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Image of a canoe steered by members of the Cree tribe.

The Custom of the Country

On the relationships formed and marriages made by the fur trade.
by Anne Hyde via Lapham’s Quarterly on February 15, 2022
A late 17th-century comb, depicting two animated figures - likely a Native American and a European - facing one another.

A 1722 Murder Spurred Native Americans' Pleas for Justice in Early America

In a new book, historian Nicole Eustace reveals Indigenous calls for meaningful restitution and reconciliation rather than retribution.
by Karin Wulf, Nicole Eustace via Smithsonian on April 28, 2021
Sketch of colonial fur traders and Indigenous people in a canoe.

The Untold Story of the Hudson’s Bay Company

A look back at the early years of the 350-year-old institution that once claimed a vast portion of the globe.
by Melissa J. Gismondi via Canadian Geographic on April 30, 2020
A raccoon leaning against wood.

The Fascinating History of Raccoons in North American Culture, From Symbols to Pets to Dinner

In the relationship between humans and raccoons, the black-masked mammals have played many roles.
by Samuel Zeveloff via Smithsonian on May 29, 2025
Illustration of an AI machine reading a book.

How AI Can Make History

Large language models can do a lot of things. But can they write like an 18th-century fur trader?
by Josh Dzieza via The Verge on February 15, 2024
Cover of "Beaver Land," featuring a beaver tail

A Fascinating History of Beavers Shows How the Species Shaped the U.S.

Leila Philip's book is thrilling, both on scientific and historical levels.
by Katrina Gulliver via Washington Post on December 13, 2022
Map of New England from 1856.

The 400-Year-Old Rivalry

Understanding the rivalry between England and the Netherlands is crucial to understanding that between New England and New York.
by Liz Covart via The Junto on June 26, 2019

Paddling Down 'Disappointment River'

Revisiting the arduous path of 18th-century fur trader Alexander Mackenzie.
by Brian Castner via Atlas Obscura on March 13, 2018
Illustration of the harmful effects of alcohol on a Seneca village

America's First Addiction Epidemic

The alcohol epidemic devastated Native American communities, leading to crippling poverty, high mortality rates — and a successful sobriety movement.
by Christopher Finan via Longreads on August 29, 2017
Drawing of Native Americans on a boat

Masters of Empire: Great Lakes Indians and the Making of America

Michael A. McDonnell’s book is a wonderfully researched microhistory of the Michilimackinac area from the mid-17th to the early 19th century.
by Adam Nadeau via Borealia: Early Canadian History on June 27, 2016
The U.S.-Canada border, as seen in this satellite map, mostly runs along the 49th parallel — and wasn't chosen at random.

Trump Calls the U.S.-Canada Border an "Artificial Line." That's not Entirely True.

Just because it's man-made doesn't mean it's not legitimate.
by Rachel Treisman via NPR on May 9, 2025
Mountainous Alaska landscape.

Trump’s Push to Control Greenland Echoes US Purchase of Alaska From Russia in 1867

The tale of how and why Russia ceded its control over Alaska to the U.S. 150 years ago is actually two tales and two intertwining histories.
by William L. Iggiagruk Hensley via The Conversation on January 8, 2025
4 photographs of Josie Rudolph Thurnauer through the years 1874-1938.

Josie’s Story: From 19th-Century Sitka To Her Escape From The Holocaust

Josie Rudolph’s life, in an era of worldwide migration and colonial ambition, offers a new perspective on the familiar tale of modern Alaska’s birth.
by Tom Kizzia via Anchorage Daily News on October 28, 2024
Three workers taking a break inside a salt mine in the 1940s.

Salt of the Earth

In Winn Parish, an ancient salt dome has sustained life for centuries.
by Kelby Ouchley via 64 Parishes on September 1, 2024
An advertisement for the sale of Indian land by the US Department of the Interior, 1911.

A Legacy of Plunder

In its reexamination of narratives about the expropriation of Native land, Michael Witgen’s work changes how Native people are in the arc of American history.
by Francisco Cantú via New York Review of Books on May 30, 2024
A top hat with poppies and the words "Merchants of Addiction", and pictures of wealthy American opium smugglers.

The Blue-Blood Families That Made Fortunes in the Opium Trade

Long before the Sacklers appeared on the scene, families like the Astors and the Delanos cemented their upper-crust status through the global trade in opium.
by Amitav Ghosh via The Nation on January 23, 2024
original

Oregon Trails

After navigating a minor hiccup in our own provisioning process, we set out for the West on what would be our longest trip yet.
by Ed Ayers on October 24, 2023
Sheboygan Indian Mound Park.

Sheboygan's Indian Mound Park was Saved by a Garden Club and Newspaper Campaign

Earthen Indigenous burial mounds were created in the shape of birds, reptiles and mammals.
by Gary C. Klein via Sheboygan Press on October 12, 2023
Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

A Child's Primer for Liberty

Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" series is the best introduction for a child to virtues indispensable to liberty.
by John O. McGinnis via Law & Liberty on April 20, 2023

How the Modern NRA Was Born at the Border

A conversation between a historian and the creator of a new documentary short about NRA leader Harlon Carter.
by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Sierra Pettengill via Boston Review on May 7, 2021
Drawing of dog in front of landscape

The Dogs of North America

Dogs were prolific hunters and warm companions for northeastern Native peoples like the Mi'kmaq.
by Livia Gershon, Strother E. Roberts via JSTOR Daily on May 3, 2021
Purple and yellow illustration of Lower Manhattan skyline, with letters of "Manahata" as buildings.

How New York Was Named

For centuries, settlers pushed Natives off the land. But they continued to use indigenous language to name, describe, and anoint the world around them.
by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro via The New Yorker on April 13, 2021
Tepary beans, squash, and corn against a black background

Returning Corn, Beans, and Squash to Native American Farms

Returning the "three sisters" to Native American farms nourishes people, land, and cultures.
by Christina Gish Hill via The Conversation on November 20, 2020
Drawing of headshots of Dred Scott and Harriet Robinson

"Where Two Waters Come Together"

The confluence of Black and Indigenous history at Bdote.
by Katrina Phillips via National Museum of American History on August 26, 2020
A graphic featuring a map of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and slavery imagery.

Cancer Alley

A collage artist explores how Louisiana's ecological and epidemiological disasters are founded in colonialism.
by Monique Michelle Verdin via Southern Cultures on August 1, 2020
A photograph of the Chicago River, with telephone wires and the Chicago skyline in the background.

Chicago Was 'Skunk Town' Long Before It Was the Windy City

Chicago has been a skunk haven for centuries.
by Alex Schwartz via Atlas Obscura on July 29, 2020

In Castoria

It's worth considering how the two images of the beaver – one focused upon its hind parts and the other upon its industry – are but two acts in a single history.
by Justin E. H. Smith via jehsmith.com on June 8, 2019
A drawing of a beaver collecting branches.

A History of Flavoring Food With Beaver Butt Juice

No, castoreum is not a cheap substitute for strawberries; it’s luxe, artisanal secretions from a beaver's rear end.
by Nadia Berenstein via Vice on December 20, 2018

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