At the time Columbus landed on the island he dubbed Hispaniola in 1492 there were an estimated 30 million people in Mexico and the Caribbean Islands (Columbus’s brother counted over one million male inhabitants in the Dominican Republic in the census he conducted to determine how many adult males should be bringing in gold for tribute) and another estimated 50 million in the U.S., Canada, and South America, many of whom lived in highly complex cultures with sophisticated knowledge of astronomy, agriculture, metalworking, weaving, geography, measurement of time.Īmerica has been notably uninterested in the people who lived here before the European invasions of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. In colorful contradiction to centuries of national Columbus holidays and mainstream history texts, indigenous peoples throughout the hemisphere launched demonstrations to publicize the historical reality of the Arawak Indians and Columbus’s genocidal search for gold.
Their perspective changed the narrative of time and challenged the conventional myths of the Americas. Like many people expecting a lively celebration of Columbus’s heroism, courage, and mythic vision, my imagination was captured instead by the “view from the shore.” The point of view presented by indigenous peoples was one of great native contributions and great European injustices. My idea for a chronology of Native American history grew out of the paradigm shift that resulted from the quincentenary celebration of Columbus’s arrival in the western hemisphere in 1492. And these narratives make up the myths of our culture-myths that are changing all the time.
Those events take their meaning in relation to other events. We choose our history by selecting certain events to include in the narrative. 1900s - "We Are Still Here": Indian Activism 1400s - The Mississippians and Hispaniola 1 to 1400 - Mesoamerica and the Greater Southwest ".The author's political, social, religious, and military analyses are lucid and specific.Several maps and plenty of dark but revealing black-and-white photos enhance this eye-opening surve."- Library Journal
This historical narrative, presented in a time-line format, sheds light on such events as: the construction of the pyramids, both on the banks of the Nile and the banks of the Mississippi the development of agriculture in both Mesopotamia and Mexico the European “discovery” of a continent already inhabited by some 50 million people the Native American influence on the ideas of the European Renaissance the unacknowledged advancements in science and medicine created by the civilizations of the “new” world Westward Expansion and its impact on Native American land and traditions the key contributions Native Americans brought to the Allied victory of World War II and much more. Offering a unique perspective on the history of Native American peoples-their culture, history, and politics-Judith Nies juxtaposes Native American history with the history of Western civilization, highlighting their scientific knowledge and agricultural sophistication.