Turtle Island: The Story of North America’s First People by Eldon Yellowhorn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Too many books about the Indiginous people of North and Central America take place after first-contact, after the Europeans have come and “discovered” them, as though they needed to be found.
This book, based on myths, and archeological digs, and stories that the elders have passed down, is the story of the people of Turtle Island, one of the names given to the North American continent by some of the First Nation people. The stories of these people, go from the time that they first came to Turtle Island in the last great Ice Age, to the year before Columbus came, bringing death and the end of a way of life that had been going on for thousands and thousands of years.
Each section explains how we know what we know, and what life was like back then. The saddest part, is the last chapter, with assimilation, and residence schools.
This should be a text book in all classrooms, and I hope it is. This is the story that needs to be taught.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.