U.S. historian’s book on North America’s Indigenous history wins Cundill prize

By The Canadian Press on October 30, 2024.

Author Kathleen DuVal is shown in a handout photo. The U.S. historian's book on North America's Indigenous history, "Native Nations: A Millennium in North America," has won the Cundill History Prize. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

MONTREAL – A U.S. historian’s book on North America’s Indigenous history, “Native Nations: A Millennium in North America,” has won the Cundill History Prize.

The honour comes with US$75,000 for author Kathleen DuVal, a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Random House release was praised for the way it reframes 1,000 years of North America’s history in putting “Indigenous power and sovereignty at its centre.”

Fellow finalists Gary J. Bass for “Judgement at Tokyo” and Dylan C. Penningroth for “Before the Movement,” were each awarded US$10,000.

The Cundill History Prize celebrates a book of non-fiction written in or translated into English.

It is open to writers of any nationality, for books from anywhere in the world.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2024.