I'm coming up on the end of my third month as the Topic Writer About.com's Native American History page. I'm really grateful that I was chosen for this position; although About.com is sometimes referred to pejoratively as a "content mill," it is known in other circles as a reputable source of high-quality information. Anybody who was fortunate enough to write for them will attest to the rigorous process potential writers are put through before they are chosen. It is a very competitive process and those are highly coveted writing jobs. Writers in all the categories are experts in their fields and typically hold advanced degrees, and also must possess the stamina to figure out a fairly complex system for posting articles, in addition to knowing basic HTML coding and search engine optimization practices. The point is, to be a write at About.com you have to know your stuff.
Here's a recap of the articles I posted this month in case you are interested but didn't get to see them all: the articles "American Settler Colonialism 101" and "American Settler Colonialism 102" as the name implies presents an introduction to the concepts of colonialism as a living process, not a relic of history. The article "What Is the Doctrine of (Christian) Discovery?" looks at one of the extremely problematic foundational principles of federal Indian law, tracing its history to feudal Europe and illuminating it as one facet of settler colonialism. On a lighter note, "The History of Santa Fe Indian Market" commemorates the annual event which just celebrated its 90th anniversary. Then we move over to Hawaii for a retrospective on the history and voyages of the Hokule'a in "Sailing, The Hokule'a and Cultural Revival in Hawaii" and a profile of Eddie Aikau, legendary surfer and crew member of the Hokule'a. Finally, see the article "American Indian Influence On the Founding of the US" for insight into a little-known aspect of American history. And thanks again for reading About.com's Native American history page!