Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz's Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States: A Graphic Interpretation

I got this book for Fathers Day this year, and reading it has been a moving ordeal. I have not read the source material for this adaptation, but this graphic interpretation is structured in a way that features its author, scholar and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, as its narrator delivering a grand lecture. As lectures go, this one is engaging and chock full of information. It runs from a time 10,000 years ago when agricultural communities were being established around corn until protests and political actions very near our present day. In between is a vast channel of history, from the governmental and social structures of various tribes in North America to the ruling principles of European countries that eventually crossed the ocean in search of trade routes and treasures, only to conquer, enslave, and slaughter the people who already lived here.

This book is encyclopedic with historical figures such as Tecumseh and Andrew Jackson, events such as the Wounded Knee Massacre and the Trail of Tears, and (sadly) influential publications such as Last of the Mohicans. But this is no dry account, and what I appreciate about it most is how it explores historical concepts and expounds on how specific ideologies were formed and propagated and how large-scale murder and theft were made to look heroic and just. It covers the idea of Manifest Destiny and how a campaign of mass genocide was pitched as a moral crusade. There is much to think about here that pertains to current events, propaganda, and modern history, questions and critiques that are worth pursuing to make a more equitable and just world. This book is the best sort, one that leaves the reader changed after putting it down.

One critique I do have is that the book features many large blocks of text, which can be dense, but I feel that it also scaffolds them well with detailed artwork that conveys not only images of the past but also a good amount of emotion and drama. The artwork well suits the prose, providing much needed context that supports and promotes comprehension of the big ideas within.

Pulling off the large feat of adapting this book was Paul Peart-Smith. He is a British artist who has been making comics for over three decades, drawing stories for 2000 AD and many other publishers, including a graphic adaptation of W.E.B. Du Bois's The Souls of Black Folks. Both he and Dunbar-Ortiz speak about this adaptation of Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States in this interview.

I was not able to find many reviews of this book online, but I very much agree with Brian Cronin who wrote, "This is a book that is very worth reading for anyone who wants to challenge what they think about American history."

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz's Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States was published by Beacon Press, and they offer more information about it here.