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By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land
ŷ Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite History & Biography (2024)A powerful work of reportage and American history that braids the story of the forced removal of Native Americans onto treaty lands in the nation’s earliest days, and a small-town murder in the 1990s that led to a Supreme Court ruling reaffirming Native rights to that land more than a century later
Before 2020, American Indian reservations made up roughly 55 million acres of land in the United States. Nearly 200 million acres are reserved for National Forests—in the emergence of this great nation, our government set aside more land for trees than for Indigenous peoples.
In the 1830s, Muscogee people were rounded up by the US military at gunpoint and forced into exile halfway across the continent. At the time, they were promised this new land would be theirs for as long as the grass grew and the waters ran. But that promise was not kept. When Oklahoma was created on top of Muscogee land, the new state claimed their reservation no longer existed. Over a century later, a Muscogee citizen was sentenced to death for murdering another Muscogee citizen on tribal land. His defense attorneys argued the murder occurred on the reservation of his tribe, and therefore Oklahoma didn’t have the jurisdiction to execute him. Oklahoma asserted that the reservation no longer existed. In the summer of 2020, the Supreme Court settled the dispute. Its ruling that would ultimately underpin multiple reservations covering almost half the land in Oklahoma, including Nagle’s own Cherokee Nation.
Here Rebecca Nagle recounts the generations-long fight for tribal land and sovereignty in eastern Oklahoma. By chronicling both the contemporary legal battle and historic acts of Indigenous resistance, By the Fire We Carry stands as a landmark work of American history. The story it tells exposes both the wrongs that our nation has committed and the Native-led battle for justice that has shaped our country.
Before 2020, American Indian reservations made up roughly 55 million acres of land in the United States. Nearly 200 million acres are reserved for National Forests—in the emergence of this great nation, our government set aside more land for trees than for Indigenous peoples.
In the 1830s, Muscogee people were rounded up by the US military at gunpoint and forced into exile halfway across the continent. At the time, they were promised this new land would be theirs for as long as the grass grew and the waters ran. But that promise was not kept. When Oklahoma was created on top of Muscogee land, the new state claimed their reservation no longer existed. Over a century later, a Muscogee citizen was sentenced to death for murdering another Muscogee citizen on tribal land. His defense attorneys argued the murder occurred on the reservation of his tribe, and therefore Oklahoma didn’t have the jurisdiction to execute him. Oklahoma asserted that the reservation no longer existed. In the summer of 2020, the Supreme Court settled the dispute. Its ruling that would ultimately underpin multiple reservations covering almost half the land in Oklahoma, including Nagle’s own Cherokee Nation.
Here Rebecca Nagle recounts the generations-long fight for tribal land and sovereignty in eastern Oklahoma. By chronicling both the contemporary legal battle and historic acts of Indigenous resistance, By the Fire We Carry stands as a landmark work of American history. The story it tells exposes both the wrongs that our nation has committed and the Native-led battle for justice that has shaped our country.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published September 10, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 435 reviews
February 9, 2025
This book was fantastic. I loved the way she blended history, current events, and personal reflections and history. The balance was spot on. The pacing was spot on. If you read and liked KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON this book does a similar thing but better and from an indigenous author. Yes!
October 16, 2024
A powerful book about the importance of land to our Indigenous people and their fight to reclaim it, By the Fire We Carry was a beautifully written and narrated journalistic story detailing many parts of our history that have been whitewashed.
October 21, 2024
This was a thorough engaging document of McGirt v. Oklahoma and the history that led to it. For those unfamiliar with McGirt it ruled that despite the fact that the US and the state of Oklahoma had been ignoring the treaty establishing the reservations, sovereign lands, in the state for roughly a century and a half, the majority of the state of Oklahoma falls on reservation land.
