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Painting of three Native Americans in colorful clothing, with other figures walking through forest in background.

Trails of Tears, Plural: What We Don’t Know About Indian Removal

The removal of Indigenous people was a national priority with broad consensus.
George Wallace pointing to map of United States with "Wallace Country" written on it.

How the Right Turned “Freedom” Into a Dog Whistle

A new book traces the long history of cloaking racism in the language of resistance to an overbearing federal government.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. with Kimberly Teehee

Cherokee Nation Is Fighting for a Seat in Congress

Thanks to an 1835 treaty, they’re pushing Democrats to approve a nonvoting delegate.
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Native Trails

Ed Ayers travels back to his childhood stomping grounds in search of traces of the dispossession that took place there generations earlier.
Nurse Harriet Curley takes the pulse of a patient at Sage Memorial Hospital on the Navajo Indian reservation in 1949. (AP)

How Native Americans Were Vaccinated Against Smallpox, Then Pushed Off Their Land

Nearly two centuries later, many tribes remain suspicious of the drive to get them vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Was Indian Removal Genocidal?

Most recent scholarship, while supporting the view that the policy was vicious, has not addressed the question of genocide.
Police stand inside fence around the Andrew Jackson statue behind the White House; the statue pedestal has the word "Killer" spray painted on it.
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Trump Thinks Andrew Jackson’s Statue Is a Great Monument — But to What?

The truth about policies of Native American removal.
Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson: Our First Populist President

He never denounced slavery and was brutal towards American Indians, but remains a popular figure. Why?
Artist Titus Kaphar says that his 2014 Columbus Day Painting—which greets "Unseen" visitors in the first gallery—was inspired by his young son’s conflicted and confusing study of the putative discoverer of America.

Two Artists in Search of Missing History

A new exhibition makes a powerful statement about the oversights of American history and America’s art history.
1884 map of land surrendered by the Cherokee Nation to colonial and U.S. governments from 1721 to 1835.

Cherokee Removal and the Trail of Tears

A primary source set and teaching guide created by educators.

How I Feel As a Native Woman When Trump Idolizes Andrew Jackson

Trump has called Andrew Jackson a "military hero and genius and a beloved president."

Andrew Jackson was A Slaver, Ethnic Cleanser, and Tyrant

Andrew Jackson deserves nothing but contempt from modern America, not a place on our currency.
Davy Crockett monument in Texas.

The Political Example of Davy Crockett

As a congressman, Davy Crockett found ways to navigate populist upheaval and maintain his own independence.
A presidential portrait of George Washington.

The Enduring Power of Purim

Since colonial times, the Book of Esther has proved a powerful metaphor in American politics.
Alabama Governor George Wallace standing in front of an American map with the words, "Wallace County," written over it.

The Freedom to Dominate

When viewing federal authority as a bulwark for civil rights against local tyranny, we miss what the U.S. government has done to sustain white freedom.
Joel Roberts Poinsett (left). The poinsettia, which takes its name from Poinsett (right).

Poinsettia Day, the Monroe Doctrine, and U.S.-Mexican Relations

The troubled history of the famous poinsettia plant.
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Beyond Dispossession

For generations, depictions of Native Americans have reduced them to either aggressors or victims. But at many public history sites, that is starting to change.
The Serpent Mound in Ohio

The Story of Ohio's Ancient Native Complex and its Journey for Recognition as a World Heritage Site

An Indigenous sacred site, Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks has served as a military barracks, a fairground and, more recently, a golf course.
Painting depicting the Trail of Tears.

Native Removal Prior to the Indian Removal Act of 1830

To understand westward expansion, the Trail of Tears, the history of Manifest Destiny, and the impacts to Native Americans, one must understand its buildup.
Alien Invasion, 1492, by Ka’ila Farrell-Smith, depicting animals with harsh lines and the word "un-erasing."

How Wikipedia Distorts Indigenous History

Native editors are fighting back.
Two Choctaw men

Choctaw Confederates

Some Native Americans chose to fight for the Southern cause.
Footprints dated to 23,000-21,000 years ago at the White Sands National Park, New Mexico.

The First Americans – A Story of Wonderful, Uncertain Science

Archaeology and genetics can’t yet agree on when humans first arrived in the Americas. That’s good science, and here’s why.
A courtroom or public civic room full of people, with white and black people sitting on opposite sides of a railing.

When Tribal Nations Expel Their Black Members

Clashes between sovereignty rights and civil rights reveal an uncomfortable and complicated story about race and belonging in America.
A map of Georgia's Yazoo land divided between companies.

How the Yazoo Land Scandal Changed American History

Without the now-obscure land investment affair, Georgia might have been a "super state."
"Join or Die" snake political cartoon.

The Iron Cage of Erasure: American Indian Sovereignty in Jill Lepore’s 'These Truths'

Lepore’s framework insists that the “self-evident” truths of the nation’s founding were anything but.
Tepary beans, squash, and corn against a black background

Returning Corn, Beans, and Squash to Native American Farms

Returning the "three sisters" to Native American farms nourishes people, land, and cultures.
An old school auditorium

L’Ouverture High School: Race, Place, and Memory in Oklahoma

A state with an often-overlooked history of enslavement demonstrates the lasting significance and geographic reach of the Haitian Revolution.
Toppled Howitzers Monument in Richmond, VA

American Oligarchy

A review of "How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America."

Disease Has Never Been Just Disease for Native Americans

Native communities’ vulnerability to epidemics is not a historical accident, but a direct result of oppressive policies and ongoing colonialism.

How Davy Crockett Became an American Legend

Was Davy Crockett a sellout? And does it matter?

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