Brenden W. Rensink

Historian of the North American West, Borderlands, Indigenous Peoples, and Environment

Recent Posts

Blog, From the Bookshelf

From the Bookshelf: Rosenthal – Reimagining Indian Country

Nicolas G. Rosenthal. Reimagining Indian Country: Native American Migration & Identity in Twentieth-Century Los Angeles. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2012.  Readers may be catching on toContinue readingFrom the Bookshelf: Rosenthal – Reimagining Indian Country

Blog

MadLibs Courtesy of Spam-Bots

One of the joys of running a blog is the spam that comes through as comments. This is the reason I require moderation before any comments post, and even thoughContinue readingMadLibs Courtesy of Spam-Bots

Blog, Events

More Panels to Check Out at the 2014 Western History Association conference in Newport Beach, Oct. 15-18

I already gave a rundown of the borderlands and transnational history panels at the upcoming Western History Association Conference in Newport Beach, Oct. 15-18, 2014, but there are a numberContinue readingMore Panels to Check Out at the 2014 Western History Association conference in Newport Beach, Oct. 15-18

Blog, Borderlands, Events

Borderlands and Transnational History at the 2014 Western History Association Conference

The Western History Association will hold its 54th annual conference in Newport Beach, California on October 15-18. Like last year, I have gone through the preliminary program to highlight panelsContinue readingBorderlands and Transnational History at the 2014 Western History Association Conference

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Possibly the Best Thing You’ll See on CSPAN Today, or Ever

In an on-going saga to both promote and embarrass Ari Kelman for his fantastic book, A Misplaced Massacre: Struggling Over the  Memory of Sand Creek, I present for your considerationContinue readingPossibly the Best Thing You’ll See on CSPAN Today, or Ever

Blog, From the Bookshelf

From the Bookshelf: Colombi and Brooks – Keystone Nations: Indigenous Peoples and Salmon Across the North Pacific

Keystone Nations: Indigenous Peoples and Salmon Across the North Pacific, edited by Benedict J. Colombi and James F. Brooks, thematically hit on so many of my interests that I couldn’tContinue readingFrom the Bookshelf: Colombi and Brooks – Keystone Nations: Indigenous Peoples and Salmon Across the North Pacific

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Bizarre Borders on the Zigg-Zaggy U.S. Canadian Border

Here’s a great video by the CGP Grey people people about some things you may not have known about the creation of the U.S. Canadian border, and how imprecise itContinue readingBizarre Borders on the Zigg-Zaggy U.S. Canadian Border

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Western History and the Bancroft Prize

With the recent announcement that Ari Kelman won the Brancroft Prize for his book, A Misplace Massacre: Struggling Over the Memory of Sand Creek (which I profiled last August), someContinue readingWestern History and the Bancroft Prize

Blog, From the Bookshelf, Native But Foreign

On Comparative Methodology, My Book Manuscript, and Haake’s The State, Removal and Indigenous Peoples in the United States and Mexico

Back when I was working on my dissertation, I was put in contact with a scholar in Australia – Claudia B. Haake – as her recent monograph was relevant toContinue readingOn Comparative Methodology, My Book Manuscript, and Haake’s The State, Removal and Indigenous Peoples in the United States and Mexico

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Indian Heads in SLC

(Photo from www.jaredfarmer.net) I just moved to Utah about 7 months ago and one of the first things I noticed while walking around downtown Salt Lake City was the usageContinue readingIndian Heads in SLC