The 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance Comic Book: Revised and Expanded

Flipping Eurocentric history on its head, Kwakwaka’wakw artist Hill expands and updates his righteous 2010 chronicle of indigenous resistance to conquistadors and colonizers. Rather than limiting the focus to current national borders, Hill depicts revolts, rebellions, and riots from peoples across North and South America in fierce full-color. Spanning from 1494 with the Taíno retaliation against Christopher Columbus to modern-day standoffs over land, water, and oil, the narrative covers significantly more material than the original edition, though it still tends to speed through complex conflicts. Hill takes great care in his brightly colored artwork that illustrates the traditional dress and practices of each group—particularly evocative are the Tlingit warriors who rise from the page in gorgeously carved headdresses to strike down Russian traders, in an 1802 uprising against trespassing on their lands. While it’s an inherently bloody and brutal history, Hill also centers resilience, such as in the chapter on the Mapuche, who fought against Spanish control for generations and today survive “unconquered” in what’s now Chile and Argentina. Particularly of interest to educators, this update would be a crucial addition to any library or classroom that aims to tell an unvarnished history of the Americas. (Oct.)