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Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee | Introduction

Dee Brown's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee was first published in the United States in 1970. This landmark book—which incorporated a number of eyewitness accounts and official records—offered a scathing indictment of the U.S. politicians, soldiers, and citizens who colonized the American West. Focusing mainly on the thirty-year span from 1860 to 1890, the book was the first account of the time period told from the Native-American point of view. It demonstrated that whites instigated the great majority of the conflicts between Native Americans and themselves. Brown began searching for the facts about Native Americans after he met several as a child and had a hard time believing the myths about their savagery that were popular among white people. Brown published his book a century after the events took place, but it was a timely publication, since many U.S. citizens were already feeling guilty about their country's involvement in the Vietnam War. Brown's book depicted, in detail, the U.S. government's attempt to acquire Native Americans' land by using a mix of threats, deception, and murder. In addition, the book showed the attempts to crush Native-American beliefs and practices. These acts were justified by the theory of Manifest Destiny, which stated that European descendents acting for the U.S. government had a God-given right to take land from the Native Americans. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is Brown's best-known work and has since overshadowed all of his other books.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Summary

Chapter 1: ‘‘Their Manners are Decorous and Praiseworthy’’
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee begins with an overview of the relations between Native Americans and white settlers from the late-1400s to the mid-1800s. Initially peaceful, these relations become more tense as white emigration from Europe to the United States increases.

Chapter 2: The Long Walk of the Navahos
The government wants Navaho land for settlements and mining, so the U.S. Army kills or displaces all Mescalero Apaches and Navahos in the region. Many Navahos die when they are forced to live at the Bosque Redondo reservation. Ultimately, the Navahos sign a peace treaty and are allowed to return to what is left of their land.

Chapter 3: Little Crow's War
Manipulated by deceptive treaties, the Santee Sioux surrender most of their land for money and provisions they mostly do not receive. Little Crow does not want to fight the military might of the United States but has no choice when some of his men kill white settlers. The Santees are ultimately overpowered by the Army and by a Santee traitor.

Chapter 4: War Comes to the Cheyennes
White settlers ignore a treaty and begin settling on Native-American territory. After Cheyennes and Arapahos meet with the Colorado governor to try to maintain peace, many Cheyennes are mutilated or massacred in their Sand Creek village. The Cheyennes split, some going north to join the Northern Cheyennes and the Teton Sioux in Powder River country, while others go south, below the Arkansas River, where they are coerced into signing away their land in Colorado.

Chapter 5: Powder River Invasion
The Cheyennes learn that soldiers are building a fort in the Powder River country. A Cheyenne warrior tries to warn some Arapahos of coming soldiers, but they do not believe him, and their village is destroyed by one military column. A group of Sioux chase the half-starved, frozen soldiers of two other military columns and attempt to beat them in battle but are overpowered.

Chapter 6: Red Cloud's War
The government says it wants to buy transportation rights in the Powder River country, but it deploys soldiers even before a treaty is discussed. Angry at this deception, the Sioux fight a successful guerrilla war, cutting off the soldiers' supply lines, trapping soldiers in isolated battles, and derailing a train. Ultimately, the government withdraws its troops and settles for a peace treaty.

Chapter 7: ‘‘The Only Good Indian Is a Dead Indian’’
Some of the exiled Southern Cheyennes and Arapahos, encouraged by the Sioux's successes, try to return to their old tribal... » Complete Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Summary