The Sons of Gunshooter: A Navajo Resistance Story

An inspiring new take on a history we thought we knew

In 1919, the brother of one of the West's most famous Indian traders was shot to death in a remote corner of the Navajo Nation.

Part history, part true crime, The Sons of Gunshooter reexamines the killing and subsequent murder trial, while simultaneously embedding the story in a much larger saga of colonization and resistance. The result is a book that's sweeping in its scope and surgical in its approach. Rewinding the clock to 1868, the authors follow the intertwining paths of two families to offer a riveting, deeply personal account that has been hailed as "a new way of doing historiography."

One of the authors is a descendant of participants in the case; the other is an investigative journalist. By merging Diné oral traditions with archival evidence, they succeed in upending one false narrative after another.

Author: Dorothy Denetclaw,Matt Fitzsimons
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Published: 03/03/2026
Pages: 242
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780816556168


Review Citation(s):
Foreword 02/27/2026

About the Author
Dorothy Denetclaw is Tótsohnii born for Tl'ááschí'í and lives in Indian Wells, Arizona. She is a community organizer, activist, and interpreter, and enjoys researching her family history, a legacy for her children and grandchildren.

Matt Fitzsimons is a former newspaper reporter and the author of The Counterfeiters of Bosque Redondo: Slavery, Silver, and the U.S. War Against the Navajo Nation. He lives in San Diego, California.