500 Years of Indigenous Resistance by Gord Hill

The history of the colonization of the Americas by Europeans is often portrayed as a mutually beneficial process, in which “civilization” was brought to the Natives, who in return shared their land and cultures. A more critical history might present it as a genocide in which Indigenous peoples were helpless victims, overwhelmed by European military power. In reality, neither of these views is correct. This book is more than a history of European colonization of the Americas. In this slim volume, Gord Hill chronicles the resistance by Indigenous peoples, which limited and shaped the forms and extent of colonialism. This history encompasses North and South America, the development of nation-states and the resurgence of Indigenous resistance in the post-WW2 era.

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Each month, as part of her Reconciliation Book Club, Pam Palmater (a Mi'kmaw lawyer, member of the Eel River Bar First Nation, and Ryerson professor) assigns a book and discusses it on her YouTube channel. Words Worth Books and University of Waterloo’s program in Gender and Social Justice invite you to meet in person to discuss Prof. Palmater’s selections. Words Worth will stock the books Prof. Palmater assigns. At the end of each month, Prof. Palmater will discuss each book in a new video on her channel. The first Wednesday of the next month, we’ll meet to discuss that month’s book and Prof. Palmater’s discussion of it. This event is free. No RSVP necessary. Come once or as many times as you like!