep of American history. The nineteen essays gathered in this collaboratively produced volume, written by leading scholars in the field of Native American history, reflect the newest directions of the field and are organized to follow the chronological arc of the standard American history survey. Contributors reassess major events, themes, groups of historical actors, and approaches--social, cultural, military, and political--consistently demonstrating how Native American people, and questions of Native American sovereignty, have animated all the ways we consider the nation's past. The uniqueness of Indigenous history, as interwoven more fully in the American story, will challenge students to think in new ways about larger themes in U.S. history, such as settlement and colonization, economic and political power, citizenship and movements for equality, and the fundamental question of what it means to be an American.

Contributors are Juliana Barr, Susan Sleeper-Smith, James D. Rice, Sarah M. S. Pearsall, Adam Jortner, Robert J. Miller, Jean M. O'Brien, Paul T. Conrad, Scott Manning Stevens, Jeffrey Ostler, Phillip H. Round, Mindy J. Morgan, John J. Laukaitis, David R. M. Beck, Rosalyn R. LaPier, Jacob Betz, Andrew Needham, Mikal Brotnov Eckstrom, Margaret D. Jacobs, K. Tsianina Lomawaima, and Chris Andersen.

An absolutely essential book, Why You Can't Teach United States History without American Indians reveals a powerful truth: that the experiences of Indigenous peoples should be central rather than peripheral in American history classrooms. This guidebook for teachers who want to reshape their pedagogy brings together ideas from leading scholars in the field of Native American studies. With their beautifully written essays, the authors will change how readers think about the past. -- Ari Kelman, McCabe Greer Professor, Penn State University

Why You Can't Teach United States History without American Indians confronts a fundamental problem for historians: how do we rethink the U.S. history survey to meaningfully include Indian peoples and Indian experiences? In tackling this complex and multifaceted question, these essays identify specific problems with the current curriculum and give us a new set of tools with which to chip away at the old block. This book stands as a much-needed addition to the field of indigenous studies. -- Colin Calloway, Dartmouth College

Susan Sleeper-Smith is professor of history at Michigan State University. Juliana Barr is associate professor of history at the University of Florida. Jean M. O'Brien is professor of history at the University of Minnesota. Nancy Shoemaker is professor of history at the University of Connecticut. Scott Manning Stevens is associate professor of Native American studies at Syracuse University.Juliana Barr is associate professor of history at the University of Florida.