An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People

• Genre: Nonfiction; young adult history
• Originally Published: 2019
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 1220L; grades 7-12
• Structure/Length: 10 chapters, introduction, and conclusion; approx. 272 pages
• Central Concern: Historian Dunbar-Ortiz reframes centuries-long US colonialist policy against Indigenous American peoples from the Indigenous perspective, revealing Indigenous Americans’ historical resistance to the genocidal strategies of American government. (This work was adapted from An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, 2014.)
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Genocide of Indigenous peoples

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Author

• Bio: Grew up in rural California; writer, historian, and professor emeritus in Native American Studies at California State University; long involved in the fight for rights of women, workers, and Indigenous peoples.
• Other Works: The Great Sioux Nation (1977); Outlaw Woman (2001); Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment (2018)
• Awards: Kirkus Review—Best YA Nonfiction (2019); School Library Journal—Best Nonfiction (2019); American Indian Youth Literature Young Adult Honor Book (2020)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• Indigenous Resilience Against Invasion and Genocide
• The Indigenous Right to Land and Sovereignty
• The Legacy of Colonialist Doctrine
• Viewing History From an Indigenous Perspective

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will: