An Enemy Such as This: Larry Casuse and the Struggle Against Colonialism through One Family on Two Continents over Three Centuries

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The remarkable true story of an Indigenousfamily who fought back, over multiple generations, against the world-destroying power of settler colonial violence.

, for the first time, tells the history of that colonial enemy through the simultaneously epic and intimatestory of Larry Casuse and those, like him, who fought against it.

From the genocidal Mexican war against the Apaches in the nineteenth century, through the collapse of European empires in the first half of the twentieth century, and culminating in the efforts of young Navajo activists and organizers in the second half of the twentieth century to confront settler colonialism in New Mexico, the book offers a resolutely Native-focused history of colonialism.

Reviews

"Its been a long time since a history has touched me so deeply with its poignancy. David Correia offers a masterful original narrative that draws upon meticulous archival research and conversations and support from the Casuse family."Jennifer Denetdale, Navajo Times

"Correias book is also special because in the tradition of Howard Zinnand Mike Davisit is a look at settler violence from the perspective of those who were affected and those who fought back. This is not the history, to paraphrase Malcolm X, of Plymouth Rock. It is the story of the people upon whom Plymouth Rock landed."Dave Zirin,The Progressive's Best Books of 2022
Like his Apache forbearers, Larry Casuserepresents an undeniable reality, an unshakeable strength. Their evil is mighty. But it cant stand up to our stories, writes Leslie Marmon Silko. These words openAn Enemy Such as This. Like all Indigenous freedom fighters, Larry is a story. As long as this story continues, so too will Indigenous life. Settler colonialism is the negation of life, held together through violence. You cant forge a future out of a negation. Indigenous resistance is a story of affirmation. Larry is an affirmation.Melanie Yazzie, from the Foreword

A brilliant tour de force bringing back to life the beloved Navajo militant Larry Casuse who died at the hands of Gallup, NM police. In doing so, David Correia traces the Casuse family history within a world-historical context of Western colonialism, both world wars, US wars against the Native Nations, and continued settler-colonialism and bordertown violence, propped up by US law. This is a breathtaking and original historical narrative that is also a page-turner.Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author ofNot A Nation of Immigrants, Settler-Colonialism, White Supremacy and a History of Erasure and Exclusion

Author Bio

David Correia is a writer, activist and organizer. He is a co-author of Red Nation Rising: From Bordertown Violence to Native Liberation, author of Properties of Violence: Law and Land Grant Struggle in Northern New Mexico, co-author of Police: A field Guide, and co-editor of Violent Order: Essays on the Nature of Police.

Melanie K. Yazzie (Din) is bilagaana born for Maiideeshgiizhinii (Coyote Pass Clan). She isAssistant Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota and coauthor ofRed Nation Rising: From Bordertown Violence to Native Liberation.