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Bordertown Clashes, Resource Wars, and Contested Territories in the Four Corners: The Turbulent 1970s
A one-of-a-kind lyrical and fast-paced memoir of the frontlines and trenches of Native liberation in the Four Corners and Southwest in the 1970s.
From the late summer of 1972 to the late summer of 1974, John Redhouse and many other Red Power activists put everything on the line to organize mass movements and direct actions for Native liberation. It was an extraordinary time defined by stunning victories and intense struggles. In just a few short years, Redhouse and his contemporaries changed Navajo and Native people’s collective destinies. So profound was their impact that it can still be felt fifty years later.
Written in the first-person with a spirit of generosity and witness, John Redhouse describes the fever pitch of the times, focusing on the racist and exploitative bordertowns in the Four Corners area of the Southwest region. He interweaves a piercing critique of violence against Navajo people in reservations bordertowns with a condemnation of the violence that rapidly growing mineral extraction in and around the Navajo Nation introduced to Navajo life.
As a firsthand participant in some of the most important twentieth-century struggles against this manifold violence, Redhouse is one of only a few grassroots intellectuals who can tell this story. Bordertown Clashes, Resource Wars, Contested The Four Corners in the Turbulent 1970s brings readers to the enduring struggle for Native liberation, traced over half a century ago, where John Redhouse and many more led a revolution that continues to this day.
From the late summer of 1972 to the late summer of 1974, John Redhouse and many other Red Power activists put everything on the line to organize mass movements and direct actions for Native liberation. It was an extraordinary time defined by stunning victories and intense struggles. In just a few short years, Redhouse and his contemporaries changed Navajo and Native people’s collective destinies. So profound was their impact that it can still be felt fifty years later.
Written in the first-person with a spirit of generosity and witness, John Redhouse describes the fever pitch of the times, focusing on the racist and exploitative bordertowns in the Four Corners area of the Southwest region. He interweaves a piercing critique of violence against Navajo people in reservations bordertowns with a condemnation of the violence that rapidly growing mineral extraction in and around the Navajo Nation introduced to Navajo life.
As a firsthand participant in some of the most important twentieth-century struggles against this manifold violence, Redhouse is one of only a few grassroots intellectuals who can tell this story. Bordertown Clashes, Resource Wars, Contested The Four Corners in the Turbulent 1970s brings readers to the enduring struggle for Native liberation, traced over half a century ago, where John Redhouse and many more led a revolution that continues to this day.
- GenresIndigenous
256 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2025
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August 2, 2025
Book Review: Bordertown Clashes, Resource Wars, and Contested Territories in the Four Corners: The Turbulent 1970s by John Redhouse
Rating: 4.7/5
John Redhouse’s Bordertown Clashes is a visceral, lyrical memoir that immerses readers in the frontlines of the 1970s Red Power movement, offering an unflinching account of Native liberation struggles in the Southwest. Blending personal narrative with incisive political critique, Redhouse—a Navajo activist and grassroots intellectual—documents the explosive battles against racist bordertown violence and extractive colonialism in the Four Corners region.
Strengths and Emotional Resonance
Redhouse’s prose thrums with urgency, capturing the fever pitch of an era where activists like him changed the collective destinies of Navajo and Native people. His descriptions of direct actions—like confronting exploitative mining corporations—are electrifying, evoking the adrenaline and terror of resistance. As someone who has studied settler colonialism, I was particularly moved by his critique of border towns as sites of manifold violence, where systemic racism and resource extraction converge. The chapter on Coalition for Navajo Liberation (1974) stands out for its raw honesty about movement tensions, a rarity in activist memoirs.
Contributors Melanie Yazzie (Diné) and Jennifer Denetdale deepen the text’s scholarly rigor, linking 1970s struggles to contemporary Indigenous movements like #StopLine3 and #LandBack. Their framing of Redhouse’s work as part of the Red Media series—a Native-led project—adds layers of intergenerational dialogue.
Constructive Criticism
While Redhouse’s firsthand perspective is invaluable, the memoir occasionally lacks broader historical context (e.g., federal policies like Termination Era impacts). Maps or timelines would help readers unfamiliar with the geography of the Four Corners. The focus on Navajo-centric narratives, though vital, might benefit from a brief comparative analysis with other Indigenous resistances (e.g., AIM’s Alcatraz occupation).
Summary Takeaways:
- A lyrical Molotov cocktail—part memoir, part battle cry from the frontlines of Red Power.
- The untold story of how Navajo activists outmaneuvered mines, militias, and bordertown violence.
- From 1970s trenches to today’s #LandBack movement: the revolution that never ended.
Final Thoughts
Bordertown Clashes is essential reading for scholars of Indigenous studies, environmental justice, and social movements. Redhouse’s voice—alternately fiery and reflective—transforms history into a living struggle. His closing meditation on revolution as a daily practice left me both haunted and galvanized.
Thank you to Common Notions and Edelweiss for the free review copy. This powerful work earns a 4.7/5, deducting only for its occasional contextual gaps, but otherwise a masterclass in insurgent storytelling.
Key Academic Contributions:
-Decolonizing Memoir: Redhouse rejects passive victimhood, centering Navajo agency and “badass” organizing tactics.
-Resource Wars Legacy: Prefigures modern climate justice movements by exposing extraction’s ties to anti-Native violence.
