¶ … 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...

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…