Decolonizing Your Genealogy Bookshelf

The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine

A series of essays on African American history with emphasis on slavery and Reconstruction. The audiobook is especially good, interspersed with poetry and prose. Especially interesting was the essay on how the Reconstruction Era’s newly elected Black representatives in the South funded public school systems that ultimately benefited poor whites as well, and how the racist backlash of underfunding public schools continues to cripple Southern states today. Waters McIntosh, who spent his childhood enslaved in South Carolina said “It was the poor white man who was freed by the war, not the Negroes.” Learn more about how Black freedom benefited poor whites here.

The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History by Ned Blackhawk

A look at American history from an Indigenous perspective from colonial era to present day. The author is Western Shoshone and a history professor at Yale. Compares differences between colonial impact in Spanish, Portuguese, English, and French colonies as well. The last chapter on tribal termination and child removal is heartbreaking and especially relevant to modern genealogy research. I was hoping for a bit more pre-colonial history of Eastern Woodlands tribes though so I’m still looking for Indigenous sources on that topic. If you have any recommendations, please share them below!

We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy by Kliph Nesteroff

History of Native American comedy and how Native American folklore, culture, and comedians have influenced American comedy traditions as a whole, as well as Native American representation in broader American popular culture and myth making. Highlights wild west shows, pow wow announcers, and popular figures such as Charlie Hill and Will Rogers and numerous modern comedians. I grew up listening to a lot of vintage comedy and reading Navajo and Hopi folktales as a child so I read this for the nostalgia, but the history lesson was a pleasant surprise!

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann

I was hoping for pre-colonial Native American history but this was more archeology and environmental focused instead, and to my knowledge not by an Indigenous author. It did have some interesting insights though so worth the read if you’re especially interested in environmental archeology. More focused on Aztec civilization so not as relevant to my specific regional interests. He has a follow up book 1493 which takes a similar approach to post-Columbian global impact.

An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States by Kyle T. Mays

I haven’t read this yet but it’s been recommended by several people and is up soon in my TBR list. Written by an Afro-Indigenous Saginaw Chippewa scholar at UCLA. Given the topic I imagine it will have more history relevant to the South and Eastern Woodlands tribes.

In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 by Mary Beth Norton

Another history of the Salem Witch Trials by a feminist historian with an emphasis on the context and impact of fear, trauma, and tensions between colonists and Native Americans within broader regional conflicts. I haven’t read this yet so it will be interesting to see if/how the author incorporates the Indigenous perspective into the narrative. I’ve also read reviews that the writing is a bit dry.

Witches, Wife Beaters, and Whores: Common Law and Common Folk in Early America by Elaine Forman Crane

Every family tree has a few folks who ran afoul of the law, so I’m hoping to find a few of mine in here along with a better understanding of early colonial legal system and common law. Also who doesn’t love a bit of alliteration in that title! The book focuses on reconstructing 6 specific trials so perhaps one of them relates to your family. I’m especially curious about the Bermuda witch trials, as one of my ancestors was a judge.

Devil Made Me Do It!: Crime And Punishment In Early New England by Juliet Haines Mofford

Another feature on crime and punishment, focusing on colonial New England. The book draws on on early court dockets, diaries, sermons, gaolers’ records, and other primary sources and looks like a relatively quick read.

Mutinous Women: How French Convicts Became Founding Mothers of the Gulf Coast by Joan Dejean

Featuring the fascinating story of my maternal 7th great grandmother Genevieve Bettemont and other “convict brides” who were falsely accused of sex crimes, imprisoned, and trafficked from France to colonial Louisiana on La Mutine in 1719 and how the survivors were instrumental in building the city of New Orleans. I just ordered this so stay tuned for a feature on her story.

Kings and Queens of England and Scotland by Plantagenet Somerset Fry

For the Anglophiles in your family tree, this is a concise history of all the monarchs of England and Scotland with family trees, pictures, and timelines. If you have English ancestors, chances are you’re related to Edward III, King Alfred, Charlemagne, and probably descended from John of Gaunt in at least three different ways so this handy reference guide will help you keep track of them all. It’s also a convenient coffee table book if you like watching period piece shows about British history and Vikings. Not at all decolonizing, so this one is for the Queen in all of us.

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber, David Wengrow

A lengthy book about human history, archeology, and anthropology that challenges prevailing assumptions. It took a while to read but I really enjoyed the entire book and highly recommend it. A good counter to some of the bias in Guns, Germs, & Steel, with a focus on the variety in Indigenous societies and how they each evolved over time and in relationship with their unique environments as opposed to reducing Indigenous people to a monolith or a trope. I especially enjoyed the chapter on Indigenous American philosophers and their impact on the Enlightenment Era and reaction to European culture in the colonial era.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

I recommend this with caution as it should be read through a critical lens, but it was useful from the standpoint of the history of human evolution and humanoid genetics, through insights from biology, anthropology, paleontology, and economics. It makes a lot of sweeping generalizations about human culture though.