"All the Real Indians Died Off": And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans (Myths Made in America)

Unpacks the twenty-one most common myths and misconceptions about Native Americans

In this enlightening book, scholars and activists Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker tackle a wide range of myths about Native American culture and history that have misinformed generations. Tracing how these ideas evolved, and drawing from history, the authors disrupt long-held and enduring myths such as:

“Columbus Discovered America”
“Thanksgiving Proves the Indians Welcomed Pilgrims”
“Indians Were Savage and Warlike”
“Europeans Brought Civilization to Backward Indians”
“The United States Did Not Have a Policy of Genocide”
“Sports Mascots Honor Native Americans”
“Most Indians Are on Government Welfare”
“Indian Casinos Make Them All Rich”
“Indians Are Naturally Predisposed to Alcohol”

Each chapter deftly shows how these myths are rooted in the fears and prejudice of European settlers and in the larger political agendas of a settler state aimed at acquiring Indigenous land and tied to narratives of erasure and disappearance. Accessibly written and revelatory, “All the Real Indians Died Off” challenges readers to rethink what they have been taught about Native Americans and history.

• An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States (ReVisioning American History)
• Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask
• Who We Be: A Cultural History of Race in Post-Civil Rights America
• Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America
• As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock
• The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America
• Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment (City Lights Open Media)
• Why You Can't Teach United States History without American Indians
• Every Day Is a Good Day: Reflections by Contemporary Indigenous Women
• Love, InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women