Episode 2077: Kathleen DuVal on a Thousand Year History of Native Nations in North America

Is history, particularly the last thousand year history of North America, written by the victors? Perhaps. After all, as Kathleen DuVal, the author of NATIVE NATIONS reminds us, a thousand years ago, back in 1024, North America was inhabited by a rich mosaic of indigenous civilizations that in many ways mirrored European societies. Today, of course, things are quite different. But as DuVal, a much acclaimed historian at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, reminds us, in 1024, a sophisticated collection of North American indigenous communities inhabited advanced urban areas linked by diplomatic and trading networks. What’s particularly refreshing about DuVal’s narrative is that she sidesteps the colonial guilt schtick that all-too-often corrodes the telling of this story. The indigenous peoples of North America were probably not much better or worse than Europeans, she suggests. And that’s what makes them and their thousand year history so interesting.

Kathleen DuVal is a Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her field of expertise is early American history, particularly interactions among Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans on the borderlands of North America. Her books include Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution and the forthcoming Native Nations: A Millennium in North America.

Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.

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