In The Clay We Are Made Of, Susan Hill uses traditional teachings to apply a different lens to the colonization of Haudenosaunee lands from the 17th to 20th century. Central to her argument is the importance of land to their culture and life. Hill begins her work by outlining for the reader the importance of land in their traditional teachings, compellingly demonstrating that most aspects of their society centred around different aspects of land use and guardianship. In the second part of the book, Hill then uses this foundation to argue that although colonization forced the Haudenosaunee to change the explicit way they engaged with the land and their cultural teachings, that they were still at the root of all their decision making and treaty agreements with the colonial governments. Overall, I think that her argument felt weak in some areas, as it seems logical that Haudenosaunee world views would be central to all of the decisions they made, much like how Christian and Catholic world views influenced the actions made by colonizers. That being said, I think that the real value of this work comes from the reinterpretation of the history of the settling of Canada. Instead of viewing the country's 'founding' through the lens of the settler, Hill pivots the narrative to be through the eyes of one Indigenous nation. She makes them active individuals in their past, instead of framing them as passive actors to which colonization happened.