As with any case, McGirt starts with harm done to a person or a small group of people, but when a case gets to the Supreme Court it is not about those harms, it is (nearly always) about constitutional or treaty interpretation. Here Nagle writes about this treaty's history and content, and also about that human story that sparked the case. I am glad she discussed the underlying story. In this matter, very very bad men benefitted from the Court's recognition that most of Oklahoma belongs to Indigenous people (for jurisdictional purposes.) Most people only focus on the outcome of cases, the resolution of human affairs, did he "get what he deserved?" and not on adherence to the principles on which this country was founded. People need to see that dismissing the protection of rights as "a technicality" is anti-American, that protecting people from the government is more important than legal redress. Look up Ernesto Miranda. He was a lousy person, a habitual criminal, a rapist and thief who died in a bar fight. And he did not serve time for at least a couple of those crimes because the police violated his Constitutional rights. And because of him and the lawyers who represented him, we are all safer in our dealings with the police and the state. The same thing holds in McGirt. A child-rapist and a man who, in addition to other bad acts, violently murdered a man in the most painful way possible because that man was his woman's ex, and he believed she might still have feelings for him, got new trials. Were we to deny Native Americans sovereignty because we wanted these men to stay in jail (or in one case to die)? I hope we can all agree that is a no.
The larger principle here is that when we forced the members of many tribes to march across the country, leading to the deaths of nearly 20,000 of them, the US gave the people they had victimized reservations and entered into treaties giving the tribes sovereignty over those stretches of land (which at the time the US government had no use for.) When it turned out those stretches of land had value, state and federal actors claimed that the tribes had no rights and stole the land. Interestingly, Oklahoma's primary argument in McGirt (and for some reason the US's argument because the Trump administration decided that they were going to intervene to make sure treaty rights were invalidated) turned out to be that despite the existence of these treaties the fact that the US and Oklahoma had mistreated and disenfranchised Native peoples for so long was proof that they did not intend for indigenous people to have rights. (If you don't believe me, or think I am oversimplifying you can read Justice Roberts' dissent in the case because he actually says that.) It turned out that this scrap of justice for Native Americans rested in part on strict constructionism, a school of constitutional interpretation that I consider immoral and intellectually insupportable, but here it worked. It is worth mentioning that it is not the same as the typical application of strict construction becuase typically the justices focus on constitutional interpretation where adherence to the text is absurd and antithetical to the framer's intent (which they always say they are honoring.) Here the strict construction applied to the interpretation of a treaty, which is essentially a contract, and contracts should be interpreted as written with all ambiguities to favor the party who did not draft the document (in this case the tribes. (Note though, that the monstrous newest version of the Court, in the same session where Roe v. Wade was overruled, seriously limited the impact of the decision in McGirt.)
The McGirt case provides the framework around which this book is built, but this is not a critical analysis of the decision. This is a history of the Muscogee Nation and the US treatment of Indigenous people through the lens of particular people. I knew a good deal about parts of this, I have certainly read McGirt and its companion case and have read a fair bit about dishonored treaty rights, but I learned a lot, and got a new perspective on most of what I did know. Nagle also tells us about the people who represented the plaintiffs and about the families impacted by the case. She makes clear a very complicated story, which is an impressive feat. The writing itself is not particularly lovely, but it is straightforward and digestible and that is the most important thing. A very worthwhile read.
As with any case, McGirt starts with harm done to a person or a small group of people, but when a case gets to the Supreme Court it is not about those harms, it is (nearly always) about constitutional or treaty interpretation. Here Nagle writes about this treaty's history and content, and also about that human story that sparked the case. I am glad she discussed the underlying story. In this matter, very very bad men benefitted from the Court's recognition that most of Oklahoma belongs to Indigenous people (for jurisdictional purposes.) Most people only focus on the outcome of cases, the resolution of human affairs, did he "get what he deserved?" and not on adherence to the principles on which this country was founded. People need to see that dismissing the protection of rights as "a technicality" is anti-American, that protecting people from the government is more important than legal redress. Look up Ernesto Miranda. He was a lousy person, a habitual criminal, a rapist and thief who died in a bar fight. And he did not serve time for at least a couple of those crimes because the police violated his Constitutional rights. And because of him and the lawyers who represented him, we are all safer in our dealings with the police and the state. The same thing holds in McGirt. A child-rapist and a man who, in addition to other bad acts, violently murdered a man in the most painful way possible because that man was his woman's ex, and he believed she might still have feelings for him, got new trials. Were we to deny Native Americans sovereignty because we wanted these men to stay in jail (or in one case to die)? I hope we can all agree that is a no.
