Abstract This paper is a report on the book, "Custer Died for Your Sins". It focuses on the revisionist history that White America maintains in regards to the historical relationship between them and the Native Americans. It also focuses on the legal framework that has continually let the Native Americans down.
Abstract One of the more profound developments of the current Native American movement has been an effort on the part of Indians themselves to record their own history in order to help them gain control of their future. When Deloria promulgated his "Indian Manifesto" in 1969 with the title of "Custer Died for Your Sins", it became apparent that he was at the forefront of this movement, and the issues he identifies continue to be at the forefront of Native American concerns today. This paper provides an overview of Deloria's book, followed by a discussion of six of the main points made by the author. A summary of the research is provided in the conclusion.
From the Paper "According to Deloria, popular myths about American Indians have created a mainstream mentality in American that is based on ethnocentric perceptions that help soothe the national conscious because, after all, the Indians got the short end of the resources and geographic stick. Deloria makes the point that Native American men have been considered virtually subhuman since Europeans first set foot on the continent, but the Indian women were viewed as possessing a sufficient amount of stockiness and attributes to make them worthy of having their bloodlines added to the Euro-American family history through intermarriage."
Abstract This paper discusses Custer's biblically-based, scholarly work, "Witness to Christ". The paper explains that Dr. Custer's purpose in writing this book is to bring the reader close to the message, the culture, and experiences of the 1st century church as recorded in the "Book of Acts". The paper deduces that the book, "Witness to Christ", is a refreshing work, faithful to orthodox and fundamental Christian faith.
From the Paper "Many who undertake to write on spiritual matters do so with an eye to explain spiritual matters in a way that is acceptable to modern man. For these authors, Jesus was a great man, but not the son of God. For this group, the early church was a group of misguided and overly enthusiastic groupies who needed a political leader with divine attributes, and the record of Jesus contained in the New Testament is nothing more than the embellished stories which they told each other in order to find comfort in their political and social misery. Not so for Dr. Stewart Custer. Dr. Custer's treatment of the Book of Acts in his book Witness to Christ is a biblically based scholarly work which expounds on the record while honoring the identity of Christ as the Son of God, and God the son. For bible students who want to get to know the historical context of the early church, while at the same time building an orthodox, fundamental understanding of both the bible and the early church, this book is a powerful addition to a personal library."
Abstract The paper explains that Connell's history provides more details on the humanity of the white and Indian races (which existed between both Custer and Sitting Bull's Sioux victors at the Battle of Little Big Horn) than Robe. The paper contends that the manners of battle detail, characterization and narrative scope are both elements that Robe adheres to in the characterization of Custer, but he fails to generate a realistic sense of proportion and detail in the military aspects of the battle.
From the Paper "The aim of this study will be to examine the nature of western expansionist military history in the novel "Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Big Horn" by Evan S. Connell, alongside the film adaptation of the book entitled similarly "Son of the Morning Star," directed by Mike Robe. The lesser value of the film makes demarcations of accuracy in battle details, characterizations, and narrative from Connell's historical analysis of Custer, which provide some comparisons in relation to the contrasts within these two mediums. The film making style of Rob that depicts Custer's final battle at Little Big Horn relate little of the larger cavalry battles that are depicted within Connell's sweeping narrative of horse fighting and the intensive savagery of war."
This paper examines a 1969 work, "Custer Died For Your Sins" by Vine DeLoria, Jr. about the American Indians from demythologizing and intercultural communications viewpoints.
1,350 words (approx. 5.4 pages), 1 source, 1990, $ 47.95
From the Paper "It seems as if both historians and ethnographers are again concerning themselves with the diatribe of past events in relation to modern, more pragmatic, communicative efforts. In fact, many of the recent works tend to readdress some of the historical issues so prevalent in ethnographic research, and attempt to merge the varieties of fieldwork with an historical perspective--presumably to reformat some of the issues in a newer, more modern, bent. Within this context, this paper will examine a 1969 work, Custer Died For Your Sins, by Vine DeLoria, Jr.
In brief terms, the book is less of an historical interpretation of the American Indian, for it would be difficult for any book to attempt such a feature in only one volume, than an extended essay-like commentary on the way the American Indian ... "
Memoir of a trooper who survived a nearby fight of the battle. Text based on William O. Taylor's experiences, correspondence with participants, primary records, his evaluation of leadership involved.
1,350 words (approx. 5.4 pages), 1 source, 2001, $ 47.95
From the Paper "With Custer on the Little Bighorn is a recently discovered memoir by William O. Taylor (1855-1923), a trooper who served in the Seventh Cavalry in the campaign against the Sioux and the Northern Cheyenne in the Dakota Territory in 1876. He participated in the general Battle of the Little Bighorn and his is one of the very few accounts by survivors of any part of that event. Although Taylor was not, of course, a survivor of Custer's fight, in which all the troopers were killed, he participated in a nearby, simultaneous fight in which his group was in as much danger but was reinforced at the last minute and was able to keep its attackers at bay until relief arrived. Aside from its interest as an account of a battle so similar to Custer's, Taylor's text offers a fascinating glimpse of an ordinary soldier's experience in the Seventh Cavalry and ..."
