Person

Pekka Hämäläinen

Bylines

How Would Crazy Horse See His Legacy?

Perhaps no Native American is more admired for military acumen than the Lakota leader. But is that how he wanted to be remembered?

by Pekka Hämäläinen via Smithsonian on November 2, 2022
Colonial America Is a Myth

Rather than a “colonial America,” we should speak of an Indigenous America that was only slowly and unevenly becoming colonial.

by Pekka Hämäläinen via TIME on October 10, 2022
Can Colonial Nations Truly Recognise the Sovereignty of Indigenous People?

The Lakota, like other groups, see themselves as a sovereign people. Can Indigenous sovereignty survive colonisation?

by Pekka Hämäläinen via Aeon on October 2, 2019

Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America

Pekka Hämäläinen

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Painting, a portrait of Thayendanegea, depicting a a Native American in a red and orange headdress.

Do We Have the History of Native Americans Backward?

They dominated far longer than they were dominated, and, a new book contends, shaped the United States in profound ways.

by David Treuer via The New Yorker on November 7, 2022

An art installation that evokes the Hollywood sign with the phrase "Indian Land".

Contest or Conquest?

How best to tell the story of oppressed peoples? By chronicling the hardships they’ve faced? Or by highlighting their triumphs over adversity?

by Daniel Immerwahr via Harper’s on October 11, 2022

Oglala Lakota Chief Red Cloud in a formal portrait arranged by William Blackmore, whose hand is visible at right

The Power Brokers

A recent history centers the Lakota and the vast territory they controlled in the story of the formation of the United States.

by David Treuer via New York Review of Books on November 11, 2020

Cover of Ned Blackhawk's book; a pole with feathers attached is next to the title, "The Rediscovery of America"

The Promise and Perils of Synthetic Native History

Over the past year, two prominent historians have invited readers to rethink the master narrative of US history.

by Gregory D. Smithers via H-Net on January 11, 2024

Petroglyphs in southern Wyoming, probably dating to the early 17th century, include well-preserved images of horses and riders, depicted with riding equipment and shields.

Horse Nations

After the Spanish conquest, horses transformed Native American tribes much earlier than historians thought.

by Andrew Curry via Science on March 30, 2023

Fort William Henry, 1755.

The Curious History of Ulysses Grant's Great Grandfather

The sacrifice of Captain Noah Grant, during the French and Indian War, may have influenced Ulysses S. Grant, as he decided to rejoin the U.S. Army in 1861.

by John Reeves via HNN on March 19, 2023

Man in American themed boxers, carrying a semiautomatic rifle

How Did Guns Get So Powerful?

Decade by decade, firearms have become deadlier—and tightened their grip on our collective imagination.

by Phil Klay via The New Yorker on June 11, 2022

America's Other Original Sin

Europeans didn’t just displace Native Americans — they enslaved them, on a scale historians are only beginning to fathom.

by Rebecca Onion via Slate on January 18, 2016

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