“Interwoven Economic Histories: American Indians in a Capitalist America.”

Alexandra Harmon, Colleen O’Neill, and Paul C. Rosier explain why historians, particularly those outside the American Indian specialty, should integrate Indian economic affairs into surveys and analyses of U.S. history. They document scholars’ neglect of Indian economic activity, identify reasons for that neglect, and discuss new research that makes a compelling case for Indians’ significance in American economic history. Histories of American capitalism are incomplete and current Indian entrepreneurship makes little sense, the authors argue, unless historians acknowledge U.S. incorporation of Indian resources and Indians’ diverse adaptations as workers and entrepreneurs.