Summary of Kim E. Nielsen's A Disability History of the United States

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Sample Book Insights:

#1 The Great Law of Peace was brought to the Iroquois by a Huron man. The Peacemaker taught the Mohawks about the Creator’s desire for harmony, and Aionwahta was needed to translate his words.

#2 Disability has a history among North American indigenous people, but it is different than what Europeans and Americans understand today. It is defined in relational terms, rather than bodily terms.

#3 The Indigenous peoples of America had little or no concept of mental illness prior to European contact, only the recognition of unhealthy imbalance. They viewed the behaviors and perceptions of what today we call psychological disability as a great gift to be treasured.

#4 The understandings of physical, spiritual, and mental differences among the different indigenous nations of North America were very different. They varied from person to person, and from culture to culture.