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Summary: Magnificent,humbling
Review: Bury my heart at wounded Knee is one of those books that literally can cahnge the way you look at the world. I first read this book as a high school freshman, then have read it a half dozen times since. It tells the sory,through the eyes of the Native peoples[or indians,or native americans].having been raised on a steady diet of gen. Custer and kit Carson{niether of whom fare very well here},I was shocked then appalled at what I read. From the forced march of the navajos,to the cheyenne trail of tears,to the magnificentCrazy Horse,to the sad,somewhat co-opted Red Cloud"They made us many promises,more Then I can remember,but they only kept but one:they promised to take our land, and they took it."This was the first place I read of the remarkable chief Joseph of the Nez Perce,and his stunning travail. Or the magnificent apache's...The death of sitting bull is elagaic and very,very sad, as to survive, collaborators joined the occupying force{as is the case in any occupied country}Tragic,and ending horribly with the massacres at Sand Creek and Wounded Knee. The final image of the survivors of that massacre being brought into a chruch decorated for Christmas has satyed with me through the years. Searing, brilliant,essential.
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Summary: A Historical Masterpeice!
Review: This was without question one of the best books ever written about the plight of the American Indian in the United States.This book tells of the harsh treatment that was given to the original settlers of the Unites States of America.The book also details how the Indian was robbed of their homeland by treaties drawn up by the American government. This is an outstanding chronicle of the tribes of Indians that made up the Indian nation in America and their unfair and harsh treatment. Every history should read this book to get an accurate story of this period of American history.That was how I first read this book was as a college assignment. This is a must read book.
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Summary: Wounded knee, broken heart, shattered nation
Review: Be prepared to be affected by this book. I guarantee that you can not read it without being emotionally touched and moved by this account of the loss of a beautiful land, the demise of a conscientious and spiritual way of life and finally the extirpation of a nation of people; or at least their ceasing to exist as free, independent, proud and noble individuals. The book had a profound impact on readers when it was first published in 1971 for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it took a unique perspective. Reports of Treaty meetings, tribal histories, Congressional findings and interview transcripts have all been distilled to provide the Indian point of view. Indeed the books' subtitle is 'An Indian History of the American West'. The second factor has to do with when the book was published. Interest in environmental issues was growing and the accounts of the destruction by the settlers of the Eastern forests, the soiling of the rivers and the slaughter of the Buffalo herds struck a chord, especially when contrasted with the practices of the Indians. Readers began to see Indians in a different light, as the first conservationists. The period of history covered is short. From about 1860 to 1890. The first chapter briefly sketches the interactions between Eupopean and Indians from the formers' arrival in Massachusetts in 1620 up to the setting up of the 'permanent indian frontier' west of the Mississippi in 1847. The 'frontier' lasted no time at all. Gold was discovered, land was sought and settlers flocked west. To cover this in legitimacy it was necessary to invent 'Manifest Destiny'. The Indians were now doomed as history has shown that this policy made it manifest that the Indians were destined to be swept aside by the white man. All that we have left is their legends, their magical placenames and some works like this book that provides insights into how the West was really lost.
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Summary: Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
Review: I first thought it wouldn't be a good book. However I was wrong,it was excellent. As they say "You can't judge a book by its cover. It is about these different tribes of indians who are trying to keep their land from the settlers by fighting for it. The general General Canby offers to make peace with the chief Little Crow. They meet under a flag of truce (surrender). They shake hands and Little Crow lets the soilders go. Then however Canby strikes the indians again even after surrendering with Little Crow. The rest I will let you find out for yourself.
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Summary: I would have liked it more, but...
Review: ...I was reading it for school. While this book is a compelling tale about the atrocities committed against the Indians by the white Americans, it is very difficult to retain the information contained in it for testing or quizzing. My enjoyment (or horror) in reading this, however, was severely hindered by my goal: To read for the information. This is just not that kind of a book. I am writing this mainly for the benefit of teachers who are considering using this book for a curriculum tool. Perhaps it should be used for recommended outside reading to give students a feel for the treatment that the American Indians endured at the hands of the intrusive white government, but not as a textbook. All in all, I did enjoy the book. I only wish I had been reading for pleasure, and not work.
