HISTORY

Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America

by Pekka Hämäläinen
Liveright: Norton. Sept. 2022. 576p. ISBN 9781631496998. $40. HIST
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The task Hämäläinen (history, Oxford Univ.; Lakota America) has undertaken is daunting: there isn’t only one tribal history but around 500, which creates a pointillist web with multiple points of entry. In this scrupulously researched survey of the past, a brilliant Finnish scholar presents a compelling picture. He shows that, at least through the 18th century and well into the 1800s, Indigenous peoples flourished by setting the agendas in their efforts to keep their land and resources and establishing the terms for the settlements that followed, even when they didn’t win their battles. This book recognizes that the strengths of Indigenous peoples came from a network of shifting, powerful kinship.
VERDICT The level of detail occasionally overwhelms, but Hämäläinen is adept at explaining. This is a book everyone could benefit from reading.
Reviewed by David Keymer , Jul 01, 2022
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