The undefeated

Gord Hill, an artist and member of the indigenous Kwakwaka’wakw nation of Canada, takes on the entire 500-plus years of conflict between native North Americans and Europeans in this slim comic book. The first section covers familiar ground: European invasion, theft of lands, disease, war and casual slaughter. But Hill then goes beyond the well-known (and thoroughly Hollywood-ized) struggle of the Plains Indians to describe instances of armed resistance usually left out of history books: the Pueblo revolt, Pontiac’s war, the Seminole wars, the series of Apache wars, and a detailed account of the various wars fought on the Pacific Coast. The Mapuche of Chile, for instance, were never conquered and still defend their lands. This is a fantastic illustrated introduction to American history that most of us don’t know, including contemporary rebellions like the Zapatistas in Mexico and the two Canadian standoffs in the late 90s.