Nick Estes Books

Silwan is a Palestinian village located just outside the ancient walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. Determined to Stay: Palestinian Youth Fight for Their Village is a moving story of a village and its people.As Silwani youth and community members share their lives with us, their village becomes an easily accessible way to understand Palestinian history and current reality. Written with young people in mind, the richly illustrated text stresses connections between the lives of youth in the US and Palestine: criminalization of youth, forced relocation, the impact of colonialism on Indigenous communities, efforts to bury history, and inspiring examples of resistance and resilience.

How two centuries of Indigenous resistance created the movement proclaiming “Water is life” In 2016, a small protest encampment at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, initially established to block construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, grew to be the largest Indigenous protest movement in the twenty-first century. Water Protectors knew this battle for native sovereignty had already been fought many times before, and that, even after the encampment was gone, their anticolonial struggle would continue. In Our History Is the Future, Nick Estes traces traditions of Indigenous resistance that led to the #NoDAPL movement. Our History Is the Future is at once a work of history, a manifesto, and an intergenerational story of resistance.

Red Nation Rising is the first book ever to investigate and explain the violent dynamics of border towns. Border towns are white-dominated towns and cities that operate at the borders of current-day reservation boundaries, which separate the territory of sovereign Native nations from lands claimed by the United States. Red Nation Rising marks the first effort to tell these entangled histories and inspire a new generation of Native freedom fighters to return to border towns as key front lines in the long struggle for Native liberation from US colonial control.

Exploring the enduring struggle of Indigenous peoples, this book traces two centuries of resistance that culminated in the powerful declaration "Water is Life." It delves into the historical context and cultural significance of water for Indigenous communities, highlighting their ongoing fight against environmental degradation and the fight for rights. Through compelling narratives and case studies, the book illustrates how these movements have shaped contemporary activism and fostered solidarity among diverse groups advocating for environmental justice.