Vine Deloria Jr.'s Custer Died for Your

¶ … Vine Deloria Jr.'s Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto An Analysis of Vine Deloria, Jr.'s Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto 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 will provide 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 will be provided in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion According to his editors, Vine Deloria, Jr., is a professor of law, political science, religious studies, and history at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is also the former executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, and the author of many books on Indian rights including Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto. In this book, Deloria makes the point that: a. Native Americans in general have consistently been viewed as either subhuman or, at the least, less important than Euro-Americans.

For instance, "Scalping, introduced prior to the French and Indian War by the English," he argues, citing a 1755 Massachusetts bounty on scalps, "confirmed the suspicion that the Indians were wild animals to be hunted and skinned. Bounties were set and an Indian scalp became more valuable than beaver, otter, marten, and other animal pelts." b. American Indians men have historically been viewed as bloodthirsty renegades, but their female counterparts are sometimes worthy of adding their bloodlines to the Euro-American gene pool.

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. c. Custer's Last Stand was a Myth.

Colonel Custer was not quite the man popular legend holds him out to be, but was rather a typical "Ugly American" who simply got what was coming to him (his men too). Despite the popular myths about Colonel Custer dying heroically with his long blond hair blowing in the wind, six-shooters blazing away at the "injuns" until he was overwhelmed by sheer numbers, the reality of Little Bighorn was quite different indeed.

According to Deloria, Custer's last stand was in reality a pronounced rout with the famous leader being characterized as quite mad. Vine Deloria's call for Indian equality in Custer Died for Your Sins, argues that Custer himself not have been the sort of American hero that is typically portrayed in the media and school textbooks. Custer, Deloria wrote, "represented the Ugly American of the last century and he got what was coming to him." d.

American Indians must continue their efforts to become unified in their efforts to secure their rights. Following the events sponsored by the American Indian Movement (AIM) at Wounded Knee, site of the 1890 massacre, Deloria reports that the sense of unity among American Indians was heightened and has increased ever since. According to Vine Deloria, " AIM created a feeling of solidarity among Indians which has only increased and entrenched itself during the intervening years." 7 e.

Virtually everyone in America claims to be part Indian, usually through a grandmother who as "Cherokee." In a sort of claim to dubious fame, Deloria humorously comments on how frequently non-Indians told him, when he was executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, that they too share his Indian heritage, with these white Americans always having their claim through a Cherokee grandmother, a tribe they locate variously from Maine to Washington State. f.

Just as many blacks believe that reparations are in order for "peculiar institution" of slavery and continue to press for equality in the workplace and society in general, Deloria makes the point that Indians too have been historically regarded as second-class citizens and the mistreatment continues today.

Deloria makes the point that despite the numerous, and sometimes well-intentioned government programs designed to assist Native Americans overcome this historic disparity in treatment and allocation of resources, many of these programs have done more harm than good, and this is a characterization of the "well-intentioned" programs. Through a series of treaties, the United States promised to protect the Indian nations, but the history of how governments at all levels have mismanaged and embezzled.