Ned Blackhawk

Ned Blackhawk
Name	Ned Blackhawk
Birth date	1962
Birth place	Idaho, United States
Occupation	Historian, Professor, author
Alma mater	University of Washington, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Employer	Yale University
Notable works	The Rediscovery of America

Ned Blackhawk is a Native American historian, scholar, and professor whose work on Indigenous history, colonialism, and settler colonialism has influenced scholarship across history, American Studies, and Native American studies. He is known for interdisciplinary research that connects archival work, ethnography, and critical theory to address Indigenous experiences in North America. His career includes major appointments at leading universities, involvement in editorial projects, and public scholarship bridging academic and community audiences.

Early life and education

Born in Idaho with family roots in the Shoshone and Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada, he grew up connected to regional Indigenous communities, tribal institutions, and local history sites such as Fort Hall. He completed undergraduate work at University of Washington where he engaged with faculty in History and Ethnic studies, then earned a Ph.D. in History from University of Wisconsin–Madison under advisors active in settler colonial studies and American Indian historiography. During graduate training he worked with archives at institutions including the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, and regional tribal collections, and participated in fellowships at centers such as the American Antiquarian Society and the Institute for Advanced Study.

Academic career

He began his faculty career with appointments at public and private research universities, joining departments that included History, American Studies, and programs focused on Indigenous scholarship. He served on the faculty of University of Wisconsin–Madison before moving to an appointment at Yale University where he holds a chaired professorship. His roles have included directing graduate programs, participating in interdisciplinary committees at institutions such as the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians, and serving on editorial boards for journals like The Journal of American History and Native American and Indigenous Studies. He has supervised doctoral dissertations, taught undergraduate and graduate seminars on topics tied to regional histories like the Great Basin, transnational topics involving Canada, and comparative studies with peoples such as the Lakota, Navajo Nation, and Hopi.

Research and scholarship

His research centers on Indigenous-centered narratives of colonialism, sovereignty, dispossession, and cultural survival across sites including the Pacific Northwest, the Great Plains, and the Intermountain West. He analyzes primary sources from collections at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, missionary records from American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and treaty documents such as the Fort Laramie Treaty (1868) and other nineteenth-century agreements. Engaging with theoretical frameworks developed by scholars associated with settler colonial studies, postcolonial theory, and historians from institutions like Harvard University and University of California, Berkeley, he foregrounds Indigenous agency in the face of federal policies enacted by administrations from the Ulysses S. Grant era through the New Deal and into twentieth-century reforms like the Indian Reorganization Act. His comparative work dialogues with scholars such as Richard White, Toni Morrison (in literary-historical intersections), Philip Deloria, and Vine Deloria Jr., and overlaps with projects at museums and cultural centers including the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum of the American Indian.

Publications

He is the author of influential monographs and edited volumes published by academic presses including Harvard University Press and Oxford University Press. His major book, The Rediscovery of America, examines Indigenous dispossession, legal regimes, and cultural resurgence across the nineteenth century, drawing on archives from repositories such as the Newberry Library, Bancroft Library, and state historical societies in Idaho and Wyoming. He has published articles in journals like The William and Mary Quarterly, Ethnohistory, and American Quarterly, and contributed chapters to volumes edited by scholars at Columbia University and Princeton University. He has co-edited collections with colleagues from University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, and Stanford University, and produced public-facing essays for outlets connected to the New York Times, The Atlantic, and museum catalogues.

Awards and honors

His scholarship has been recognized with prizes and fellowships from organizations such as the American Council of Learned Societies, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has received book prizes from entities like the Organization of American Historians and fellowships at centers including the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Professional honors include election to leadership roles in the American Historical Association and appointments as a distinguished lecturer for the Organization of American Historians.

Public engagement and advocacy

Beyond academia he has engaged with tribal governments including Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada institutions, state historical commissions in Idaho and Nevada, and national cultural organizations such as the National Congress of American Indians. He has consulted for documentary projects produced by networks like PBS and advised exhibits at the National Museum of the American Indian and regional museums. His public talks have been delivered at venues including the Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, Harvard University, and Yale University, and he has contributed to policy discussions concerning cultural heritage, repatriation under NAGPRA, and Indigenous representation in higher education.

Category:Native American historians Category:American historians Category:Yale University faculty