[citation needed] Hämäläinen identifies with the late-20th century "new Indian history" movement, which aimed to challenge previous historiography dominated by Western European perspectives and instead use ethnohistorical methods to better understand indigenous experiences of colonialism.
[9] The book was criticized by indigenous academics, such as Rutgers University historian Jameson "Jimmy" Sweet (Lakota/Dakota)[6][10] and author Delphine Red Shirt (Oglala Lakota).
It was praised by historians like Elizabeth Fenn and Elliott West as well as by critic David Treuer as "great value...as a corrective polemic...restoring historical agency to Native peoples".
[6] In an interview with the New York Times, Blackhawk dismissed Hämäläinen as a historian of "equestrianism" and objected to the book's "occasional disregard of things like law and policy, which are central to Native American sovereignty and lives.
"[6] UNC [clarification needed] historian Kathleen DuVal also criticized the book for not paying sufficient attention to the role of women in indigenous-colonial conflict.