Comanche Empire

conférence de Pekka HÄMÄLÄINEN (Université de Californie à Santa Barbara)

lundi 20 juin 2011 de 18h à 20h,
salle Lombard, 96 bd Raspail, Paris 6e

organisée par le Le Centre d'Études Nord-Américaines (CENA) de l'EHESS et le Réseau pour le Développement Européen de l'Histoire de la Jeune Amérique (REDEHJA)

La présentation du livre par l'auteur sera suivie de commentaires par :

• Emmanuel DÉSVEAUX (EHESS, Institut Marcel Mauss)
• Christophe GIUDICELLI (Université de Paris III, MASCIPO)
• Gilles HAVARD (CNRS, MASCIPO)

Résumé du livre :

In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, at the high tide of imperial struggles in North America, an indigenous empire rose to dominate the fiercely contested lands of the American Southwest, the southern Great Plains, and northern Mexico. This powerful empire, built by the Comanche Indians, eclipsed its various European rivals in military prowess, political prestige, economic power, commercial reach, and cultural influence. Yet, until now, the Comanche empire has gone unrecognized in historical accounts.

This compelling and original book uncovers the lost story of the Comanches. It is a story that challenges the idea of indigenous peoples as victims of European expansion and offers a new model for the history of colonial expansion, colonial frontiers, and Native-European relations in North America and elsewhere. Pekka Hämäläinen shows in vivid detail how the Comanches built their unique empire and resisted European colonization, and why they fell to defeat in 1875. With extensive knowledge and deep insight, the author brings into clear relief the Comanches' remarkable impact on the trajectory of history.