-Pedagogical Tool: Ideal for courses on Indigenous sovereignty, with case studies on autonomous media (Red Media).
For classroom use: Pair with Red Nation Rising (Yazzie/Denetdale) to bridge 1970s and contemporary border town struggles.
Why This Matters Now:
With the Four Corners still besieged by uranium mining and police brutality, Redhouse’s warning—colonialism wears new masks—feels prophetic. As he writes: “We weren’t fighting for the past. We were fighting for futures we couldn’t yet see.”.
Rating: 4.7/5
John Redhouse’s Bordertown Clashes is a visceral, lyrical memoir that immerses readers in the frontlines of the 1970s Red Power movement, offering an unflinching account of Native liberation struggles in the Southwest. Blending personal narrative with incisive political critique, Redhouse—a Navajo activist and grassroots intellectual—documents the explosive battles against racist bordertown violence and extractive colonialism in the Four Corners region.
Strengths and Emotional Resonance
Redhouse’s prose thrums with urgency, capturing the fever pitch of an era where activists like him changed the collective destinies of Navajo and Native people. His descriptions of direct actions—like confronting exploitative mining corporations—are electrifying, evoking the adrenaline and terror of resistance. As someone who has studied settler colonialism, I was particularly moved by his critique of border towns as sites of manifold violence, where systemic racism and resource extraction converge. The chapter on Coalition for Navajo Liberation (1974) stands out for its raw honesty about movement tensions, a rarity in activist memoirs.
Contributors Melanie Yazzie (Diné) and Jennifer Denetdale deepen the text’s scholarly rigor, linking 1970s struggles to contemporary Indigenous movements like #StopLine3 and #LandBack. Their framing of Redhouse’s work as part of the Red Media series—a Native-led project—adds layers of intergenerational dialogue.
Constructive Criticism
While Redhouse’s firsthand perspective is invaluable, the memoir occasionally lacks broader historical context (e.g., federal policies like Termination Era impacts). Maps or timelines would help readers unfamiliar with the geography of the Four Corners. The focus on Navajo-centric narratives, though vital, might benefit from a brief comparative analysis with other Indigenous resistances (e.g., AIM’s Alcatraz occupation).
Summary Takeaways:
- A lyrical Molotov cocktail—part memoir, part battle cry from the frontlines of Red Power.
- The untold story of how Navajo activists outmaneuvered mines, militias, and bordertown violence.
- From 1970s trenches to today’s #LandBack movement: the revolution that never ended.
Final Thoughts
Bordertown Clashes is essential reading for scholars of Indigenous studies, environmental justice, and social movements. Redhouse’s voice—alternately fiery and reflective—transforms history into a living struggle. His closing meditation on revolution as a daily practice left me both haunted and galvanized.
Thank you to Common Notions and Edelweiss for the free review copy. This powerful work earns a 4.7/5, deducting only for its occasional contextual gaps, but otherwise a masterclass in insurgent storytelling.
Key Academic Contributions:
-Decolonizing Memoir: Redhouse rejects passive victimhood, centering Navajo agency and “badass” organizing tactics.
-Resource Wars Legacy: Prefigures modern climate justice movements by exposing extraction’s ties to anti-Native violence.
-Pedagogical Tool: Ideal for courses on Indigenous sovereignty, with case studies on autonomous media (Red Media).
For classroom use: Pair with Red Nation Rising (Yazzie/Denetdale) to bridge 1970s and contemporary border town struggles.
Why This Matters Now:
With the Four Corners still besieged by uranium mining and police brutality, Redhouse’s warning—colonialism wears new masks—feels prophetic. As he writes: “We weren’t fighting for the past. We were fighting for futures we couldn’t yet see.”.
August 21, 2025
It was interesting to read from his organizer point of view, as someone in the thick of Native activism in the 70s & 80s. He provided greater context on how present day energy infrastructure in the SW came about- the political connections of famous politicians back in the day and the settler colonial push that was hell bent on accessing Diné lands for uranium, coal, oil, gas & helium.
Some projects were prevented, but it has always been an unfair fight. Still, organizing at that time prevented a number of resource extraction projects and other forms of Indigenous rights loss. Although, there are presently a number of disturbing resource extraction and supposedly zero carbon emission projects that are being proposed for the Four Corners region that would impact Diné lands and waters.
I also learned: John served as an expert witness before International Tribunals on the Navajo-Hopi Relocation and Western Shoshone Treaty rights. These contributions led to the establishment of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations, which later formed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
This is definitely worth a read, particularly for this interested in Indigenous activism, rights, energy and environmental history. John has other writings housed at the University of New Mexico, as well.
Some projects were prevented, but it has always been an unfair fight. Still, organizing at that time prevented a number of resource extraction projects and other forms of Indigenous rights loss. Although, there are presently a number of disturbing resource extraction and supposedly zero carbon emission projects that are being proposed for the Four Corners region that would impact Diné lands and waters.
I also learned: John served as an expert witness before International Tribunals on the Navajo-Hopi Relocation and Western Shoshone Treaty rights. These contributions led to the establishment of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations, which later formed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
This is definitely worth a read, particularly for this interested in Indigenous activism, rights, energy and environmental history. John has other writings housed at the University of New Mexico, as well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews