Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Essay Example
Assignment #1: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Book Précis
HST1305: U.S. History, 1865 to the Present Professor. P. Blackmer
March 7, 2012
Albert Lee
In Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown relies on many eyewitness accounts from Native Americans, letting them tell their side of how the West won. Several reviewers consider these eyewitness accounts the most important part of the book. In Browns thesis he states that “out of all these sources of almost forgotten oral history, I have tried to fashion a narrative of the conquest of the American West as the victims experienced it, using their own words whenever possible. Americans who have always looked westward when reading about this period should read this book facing eastward”. Despite the popularity of the eyewitness accounts, Brown is not an absentee narrator. In the book Brown emphasizes two main points, the language he uses and the storyline of the book. He uses these two things to give the eyewitness accounts as much impact as possible. In the process, he attempts to defile his enemy in all kinds of different manners: The way Brown makes his readers; view eastward is by using the faults that have plagued the Native Americans.
Brown’s way of emphasizes language allows the readers to connect to the Native Americans and this allows the book to thrive and continue. This book differs from a lot of other books about Native Americans, because he uses many Native American interpretations. For example, the Sioux and Cheyenne’s frequently see trains pass through their land in the Powder River country. Says Brown: ