Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is a full account on the annihilation of the American Indian from the 1860's to the 1890's. I like the book for its information but I did not enjoy reading it. I appreciated the story from the perspective of the American Indian. From reading Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee I learned things that cannot and will not tell you in the history books. Dee Brown tells the story of torture and atrocity not well told in American history. .
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is an important piece of literature because it is one of the very few books supporting the Indian cause. This outlook is done using council records, autobiographies and first hand accounts. Each of the nineteen chapters focused on a certain tribe, battle, or historical event. Brown goes into deep detail on each and every topic in the nearly 500 pages. I would not say Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is an interesting read, but can be used as teaching material. Generally very little is known about the terrible genocide done to the Native Americans and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee teaches it. .
Unlike a lot of American literature, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee teaches what is not taught in the average history book. This book forces us to face the dark side of our American history and how far the colonials went to fulfill their Christian manifest destiny. The white man in this book is portrayed as an indiscriminate murderer and sadist. What is popularly thought of as a great birth of a nation is now blotched with bizarre and shocking revelations. The settlers we knew as happy peace keeping people are now described as horrible murders that killed Native Americans regardless of age or sex, often scalping and mutilating the bodies and going as far as cutting off genitalia. .
There are few problems I find with the book. To the average high school student the vocabulary and writing techniques can prove to be a challenge.
