Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how John William Sayer's book, "Ghost Dancing the Law: The Wounded Knee Trials", not only examines American culture and history but also draws parallels between the Nixon and Bush administrations. The paper also examines the legal concepts of the Native Americans and that of the US in terms of the system of jurisprudence. The paper then discusses in detail, the history of the Wounded Knee trials, as discussed in the book.

From the Paper:

"Operating on all those levels, and probably more, Ghost Dancing the Law: The Wounded Knee Trials offers fascinating insights into American culture as defined by its institutions, its operatives, and its outcasts and fugitives. Chillingly, the book draws a parallel between the political manipulations of the Watergate era and the apparent duplicitousness of the current Bush administration. However, it would be overstating the fact to say that it is a diatribe against the current Washington juggernaut. (It may well have been a diatribe against the Nixon administration, however, leaving readers to conclude whatever they like regarding current situations.) It is, instead, an indictment of the creeping erosion of American freedoms, freedoms American Indians--unlike the rest of us--were never able to take for granted in the first place."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Sayer, John William. Ghost Dancing the Law: The Wounded Knee Trials. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997. ix + 310 pp
• Wagaman, J. Brian. "Using History as a Legal Weapon: The Wounded Knee Trials of Russell Means and Dennis Banks. H-PCAACA. Penn State University-Harrisburg (December 1998) http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=21313913131882
• Wilkins, David E. "Ghost Dancing the law: The Wounded Knee Trials by John William Sayer." Review. University of Arizona, Department of Political Science & American Indian Studies, The University of Arizona, vol. 7, no. 11 (November 1997), pp. 531-534. http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/lpbr/subpages/reviews/sayer.htm

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