Why You Can't Teach United States History without American Indians by Susan Sleeper-Smith

Why You Can't Teach United States History without American Indians Reviews

• 
  Jeremy Canipe

  This book is a pretty thought-provoking series of essays by a group of historians of Native American history joined by a theme well-stated by the title. Their argument is that, based on the review of the most regularly used U.S. History survey textbooks and of syllabi from a number of American colleges, at least in survey courses, professors do not teach and thus students do not learn about Native American history in a balanced and informative manner.
  
  I was a history undergraduate at UNC Chapel Hill in the early 1900s and I now teach US history at the college level. It is my view, in retrospect, that American Indian history could have been more effectively seen as a key aspect of the sweep of events. Today, I work to keep re-thinking my own teaching so as to try to tell a fuller story that does not miss the role of Native people and Indian nations, but also does not simply portray them as always victims, always being pushed back.
  
  At the same time, the later essays suggesting that U.S. history should be largely taught as being an ongoing story of settler colonialism does not seem, I think, to fit with teaching the story of the United States as a historical entity. I think that this is part of the story, but do not expect to displace the entire edifice.
• 
  Dave

  As with any collection of essays by a team of writers, I found Why You Can't Teach United States History Without American Indians to be uneven. It is also a pretty specialized collection--while it does offer some excellent information for those interested in history as a subject, it focuses on history education. That said, I do feel like this book broadened my understanding of US history and how it is depicted in the classroom and instructional materials.
• 
  Laura

  If you will be an educator, read this book.
• 
  Richard

  I read this book for two reasons. First, one of the editors, Sleeper-Smith, authored a book which I recently found to be a worthwhile read. Second, the blurb describing it sounded interesting given my burgeoning interest in Native American Studies.
  
  This collection has many elements one would like to see in a scholarly approach to a topic.
  
  First, the authors for each contribution reviewed numerous sources of all kinds: primary ones like diaries, memoirs, or letters; government reports; journal articles; and books. Thus, their presentations are very well annotated, systematic, and thorough despite the fact that the chapters are generally less than 25 pages long. In addition to the footnotes at the end of each essay the authors provide 3-5 recommended titles for those who wish to pursue the topic in more depth. With 18 chapters I could have easily ended up with 20 or more titles to read had I not been very selective about it.
  
  Second, to their credit most of the contributors write in a direct prose largely devoid of academic jargon. When they do use a term or concept, they explain it carefully enough so as to make it readily intelligible. Thus, the book is quite readable, save for the proviso noted below.
  
  Third, however, despite the relative brevity of each chapter the depth with which things are presented means that at times the book is a bit slow going. I solved this dilemma by limiting myself to reading no more than two chapters at each sitting. I found that this was about the limit of my ability to engage with, let alone to assimilate, all of the information being presented.
  
  Finally, this book’s primary purpose was to argue that standard survey textbooks used in university American history courses have largely failed to present the important role that Native Americans have played over the course of the country’s history. IMHO, it does this very successfully. But the contributors sometimes make reference to various textbooks assuming that the reader is familiar with these. In my case I am not. While did not prevent me from learning a great deal from this book, it was mildly annoying however.
  
  All of the chapters were well done. But, as with any collection like these, there were some which were more interesting to me than others. Thus, I would rate it at 4 stars rather than 5. However, it is a very informative and solid piece of scholarship which I recommend for anyone interested in NAS issues in the context of US history. It is also the kind of book one might keep as a reference to use if/when one wants to do some more in depth reading on a particular topic covered in the book.
  
  Addendum: It is quite unusual for me to read a book a second time. I did so with Why You Can’t because I realized recently that, after having read a number of NA related books in the last year, there was much about this book I had not recalled. So I decided to reread it in hopes of gaining more knowledge and perspective on what I have been learning over the last year.
  
  I was not disappointed! Given that I have a more solid base of information about NA history and culture than I did a year ago the breadth and depth of the topics covered impressed me even more this time. I came away with even more titles to pursue on my own in the coming months. My comment last year about this being a valuable reference book turned out to be true.
• 
  David Lucander

  This collection of essays is definatly written by and for historians, I can't imagine a general reader would get much out of it. Worthwhile summer reading for college teachers looking to enhance survey courses so they offer something more than the traditional themes of nation building, multiculturalism, and economic opportunity. For me, the standout essay was "Borders and Borderlands," which is an analysis of how textbooks depict North American geography with only European names on the continent so that present-day Arizona will be labeled "Spain" instead of "Navajo." A big takeaway is that the word "nation" should replace "tribe," and to teach students that these nations, like those of Europe, rarely got along. This is a broad collection and some of the topics were a bit arcane, so my interest ranged from "oh, that's neat" to "yawn."
• 
  University of Chicago Magazine

  Jean M. O’Brien, AM’82, PhD’90
  Coeditor
  
  From our pages, July–Aug/15: "In many US history classes, discussion of American Indians tends to be limited to lessons on pre-revolutionary America or westward expansion. In this collection of 19 essays, American Indian scholars show how native history influenced, and was influenced by, all the major epochs of US history. The first 16 essays, organized chronologically, reassess major concepts and events in US history through the lens of native history, and the last three aim to help teachers conceptualize their courses to better incorporate American Indian history."