Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

by Dee Brown

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Is the title Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee from a direct quote?

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No, the title of this book is not a direct quotation from anyone.  The phrase of  Bury my heart at Wounded Knee," appears at the beginning of Dee Brown's novel but the idea for the quote and the title came from a poem by Stephen Vincent Benet called, "American Names."  The poem has nothing to do with the novel at all and simply had a phrase that impressed Mr. Brown. 

I shall not rest quiet in Montparnasse.
I shall not lie easy at Winchelsea.
You may bury my body in Sussex grass,
You may bury my tongue at Champmedy.
I shall not be there. I shall rise and pass.
Bury my heart at Wounded Knee.

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