Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz: "An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States"

Host Paul Roland talks with radical Indigenous movement activist, feminist and scholar Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz about her powerful new book, An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States. The book reframes United States history from the perspective of the Indigenous peoples who were living here for millenia before the arrival of Europeans. For those who haven't yet made or attempted this perceptual and conceptual shift, her book  can serve as a valuable aid and guide. Now more than ever we need to radically re-examine the flawed and unjust foundations upon which this nation-state was built and continues to be maintained.

From the book's Introduction: "Writing US history from an Indigenous peoples' perspective requires rethinking the consensual national narrative. That narrative is wrong or deficient, not in its facts, dates, or details but rather in its essence. Inherent in the myth we've been taught is an embrace of settler colonialism and genocide. The myth persists, not for a lack of free speech or poverty of information but rather for an absence of motivation to ask questions that challenge the core of the scripted narrative of the origin story. How might acknowledging the reality of US history work to transform society? that is the central question this book pursues."

"This may well be the most important US history book you will read in your lifetime."--Robin D.G. Kelley, Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination

"An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States is a fiercely honest, unwavering, and unprecedented statement, one which has never been attempted by any other historian or intellectual."--Simon Ortiz, Poet and Professor of English and American Indian Studies, Arizona State University

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz grew up in rural Oklahoma, the daughter of a tenant farmer and part-Indian mother. She has been active in the international Indigenous movement for over four decades. From 1967 to 1974, she was a full-time activist living in various parts of the United States, traveling to Europe, Mexico, and Cuba. She is also a veteran of the women's liberation movement. Outlaw Woman: Memoir of the War Years outlines this time of her life, chronicling the years 1960-1975. After receiving her PhD in history at UCLA, she taught in the newly established Native American Studies Program at Cal State, Hayward, and helped found the departments of Ethnic Studies and Women's Studies. Her 1977 book The Great Sioux Nation was the fundamental document at the first international conference on Indigenous peoples at the United Nations in Geneva. She is the author or editor of seven other books, including Roots of Resistance: A History of Land Tenure in New Mexico. She lives in San Francisco.

See her website: http://www.reddirtsite.com/ and for her book: http://www.beacon.org/An-Indigenous-Peoples-History-of-the-United-States-P1041.aspx