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Summary: The Original American Tragedy, and more
Review: This well-researched piece is more than just a record of the original American tragedy. What Dee Brown has provided here is a carefully written account of a terribly one-sided clash of cultures - one Stone-age, the other in the throes of an industrial revolution. There was never any question about who would win. The sad thing is in how the cultural collision played itself out. For ultimately a cultural clash is an amalgamation of individual stories. In each case, Europeans and Native Americans alike, for better or worse, played out their conditioning to an end that was all too tragically clear. The natives died defending their way of life, victims of superior technology and organization, as well as dehumanizing propoganda. They died on the reservations, victims of neglect and political invisibility. They died by the thousands, and soon no one was left to carry the cultural banner forward. In the early 19th century, the plains and western tribes wandered at will (or some would say, as needed) over their homeland. By the early 20th century, native culture was completely disposessed; it's representative peoples either locked up on reservations or absorbed completely in "white" culture. This book provides an answer as to how this transition occured, as painful as that answer might be. Dee Brown's technically accurate and artistically rendered account is emminently readable. Yet chapter by chapter, the recurring theme becomes almost morbidly familiar. One begins to be able to predict what is ultimately going to happen after a while. Don't be fooled into thinking that the native culture was any better or worse than that which displaced it. The real message is that we can't blame ourselves for what happened. We can however, take responsibility for what is happening now. See humanity through Brown's eyes, and realize that such things as we have witnessed here can and do happen over and over again. The best we can do is to become aware of this capacity, do our best to overcome it - generation by generation, and follow a more honorable path. The great tragedy is that, in the European's single-minded quest for land and freedom, something precious and irreplacible was lost forever. Read this book, and learn something about yourself. It is the very least you can do.
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Summary: Required reading for anyone with a conscience.
Review: It was many years ago that I first read this book and I have been recommending it ever since. This should be on every school curriculum in the country and read by every politician but there is little chance of that. My childhood images of Native Americans were painted for me by Western movies and televisions shows. The "Indians" were the bad guys. We fought them constantly as they tried to prevent our movement westward. They were savages, godless people who slaughtered innocent settlers. It never occurred to me then and was never mentioned that these people were merely trying to protect their land and civilization from being stolen by white settlers. The so-called atrocities these savages committed were made common knowledge. Nothing was said of the atrocities committed against them by the early settlers of this nation. Read the book and be ashamed. Be very ashamed. We chanted the jingoistic slogan of Manifest Destiny, claiming it was our destiny to extend our nation from sea to shining sea. Never mind that there already was a civilization living there. Now, this same nation that was founded upon genocide has the colossal gall to criticize other countries engaged in expansion and genocide. This is not to say that they should not be stopped, but that we should be less self-righteous about it. As one reads this great work, it is obvious that we have a great deal to be ashamed about and that there is no reparation that could undo or even remotely compensate for the crime we committed. Though this started long before any of us were born, we still share a part of the travesty because we have perpetuated the myths. African-Americans came here in chains, were emancipated, and have fought for and attained rights. Meanwhile the Native American continues to be segregated, exploited, and dismissed. I could rant on about white America's ill-treatment of these noble people but you could formulate your own opinions by reading this masterpiece. Learn of the treachery, butchery, cruelty perpetrated by our government at the time and over the decades since. It will make you cry, it will make you angry, and, I hope, it will make you think and act.
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Summary: A book that changed my views
Review: I first read this book as a teenager (many years ago). In those days all I knew about Indians was what saw on TV and Indians were shown as bloodthirsty, fightening savages. After reading this book I realised how wrong that portrayal was. I then began to look at the way Aborigines had been portrayed in Australia . It proved to be very similar to the way Indians had been portrayed and it was equally as wrong. I cannot point my finger and say look at the bad things the Americans did. I carry the shame that my own ancestors almost completely wiped out the Tasmanian Aborigines. And in other places of the world similar things happened (and are still happening). So much of history needs to be rewritten and this book has at least done that.
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Summary: the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Review: i have just finished this book and i think it will take me a long time to get it out of my mind. i found this book sad and at times had to put it down just to clear my head. i feel ahamed to be white and as i live in england i was ignorant to the terrible sufferings of the "red indian". i feel compelled to read more and wish to learn as much as possible about this noble, honest, kind race. if i could swap places with a "red indian" i would be proud to do so. may you weep no more.
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Summary: Hello!! That's Why It Was Called a WAR!
Review: I hate to tell you people this, but if the white man hadn't of come onto the scene, then the US, the greatest land on earth, never would have existed. I certainly don't think breaking treaties is honorable, but the INDIANS KILLED A LOT OF AMERICAN SETTLERS who came here, in cold blood. No one ever talks about that, they always talk about how innocent they are. Read the Declaration of Independence, in which our forefathers talk about being attacked by the "savages." And I hate to tell you this also, but the so called "Native Americans" emigrated here from Asia Minor. So people can say whatever they want about the horrid "white man," but the horrid white men formed this country, not the Indians. After years of being slaughtered by Indians, the horrid white man decided that he had to fight back.
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