Native America and the Question of Genocide

Alex Alvarez is professor of criminology and criminal justice at Northern Arizona University. He was the founding director of the Martin-Springer Institute for Teaching the Holocaust, Tolerance, and Humanitarian Values. He is author or coauthor of several books, including Murder American Style, Violence: The Enduring Problem, and Governments, Citizens, and Genocide, and Genocidal Crimes.

Many Native American activists have claimed that their peoples have been subjected to genocide since the arrival of the first Europeans to the Americas. In this work, Alvarez seeks to determine whether the assertions are correct. He provides a detailed examination of various definitions of genocide—which he defines as the implementation of a strategy designed to exterminate a group of people—how they are applied and why. According to the author, planning and intent are the key aspects lacking in much of the evidence put forth to support the accusations. It has been argued that disease was used as a weapon, but Alvarez demonstrates that this devastation was inadvertently transmitted. The author looks for collusion among the colonial-era Dutch, English, French, and Spanish, on a plan to eradicate the native peoples. To believe that European powers enacted such an effort would have denied Native Americans their own agency, yet they actively played European powers against one another to advance their interests. Alvarez acknowledges that many atrocities were committed by Euro-Americans but sees those as distinct from massacre. VERDICT. . . This book is essential reading for anyone interested in human rights as it is a primer on what genocide is and is not.

• IntroductionBeginningsGenocideDestructive BeliefsDiseaseWar and MassacresExiles in Their Own LandEducation for AssimilationWhat’s in a Name?