The untold Indigenous story behind the American Revolution

This summer our country will celebrate the 250-year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration has been described as many things, but chief amongst them, according to scholars, is a list of complaints. And the last entry, the climax in our founders’ reasons for rebellion against the Crown? It’s this: “He has excited… the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.”

We have been told the Revolution was fought over taxation and representation. But First America, a one-hour special, reveals the long-buried history behind the Revolution: What the founders were most angry about in our country’s most famous document was Indian affairs. Hunger for more Indigenous land was one of the biggest drivers of the Revolutionary War. How did generations of Americans miss this?

Hosted by Cherokee reporter Rebecca Nagle working in collaboration with leading Native historians, First America will unveil how the founders’ treatment of Indigenous nations—and their resistance—shaped US democracy, and, crucially, how our current political moment was 250 years in the making.

GUESTS: Nick Estes [Est-ez], citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe and Associate Professor in American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota.

Ned Blackhawk, citizen of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone and professor of history at Yale University

Maggie Blackhawk, Fond du Lac Ojibwe and Moses H. Grossman Professor of Law at New York University

Rebecca Nagle is an award-winning advocate and writer focused on advancing Native rights and ending violence against Native women. Nagle is a citizen of Cherokee Nation and a two spirit/queer woman. Nagle is the host of the podcast This Land focused on treaty rights and tribal sovereignty in Oklahoma. Her writing about Native representation and tribal sovereignty has been featured in the Washington Post, USA Today, Teen Vogue, the Huffington Post, and more. In 2016, Nagle was named one of the National Center American Indian Enterprise Development’s Native American 40 Under 40 for her work to support survivors and advocate for policy change to address the crisis of violence against Native women. Nagle lives in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, where she works for her tribe on language revitalization.

Distributed by Native Voice One in partnership with WNYC.