From the Paper "The battle of the Little Bighorn has been retold so many times that any retelling would seem to suffer from preconceptions and comparisons. This has not been the case with The Battle of the Little Bighorn.
Mari Sandoz, the author of The Battle of the Little Bighorn was only known to me as the screen credit for Cheyenne Autumn; the story of three hundred starving Cheyenne men, women and children, forcibly resettled in the barren wastelands of Oklahoma, who set out in the Autumn of 1878 on a desperate 1500 mile trek back to their Yellowstone homeland. In this book she has managed to capture the essence of the major personalities and conflicts endemic to the times. She has ..."
From the Paper "Every year over 200,000 people visit the site of the Battle of the Little Big Horn in Montana. Long known as the Custer Battlefield National Monument, the name of the site was changed in 1991 when Congress made it the Little Bighorn National Monument and the monument to the Indians was planned. This shift in emphasis at the popular tourist attraction is the result of changes in the perception of the battle's meanings for both Native Americans and white Americans. The change represents an outward sign of the re-thinking of history that has slowly recognized how both popular myths and supposedly objective history serve hidden agendas. Feminist and ethnic groups' critiques of the way all kinds of history has been written have gradually produced wider recognition of the fact that these underlying interests need to be brought out in the open and..."
From the Paper "The subject of this paper is the process by which history is manipulated. The thesis of this paper is that even learned history is subject to manipulation of a sort, the same manipulation of dominant cultural interpretation that permeates taught history. A case in point is the historical record of General George Armstrong Custer, the Sioux Nation, and the Battle at Little Big Horn.
During the winter of 1875-1876, the Army tried to collect all the Indians quickly. The Indians in Montana were out hunting, however, because the winter was so severe that the reservation needed more food. Whether the Indians knew the Army wanted them back or not, they did not respond to the Army's attempts. Consequently, the Army went after them. Custer, who was in charge, expected to find a small group, but he discovered..."
Abstract Shows how the author's intent to destroy myths surrounding Indians is simplistic and incorrect. Discusses the impact of the over-generalizations of white society on modern Native Americans and the failure of the reservation system and Bureau of Indian Affairs.
From the Paper "The major purpose of Vine Deloria's 1969 book Custer Died For Your Sins is to destroy the myths surrounding Indians (as Native Americans were called at that time). Deloria particularly attacks the myth of Indians as "noble savages" as not only incorrect ..."
This paper discusses "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" by Dee Brown, the detailed documented account of the Wounded Knee Massacre of December 29, 1890 and the events leading up to it.
Abstract This paper explains that Dee Brown's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" begins in 1860 with the Long Walk of the Navajos and ends thirty years later at the Wounded Knee massacre. The author reports that the book documents the battles and defeats of Native Americans, human beings, who included the Navajo, Nez Perces, Cheyenne, Apache, Utes, the Sioux and many other tribes, who fought against a dishonest and relentless government. The paper concludes that, within just twenty-one years of experiencing contact with the white people, the Great Sioux Nation lost over ninety percent of its land.
From the Paper "The Great Sioux Nation, which once comprised almost a quarter of the land mass of the United States, signed the Fort Laramie Treaty in 1868, a treaty that established the Great Sioux Reservation and brought a halt to the Red Cloud War of 1866-1868. Under the treaty's terms, the U.S. military was ordered to keep all unauthorized non-Indian people out of Dakota Territory. Yet in 1874, Colonel George A. Custer, commander of the 7th cavalry, violated the treaty. Custer entered the Black Hills region on a fabricated geological expedition; however, the true purpose was to find a site for establishing a new military post. When gold was discovered, prospectors swarmed into the Lakota lands and by 1874, white settlers out numbered and out armed the Sioux people."
Abstract This paper discusses the leadership Chief Plenty Coups of the Crow Indians. The author relates his including life, pre-reservation and on the reservation. The paper describes his fight to obtain Crow Indian rights from the U.S. government.
From the Paper "Chief Plenty Coups of the Crow was born in the son of Medicine Bird and his wife Otter Woman. Chief Plenty Coups was named by his father as he had a dream that his son would count many coups live to an old age and become a chief ... of Plenty-Coups. All of these premonitions would be realized by Chief Plenty Coups and while he was instrumental in helping the Crow in battles against other ...."
Tags:Custer, Little Big Horn, education, ranching, farming, warrior, WWI, Crow Act 1920, Native Americans, unknown soldier, Congress, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Lakota Sioux, Montana, land rights
