The Native Ground

In The Native Ground, Kathleen DuVal explores how Native Americans, rather than European settlers, often shaped the nature of their relations across the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers, emphasizing their agency in local land, trade, and diplomacy. Drawing on diverse sources, she highlights the diversity and complexity of native groups and their interactions with European migrants from precolonial times through the 1820s. The book challenges common narratives by illustrating that Europeans frequently relied on Native Americans more than vice versa, offering a nuanced perspective on early American history.