Table of Contents
Dee Brown was a famous American novelist who was born in 1908. He was a passionate reader since his childhood and reading was particularly influential in developing his passion in literature. He attended Arkansas university for undergrad in education and George Washington University for graduate school in literature. During his career as an author, he was also working as a librarian.
His well know book “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” was published in 1970 as a way of criticizing the American government for its wrongful displacement of Native American Indians from their territory and cultural genocide on an entire race Indian American people. In this book, the author he tried to details many of the outrages suffer and torcher during the genocide against the entire race Indian American people by united states government.
Overview
The book ‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee’ by Dee Brown was a general overview of major political disagreement between native Americans and white settlements during the end of the 19th century. In this book, the author he tried to details many of the outrages suffer and torcher during the genocide against the native Americans by united states government. The book also points out several moments when white settlements attempted to live peacefully with native Americans. In the book, the author opens his statement by discovering different native tribes and the attitudes toward them held by the government.
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In some cases, even though there was some sort of agreement between the native and white Americans to live in peace, for the most part, the white settlements decided to exterminate the first Native Americans and their culture. The author also spends much time on narrating the battles and torches that resulted in the genocide of Native Americans by the white. Finally, he concluded his book by describing the slaughter at Wounded Knee, which was basically started by a misunderstanding of deaf Sioux tribes and the white American soldiers violent, ignorant toward them.
Review
Dee Brown begins his book ‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee’ by overviewing the major political disagreement between native and white Americans during the end of the 19th century. During this period of time, United States was at the middle of Civil War battered and they start to expanding their territory into the western side of south America which was at that time the southwest side of united states was controlled by Mexican American, this lead to a war between white Americans and Mexican Americans in 1840.
In many occasions, the united states government violated their own peace treaties with native Americans and they start forcing those tribes to relocate and move them to small places where no white settlers wanted to go. Many of the Native American tribes resist the united states military project of relocation. The author in this book use each chapter of the book to discusses this resistance by the native Americans against the united states military projects. In his introduction to the book, Brown states that the main reason for his work was to address the outrages suffer and torcher during the genocide against the native Americans by united states government.
In his first few chapters he talks about Navaho tribes, In the 19th century, the Navaho tribe of the Southwest part of America were the strongest tribes than almost any other Native American tribe in many ways. They use their strength to torcher Mexican communities and other tribes in the area for centuries, but after the united states occupied the Mexican land, they sent a group of troops to the southwest part of united states in order to protect their new citizens from the Navahos tribes. In the late 1850s, the Navaho tribes led by Manuelito gathered and start to resist the U.S. military.
Navaho people was settling across the Southwest of California, giving up only when they all run out of food and water because the U.S. military burned all the property, land and slaughtered all Navaho livestock. The author use the second few chapters of the book to the talk about Santee Sioux tribe and narrating the resist of Santee Sioux tribe from the north side of America to united states military project. In 1959’s, the Santee Sioux tribe led by Chief Little Crow gathered and start to resist the U.S. military against the united states military when he realized that his tribe had been pressured and forced to be moved to small reservations by the U.S. military.
He raids on white settlements and kill a lot of them, after that he eventually had to lead his followers north part of Minnesota to escape. Alter on he has been surrendered by the U.S military, and he and his followers were sentenced to death.
The author use the second part of the book which is Chapter 4- 6 to discusses the major developments and peace treats by united states government and native Americans. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee begins with a meeting of major native tribes at Fort Laramie in Wyoming 1851. Leaders from all over the major tribes of Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, and several smaller tribes also met with the United States government representatives and top leaders for a peace treaty.
The agreements on the meeting was made on both sides were in order to permit the building of infrastructures, roads and military posts in American Indian territory, but no more land was surrendered by the Indians. Due to the gold rush at the black hills in 1857 leads the arrival of thousands and thousands of white prospectors and farmers to the lands of the native Indians.
Even though Indians of losing much of their land, they remained peaceful until late1864. Then war broke out in late of 1864 when U.S. soldiers attacked some Cheyenne tribes on the South side of Arizona River and kill many of them. The other for Chapters of the book which is from 7 to 10 was continues to the previous chapters on the recounting of the resistance and struggle between the Black Kettle of the Cheyenne and other native Indians against the white settlements and farmers who occupied their lands.
Although Black Kettle could only bring a few more tribes together in order to negotiate an honorable and historical peace with the United States government. These few chapters also explained the infamous words and quotes of General Philp “The only good Indians I ever saw were dead,’ which is overtime this word changed to “The only good Indian is a dead Indian.’
The last part of the book and in conclusion the author returns to his reader and explain the events by Sioux in the Black Hills mountains of South Dakota in 1859. The author joined in this narrative by Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and other Sioux leaders. In late 1859, white settlements and miners discovered gold rush at the black hills and then invaded the place which was controlled by Sioux. Then later the miners were followed by united states soldiers under coronel Custer.
Then War breaks out in late of 1864 when U.S. soldiers attacked some Cheyenne tribes kill hundreds of them. Then this war that followed ended in mid of 1876, with the death of coronel Custer and his followers in the Battle of the Little Bighorn River in Montana. The last chapters of the book are a set a conclusion to a fascinating and disturbing story about native American Indians. the author also describes in details many of the outrages suffer and torcher during the genocide against the entire race of Indian American people by the United states Government.
Conclusion
The book ‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee’ by Dee Brown is an accurate and fact based account that needs no other elaboration to it. The chapters in this book of history are opened to many examples of the United States’ inhumanity and brutality toward to native Americans. Dee Brown in his book he also addresses the lack of transparency on the part of the United States government and the resulting cultural stereotype and genocide on an entire race Indian American people.
