Julian Brave NoiseCat, a Secwepemc and St’at’imc writer and filmmaker and author of the forthcoming book, We Survived the Night, recently reviewed We Are the Land: A History of Native California, an award-winning book co-authored by Guilford College History Professor Damon Akins and William J. Bauer. The review appears in the print and digital 7/14 February editions of The Nation.
“I appreciate the care he put into his review. It is beautifully written and insightful," Damon says. "I’m heartened to see that the values our book embodies are connecting with people, and that the stories of California Natives are getting the national exposure they deserve.“
Damon's book is the first of its kind, presenting the history of California's Native People from the time before memory to the present. It combines a chronological organization with place-based vignettes that illustrate the persistent and ongoing vibrancy of California Native life. Read more about the release of Damon's book.
In his review, titled "We Are Still Here: The Past and Future of Native California," NoiseCat praises We Are the Land for centering the voices of Native People, “who have, even in some of the best revisionist studies, remained the ‘other’ on the periphery.” The review weaves together NoiseCat’s experiences as an Indigenous person living in California, with a vivid summary of the history the book relates.
He writes in part that "Across 10 chronological chapters, Akins and Bauer narrate the Indigenous history of the state through various contested spaces: sites of creation, shores and waterways where California Indians discovered European explorers, Catholic missions where they worked and were baptized, the extractive frontiers of competing imperial powers, the blood-drenched goldfields, the casinos that transformed some of these communities into power players in state politics, and the hardscrabble reservations, rancherias, allotments, ghettos, universities, and bars where California Indians and relocated American Indian activists forged the modern Native rights movement."
Those interested can buy We Are the Land directly from the University of California Press or from their local bookstore through Indie Bound. Learn more about the book at the following links:
• Professor Damon Akins Publishes New Book
• Professor Damon Akins Interviewed on KPFA
• Damon Akins Wins Books Award