ROXANNE DUNBAR-ORTIZ AND DINA GILIO-WHITAKER DISCUSS THEIR BOOK ”ALL THE REAL INDIANS DIED OFF” AND 20 OTHER MYTHS ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS

“All the Real Indians Died Off” and 20 Other Myths About Native Americans (Beacon Press)

“All the Real Indians Died Off” and 20 Other Myths About Native Americans critically deconstructs persistent myths about American Indians that have taken hold in the United States. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker tackle a wide range of myths about Native American culture (“Indians Are Naturally Predisposed to Alcoholism”) and history (“Columbus Discovered America”) and trace how they developed. They deftly show how these myths are rooted in the fears and prejudice of European settlers and in the larger political agendas of the settler state aimed at acquiring Indigenous land, and that they can be traced to narratives of erasure and disappearance.

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz grew up in rural Oklahoma, the daughter of a tenant farmer and part-Indian mother. She has been active in the international Indigenous movement for more than four decades and is known for her lifelong commitment to national and international social justice issues. After receiving her PhD in history at the University of California at Los Angeles, she taught in the newly established Native American Studies Program at California State University, Hayward, and helped found the Departments of Ethnic Studies and Women’s Studies. Her 1977 book The Great Sioux Nation was the fundamental document at the first international conference on Indigenous peoples of the Americas, held at the United Nations’ headquarters in Geneva. Dunbar-Ortiz is the author or editor of seven other books, including Roots of Resistance: A History of Land Tenure in New Mexico. She lives in San Francisco.

Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Colville Confederated Tribes) is an award-winning journalist and columnist at Indian Country Today Media Network. A writer and researcher in Indigenous studies, she is currently a research associate and associate scholar at the Center for World Indigenous Studies. She lives in San Clemente, CA.