Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Hardcover. 440 pages.
Native America presents an infinitely surprising and fascinating deep history of the continent’s Indigenous peoples. Kenneth Feder, a leading expert on Native American history and archaeology, draws on archaeological, historical, and cultural evidence to tell the ongoing story, more than 20,000 years in the making, of an incredibly resilient and diverse mixture of peoples, revealing how they have ingeniously adapted to the many changing environments of the continent, from the Arctic to the desert Southwest.
Richly illustrated, Native America introduces close to a hundred different peoples, each with their own language, economic and social system, and religious beliefs. Here, we meet the Pequot, Tunxis, Iroquois, and Huron of the Northeast; the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, and Apache of the Southwest; the Hidatsa, Mandan, and Lakota of the Northern Plains; the Haida, Kwakiutl, Nootka, and Salish of the Northwest Coast; the Tule River and Mohave of Southern California; the Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole of the Southeast; and the Inuit and Kalaallit of the Arctic. We learn about hunters of enormous Ice Age beasts; people who raised stone toolmaking to the level of art; a Native American empire ruled by a king and queen, with a huge city at its center and colonies hundreds of miles away; a society that made the desert bloom by designing complex irrigation networks; brilliant architects who built fairy castles in sandstone cliffs; and artists who produced beautiful and moving petroglyphs and pictographs that reflect their deep thinking about history, the sacred, the land, and the sky.
Native America is not about peoples of the past, but vibrant, living ones with an epic history of genius and tenacity—a history that everyone should know."
Native America is a fantastic overview of the history of Native Americans across North America, with a particular focus on archaeological elements.
I think this would be a perfect introductory book for anyone who wants to know more about the culture and history of Native Americans, as I think the author does a great job in discussing common stereotypes, misconception, and other ideas to draw readers in who may not have much background about Native American history. I've read a number of books on Indigenous history over the years, but there's always more to learn and I really appreciated the thorough research and care that went into crafting this history. Feder also really brings this history to life in a way that lets the reader feel like they are almost being told of these topics by a friend who is sharing something they're passionate about, and as a result it makes it incredibly easy to engage with the topic and truly understand more about the history of Native America. The author is also incredibly respectful of the many topics covered in this book, and I really appreciated seeing this in the way he chose to discuss every topic in here, including ones surrounding more sensitive topics. I think it's important that he doesn't shy away from diving into those heavier themes, but instead of explores them fully and gives them the respect they deserve.
I listened to the audiobook version of this and thought it was incredibly well-done and was a joy to listen to--I definitely recommend it! I'd actually love to pick up a physical copy to see some mentioned charts and the like that weren't available in audio format. I highly recommend this one!
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