The larger principle here is that when we forced the members of many tribes to march across the country, leading to the deaths of nearly 20,000 of them, the US gave the people they had victimized reservations and entered into treaties giving the tribes sovereignty over those stretches of land (which at the time the US government had no use for.) When it turned out those stretches of land had value, state and federal actors claimed that the tribes had no rights and stole the land. Interestingly, Oklahoma's primary argument in McGirt (and for some reason the US's argument because the Trump administration decided that they were going to intervene to make sure treaty rights were invalidated) turned out to be that despite the existence of these treaties the fact that the US and Oklahoma had mistreated and disenfranchised Native peoples for so long was proof that they did not intend for indigenous people to have rights. (If you don't believe me, or think I am oversimplifying you can read Justice Roberts' dissent in the case because he actually says that.) It turned out that this scrap of justice for Native Americans rested in part on strict constructionism, a school of constitutional interpretation that I consider immoral and intellectually insupportable, but here it worked. It is worth mentioning that it is not the same as the typical application of strict construction becuase typically the justices focus on constitutional interpretation where adherence to the text is absurd and antithetical to the framer's intent (which they always say they are honoring.) Here the strict construction applied to the interpretation of a treaty, which is essentially a contract, and contracts should be interpreted as written with all ambiguities to favor the party who did not draft the document (in this case the tribes. (Note though, that the monstrous newest version of the Court, in the same session where Roe v. Wade was overruled, seriously limited the impact of the decision in McGirt.)
The McGirt case provides the framework around which this book is built, but this is not a critical analysis of the decision. This is a history of the Muscogee Nation and the US treatment of Indigenous people through the lens of particular people. I knew a good deal about parts of this, I have certainly read McGirt and its companion case and have read a fair bit about dishonored treaty rights, but I learned a lot, and got a new perspective on most of what I did know. Nagle also tells us about the people who represented the plaintiffs and about the families impacted by the case. She makes clear a very complicated story, which is an impressive feat. The writing itself is not particularly lovely, but it is straightforward and digestible and that is the most important thing. A very worthwhile read.
May 5, 2025
Killers of the Flower Moon, but better/more engaging. I really appreciate the "further reading" section, you can bet I'll be getting on that.
I listened to the audiobook, and you really have to pay attention, not just because it's important, but because of the way its written, sometimes it's not completely clear what's going on. The author sometimes jumps from topic to topic, so it can be hard to keep up. So maybe listen, but also read at the same time.
By the Fire We Carry is well-researched, and you can learn a lot from it, so I'd recommend it to anyone who's interested in the subject, but it's not quite an easy read.
I listened to the audiobook, and you really have to pay attention, not just because it's important, but because of the way its written, sometimes it's not completely clear what's going on. The author sometimes jumps from topic to topic, so it can be hard to keep up. So maybe listen, but also read at the same time.
By the Fire We Carry is well-researched, and you can learn a lot from it, so I'd recommend it to anyone who's interested in the subject, but it's not quite an easy read.
November 18, 2024
This will be in my top nonfiction reads of the year. I can't recommend it enough. Super engaging and accessible nonfiction so I definitely recommend it to everyone. The back and forth of the two main stories- the historic Supreme court case with the history of land theft and forced removal of Native Americans made this a page turner I couldn't put down. It's a devastating read, but well worth your time. I learned so much. I listened to the audiobook read by the author in tandem with a library copy and now have a phone full of pictures of paragraphs since I couldn't highlight. I read this after reading The Native Card: Who Gets to Be Native in America, which was also excellent and I'd definitely recommend reading them both together.
CW from the author: murder, suicide, racial violence, sexual violence, kidnapping. The physical book has an appendix that lists which pages the content is mentioned.
CW from the author: murder, suicide, racial violence, sexual violence, kidnapping. The physical book has an appendix that lists which pages the content is mentioned.
September 5, 2024
I have listened to and recommended Rebecca Nagle’s podcast This Land, and I was very pleased to learn that she had a book coming out that expands on the topic of the podcast’s first season. By the Fire We Carry did not disappoint.
Part journalism and part history, this book offers an accessible and informed analysis of all that led up to and was changed by the historic 2020 McGirt v. Oklahoma decision from the U.S. Supreme Court. Nagle centers the political and legal context behind U.S. and state relations with Native peoples and their lands, spotlighting issues of sovereignty and justice. Whether you’re interested in Indigenous American affairs (historical or contemporary), “Indian law,� Oklahoma politics and history, or the broader scope of the U.S. story (and the lessons we can learn from it), this much-needed work will provide new insights. It also includes an excellent bibliography to fuel further investigation. This is a reader-friendly, passionate, and vital piece of legal, political, and historical investigation with deep importance and implications today, one that does not shy away from difficult topics, and I look forward to sharing it with others.
Thanks to ŷ Giveaways and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read this book before it was published. All opinions in this review are my own.
Part journalism and part history, this book offers an accessible and informed analysis of all that led up to and was changed by the historic 2020 McGirt v. Oklahoma decision from the U.S. Supreme Court. Nagle centers the political and legal context behind U.S. and state relations with Native peoples and their lands, spotlighting issues of sovereignty and justice. Whether you’re interested in Indigenous American affairs (historical or contemporary), “Indian law,� Oklahoma politics and history, or the broader scope of the U.S. story (and the lessons we can learn from it), this much-needed work will provide new insights. It also includes an excellent bibliography to fuel further investigation. This is a reader-friendly, passionate, and vital piece of legal, political, and historical investigation with deep importance and implications today, one that does not shy away from difficult topics, and I look forward to sharing it with others.
Thanks to ŷ Giveaways and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read this book before it was published. All opinions in this review are my own.
August 21, 2024
Note: I was able to read an ARC of this book, quotes and page number may not be final.
“There is an easy mistake to make in telling the story of this case, which is to say that the reservation was given back to the tribe. This would be incorrect. Despite Oklahoma’s position in this case, despite everything that was taken from our tribes, our reservations were never abolished. You can’t give back what already belongs to someone� (Nagle 182).
I can only imagine the emotional turmoil and toll it was on the author to write this book, but I’m so thankful it exists. Since living in Oklahoma I have tried to educate myself on the history but this book makes my effort pale in comparison. Suffice to say, I was horrified by all the new information I was able to learn.
I recommend this book to anyone wanting a primer on Indigenous affairs not only in Oklahoma but in the southeastern United States, it’s a great primer that is easily understandable, but still nuanced and complex.
Set against the backdrop of the landmark Supreme Court case that affirmed the existence of reservations in Oklahoma, this book provides an overview of the history leading up to the Supreme Court case, including hundreds of years of genocide, harm, and terror against the Five Tribes (as listed in the book: Chickasaws, Choctaws, Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles) that ended up in Oklahoma. As well as the aftermath of the case, and Oklahoma’s actions to undo it.
Two quotes that stood out especially include:
“The genius of the Founding Fathers, we are told, was creating a system of checks and balances. Unlike the king of England, if the president stepped out of line, Congress or the Supreme Court would rein them in. But when [Andrew] Jackson defied the Supreme Court, nothing happened. The abuse of power went unchecked…In the end, it would be another time John [Ridge] and his tribe [Cherokee] leveraged their mastery of American law, only to learn the law didn’t matter� (Nagle 86).
“Greed has many forms. In previous generations, land speculators, slave owners, grafters, and oilmen fought for the spoils of removal and allotment. In this generation the greedy are fighting the possibility that tribes might gain back an inch of what was taken� (Nagle 161).
“There is an easy mistake to make in telling the story of this case, which is to say that the reservation was given back to the tribe. This would be incorrect. Despite Oklahoma’s position in this case, despite everything that was taken from our tribes, our reservations were never abolished. You can’t give back what already belongs to someone� (Nagle 182).
I can only imagine the emotional turmoil and toll it was on the author to write this book, but I’m so thankful it exists. Since living in Oklahoma I have tried to educate myself on the history but this book makes my effort pale in comparison. Suffice to say, I was horrified by all the new information I was able to learn.
I recommend this book to anyone wanting a primer on Indigenous affairs not only in Oklahoma but in the southeastern United States, it’s a great primer that is easily understandable, but still nuanced and complex.
Set against the backdrop of the landmark Supreme Court case that affirmed the existence of reservations in Oklahoma, this book provides an overview of the history leading up to the Supreme Court case, including hundreds of years of genocide, harm, and terror against the Five Tribes (as listed in the book: Chickasaws, Choctaws, Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles) that ended up in Oklahoma. As well as the aftermath of the case, and Oklahoma’s actions to undo it.
Two quotes that stood out especially include:
“The genius of the Founding Fathers, we are told, was creating a system of checks and balances. Unlike the king of England, if the president stepped out of line, Congress or the Supreme Court would rein them in. But when [Andrew] Jackson defied the Supreme Court, nothing happened. The abuse of power went unchecked…In the end, it would be another time John [Ridge] and his tribe [Cherokee] leveraged their mastery of American law, only to learn the law didn’t matter� (Nagle 86).
“Greed has many forms. In previous generations, land speculators, slave owners, grafters, and oilmen fought for the spoils of removal and allotment. In this generation the greedy are fighting the possibility that tribes might gain back an inch of what was taken� (Nagle 161).
November 4, 2024
This book recounts the two decade long legal struggle that, after numerous appeals and delays, resulted in the largest restoration of tribal jurisdiction over Native land in U.S. history. This book also recounts the 200 year history of wrongs suffered by the Muscogee (Creek), Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole Nations and how reservation land had been promised to them in Oklahoma territory. After years of court rulings that ignored the legal reality of these promises the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case (held over from the 2018 term in a
decision following ) that the reservations were never disestablished and remain Indian country.
Despite its far-reaching outcome, Sharp v. Murphy didn't change actual ownership of land. The decision was about whether the state of Oklahoma had legal jurisdiction to administer capital punishment to a Native American for a crime committed on reservation land. The decision meant that only the Federal government had such right and due to other agreements could only do so with the consent of the respective tribal reservation authorities.
Any reader who enjoys reading about legal strategies and indigenous rights will find this book to be a fascinating story. It's exciting enough to be made into a movie, except for the unpopular fact that it involves saving a convict from execution who was clearly guilty of a grisly murder.
Despite its far-reaching outcome, Sharp v. Murphy didn't change actual ownership of land. The decision was about whether the state of Oklahoma had legal jurisdiction to administer capital punishment to a Native American for a crime committed on reservation land. The decision meant that only the Federal government had such right and due to other agreements could only do so with the consent of the respective tribal reservation authorities.
Any reader who enjoys reading about legal strategies and indigenous rights will find this book to be a fascinating story. It's exciting enough to be made into a movie, except for the unpopular fact that it involves saving a convict from execution who was clearly guilty of a grisly murder.
October 7, 2024
Absolutely required reading.
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1645808644i%2F7494844._UX200_CR0%2C6%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
February 12, 2025
“The fight over truth is so bitter because power flows from the dominant narrative—the power to shape both public sentiment and public policy.�
The decades-long legal battle of the Muscogee people's fight to have their land recognized by the state of Oklahoma and the US, in addition to the centuries of genocide and forced assimilation Indigenous peoples face.
“The legal doctrines the US created to seize Indigenous land still govern how the US treats people living at the margins of our empire. Native history is often treated like a tragic, distant chapter of the American story. And the legal terrain it created, like a siloed backwater of American law, but it is foundational.�
This was a hard read, but so good. The fight for justice on Native land is long fought, often two steps backward for every one step forward. The laws targeting Indigenous peoples and Indigenous land may seem like ancient history, but instead it's a layered and complex system of promises and failures and crime that nevertheless underpins the foundations of law in the US, and how white America treats those it deems unfit to live in anywhere but the margins.
This book is absolutely required reading.
“Federal Indian law today is not all good or all bad--rather it is the totality of our history. Embedded in American law are the victories and defeats of our ancestors, and the unimaginable compromises they were forced to make. ... What we are left with is a government that still contains both impulses: The impulse to uphold the inherent and legally recognized sovereignty of Indigenous nations. And the impulse to railroad tribes because it can.�
The decades-long legal battle of the Muscogee people's fight to have their land recognized by the state of Oklahoma and the US, in addition to the centuries of genocide and forced assimilation Indigenous peoples face.
“The legal doctrines the US created to seize Indigenous land still govern how the US treats people living at the margins of our empire. Native history is often treated like a tragic, distant chapter of the American story. And the legal terrain it created, like a siloed backwater of American law, but it is foundational.�
This was a hard read, but so good. The fight for justice on Native land is long fought, often two steps backward for every one step forward. The laws targeting Indigenous peoples and Indigenous land may seem like ancient history, but instead it's a layered and complex system of promises and failures and crime that nevertheless underpins the foundations of law in the US, and how white America treats those it deems unfit to live in anywhere but the margins.
This book is absolutely required reading.
“Federal Indian law today is not all good or all bad--rather it is the totality of our history. Embedded in American law are the victories and defeats of our ancestors, and the unimaginable compromises they were forced to make. ... What we are left with is a government that still contains both impulses: The impulse to uphold the inherent and legally recognized sovereignty of Indigenous nations. And the impulse to railroad tribes because it can.�
February 21, 2025
This was a tough read. It had interesting sections about the indigenous nations of America and the land theft, genocide, imprisonment and allotment imposed on them. However, it was challenging to wade through so much US law and politics. Also as the case hinged on a murder and child rape it felt weird that these heinous crimes ended up being pivotal in the land battle fight for justice of indigenous nations. I would probably go for a different book on indigenous American tribe history to learn more about this subject.
November 8, 2024
In By The Fire We Carry, Nagle uses a conviction in a murder case in rural Oklahoma as the framework for examining the over a century long fight for native lands in the US. She goes back to the events at the time of treaties and the forced removal of Indigenous peoples and shows how that injustice has carried forward to today. As part of that journey and exploration, she looks at guardianship, allotment, and the removal of Native children to boarding schools where many experienced terrible abuse. Nagle didn't shey away from some of the negative consequences for victims of crimes that came from the Supreme Court upholding that if Congress didn't dissolve a treaty, then it still stands. This is an excellent work of long form journalism - informative - giving both immediate details and context with incredibly compelling writing.
August 17, 2024
Very strong non-academic history book. A purposeful book that I’d recommend when it comes out.
March 7, 2025
I know we're only in March, but I have read some AMAZING nonfiction written by women so far this year! My mission to read more nonfiction by women has not been anything short of phenomenal, and Rebecca Nagle's narrative nonfiction, By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land is more than worthy of being longlisted for the Women's Prize for Nonfiction (2025).
I tend to read more about the Indigenous experiences in Canada, not in the U.S., so this was - although not surprising - still very disturbing. I loathe the phrase "a-must-read," but this is a book that I hope is taught in (North) American schools. Perhaps it would inspire compassion in others.
[Audiobook, borrowed from library]
I tend to read more about the Indigenous experiences in Canada, not in the U.S., so this was - although not surprising - still very disturbing. I loathe the phrase "a-must-read," but this is a book that I hope is taught in (North) American schools. Perhaps it would inspire compassion in others.
[Audiobook, borrowed from library]
November 26, 2024
In By the Fire We Carry, writer and activist Rebecca Nagle, who is a member of the Cherokee nation, impactfully writes about legal battles between indigenous people and the US government, told largely through the lens of the historic 2020 US Supreme Court decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma, and a prior case which deadlocked the Supreme Court, Sharp v. Murphy. In McGirt's case, Jimcy McGirt, a member of the Seminole tribe, was convicted of child sexual abuse and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole due to multiple prior offenses. However, in a 5-4 decision with a majority opinion authored by justice Neil Gorsuch, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of McGirt and established that the eastern half of the state of Oklahoma remains Indian country (as reservations in that part of the state have never been dissolved by acts of Congress) and criminal prosecution of Native Americans falls outside of Oklahoma court jurisdiction. While this decision was seen as a significant victory for indigenous rights, its legal impact has been dampened due decisions in subsequent court cases like Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta.
I think this story, which merges legal, societal, and historical factors, is definitely worth a read. Readers should note Nagle's inherent bias as an activist, which definitely colors her perspective -- she also shares some deeply personal stories about her own indigenous ancestors.
Further reading:
by Jorge Contreras - another legal thriller on a totally unrelated topic
My statistics:
Book 283 for 2024
Book 1886 cumulatively
I think this story, which merges legal, societal, and historical factors, is definitely worth a read. Readers should note Nagle's inherent bias as an activist, which definitely colors her perspective -- she also shares some deeply personal stories about her own indigenous ancestors.
Further reading:
by Jorge Contreras - another legal thriller on a totally unrelated topic
My statistics:
Book 283 for 2024
Book 1886 cumulatively
February 4, 2025
A fantastic history of how the economic ruling classes will do anything to disenfranchise indigenous peoples. I really like how this followed contemporary examples and then went back historically to other events and cases that lead up to these trials to undermine what little sovereignty indigenous people have. Some of the stories are heart breaking but I’m so happy I got to learn them so I can share this history with the people around me.
June 10, 2025
This was a very historical but fascinating history about Native American land rights. I knew the history was bad, but I guess listening to all the history together was just so disturbing. I never liked Oklahoma, and this validated my feelings.
I liked Killers of the Flower Moon a bit more because it focused on one story, while this book had a lot of different cases and histories that was hard to keep track of. But a really great book and story overall.
I liked Killers of the Flower Moon a bit more because it focused on one story, while this book had a lot of different cases and histories that was hard to keep track of. But a really great book and story overall.
November 19, 2024
TWs : Nagle is very considerate about the trigger warnings and she gives a list before the book begins. It includes genocide, murder, castration, sexual violence, etc.
None of the trigger warning subjects are gratuitous, rather they help to illustrate the background of the cases that lead to these SCOTUS rulings which have defined generations and the way indigenous people exist.
Her book begins with her carrying on a family tradition involving Andrew Jackson’s grave which endeared her to me. She writes about the complexities of being only taught about the heroism of your lineage and growing up to learn the tragic stories too.
Nagle is an exceptional writer and storyteller. It’s a truly difficult and sometimes heinous subject, but so very important. Even as squeamish as I am, I was able to read this book and it illuminated so much. We still have much work to do.
None of the trigger warning subjects are gratuitous, rather they help to illustrate the background of the cases that lead to these SCOTUS rulings which have defined generations and the way indigenous people exist.
Her book begins with her carrying on a family tradition involving Andrew Jackson’s grave which endeared her to me. She writes about the complexities of being only taught about the heroism of your lineage and growing up to learn the tragic stories too.
Nagle is an exceptional writer and storyteller. It’s a truly difficult and sometimes heinous subject, but so very important. Even as squeamish as I am, I was able to read this book and it illuminated so much. We still have much work to do.
April 18, 2025
I learned a lot from this book esp as a Canadian that doesn’t know a lot about Tribal land and history in the southern USA. Very very informative and everything ties together at the end with the multiple stories she is telling in the book.
April 10, 2025
"The Founding Fathers wanted a democracy (...) that would derive its power from the consent of the governed. But they also wanted an empire. And so they built both: a democracy that at its center gave everyone a vote and empire that, as it expanded, controlled the lives and the lands of people who had no say. While (...) who was included in that center changed, the empire never went away. From indigenous nations, to Guam to Puerto Rico, to migrants detained at our borders (...)
ein richtig gut recherchiertes und emotionales buch über den raub und genozid der ureinwohner nordamerikas und wie ihnen mit gewalt, aber vor allem dank des justizsystems und der bürokratie, stück für stück alles genommen wurde, und immer noch genommen wird.
spannend vor allem für alle liberalen atzen die seit trump einen auf unsere demokratie fällt auseinander machen - demokratie in den USA ist von der verfassung bis zum obersten gerichtshof eine illusion die der weissen elite dient, und ihnen exlusive - guten morgen !!!
December 6, 2024
This is the true crime and court system drama of McGirt (well technically, the per curiam case of Murphy) against the historical backdrop of American Indian law—from Indian Removal to the post-McGirt backlash.
While it doesn’t lack for details around the law and history, it is accessible to anyone who has an interest in the topic and/or who loves outstanding non-fiction.
The overwhelming majority of the book involves people in Oklahoma or with Oklahoma connections. Nagle herself is a Cherokee citizen and resides in Tahlequah.
While it doesn’t lack for details around the law and history, it is accessible to anyone who has an interest in the topic and/or who loves outstanding non-fiction.
The overwhelming majority of the book involves people in Oklahoma or with Oklahoma connections. Nagle herself is a Cherokee citizen and resides in Tahlequah.
November 20, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 / 4.5 stars
This is a thoroughly researched book that goes into detail about some heinous acts, so reader beware of subject matter that may be triggering.
It's no secret that the Indigenous Peoples of our country have long been fighting to reclaim their lands. Thanks to the author's journalistic and historic approach in writing this book, we're given a clearer and more in-depth understanding from an Own Voices point of view.
This is a thoroughly researched book that goes into detail about some heinous acts, so reader beware of subject matter that may be triggering.
It's no secret that the Indigenous Peoples of our country have long been fighting to reclaim their lands. Thanks to the author's journalistic and historic approach in writing this book, we're given a clearer and more in-depth understanding from an Own Voices point of view.
November 25, 2024
Passionately written & well researched, I highly recommend if you have any hint of interest or concern for indigenous people within the US. Good mixture of treaties and treatment by the US government (and non-indigenous people/business interests) and how those past decisions have deeply impacted the current lives of these people groups. One of the most overlooked and poorly treated people groups in US history.
October 28, 2024
I'll admit I'm biased because the author is a former student from when I taught in Overland Park, KS., but it's so compelling and takes the reader deeper into Native American history and indigenous culture. Eye opening way beyond Killers of the Flower Moon. I've read it and listened to the audio book, which is narrated by Rebecca. Just a fantastic literary experience.
November 1, 2024
Incredible book about indigenous land and Supreme Court cases that impacted it
November 10, 2024
This book has changed how I look at the world. Absolutely incredible.
December 14, 2024
Two parallel tracks- early US history and our modern era- are used to tell inform the readers of the traumas of native people in the US and the stain it is on our democracy. While most Americans have at least a rudimentary sense that our nation’s treatment of indigenous peoples was inhumane, they may not realize just how the impacts live on in our modern era. I learned a ton and the ending just shows how important it is for the fight to continue and to stand up for “those living at the margins of our empire.� Some of the historical chapters in the latter half of the book got a little tedious but then the last few chapters recaptured my attention and I will look to continue learning about native issues and history.
June 11, 2025
An important story about the history of the Native American population in the US, interwoven with recent events among the US legal system and Supreme Court, along with her own personal experiences as a citizen of Cherokee nation. I previously listened to the author podcast on these events, entitled This Land, so this was a nice recap that put everything into one clear, digestible storyline. Great read about the unfortunate erosion of Native rights and the political repercussions for the Native population.
November 2, 2024
I am thankful this book and the story it contains was written and I was able to read it. I have gained information to which I was ignorant. I plan to read more from the author’s suggested reading list at the end of the book. I highly recommend this as required reading for understanding American history as well as the plight of Indigenous people in the USA still today. Don’t miss the epilogue and God help the USA.
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