Why read Dispossessing the Wilderness?

Book cover of Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks

Book description

This book examines the ideal of wilderness preservation in the United States from the antebellum era to the first half of the twentieth century, showing how the early conception of the wilderness as the place where Indians lived (or should live) gave way to the idealization of uninhabited wilderness. It…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Dispossessing the Wilderness as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Megan Kate Nelson

Author

Neither Muir nor Sellars pay much attention to Indigenous communities living in or near national parks—Dispossessing the Wilderness puts the lie to the claim that Native peoples were afraid of or have vanished from these places. Spence examines the Indigenous histories of Yellowstone, Glacier, and Yosemite, and concludes that while white federal officials expended a tremendous amount of energy promoting the myth that the nation’s national parks are “uninhabited wildernesses,” Indigenous communities have continued to claim them in various ways. Compelling and wide-ranging in its analysis, this is a must-read for fans of the national park system.

From Megan's list on America’s National Parks.