Violence Over the Land

"This is another title that’s a little bit older. It’s from 2008. It’s now become a kind of historical presupposition that American expansion and, therefore, American history is predicated on the violent dispossession of Native people and that there’s really no way to tell an American story, certainly not the story of the American founding and geographical expansion, without telling that story. He’s arguing that this story has often been absent from how we discuss US origins and so the first thing he does is say that it has to be there. I think that his argument has been completely persuasive. No one who’s teaching American history in universities would try to get away with ignoring that. But then he does another thing. He says he wants to focus on episodes of violence. And in this case, he looks at the area called the Great Basin in the United States, so Utah and Nevada, the desert between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevadas. He says, ‘I’m going to follow the violence.’ Because, when you look at these different violent episodes, then you can trace not only the underbelly of American expansion, but you can also see the way that Native people have acted to preserve their interests, to defend themselves, to survive and adapt under incredibly trying circumstances. Looking at violence is his method. If you follow the violence, you’re not only going to tell a different American story, you’re going to tell a different Native story. In Blackhawk’s case, it’s a very difficult story, but it’s also a story of Native survival. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount ."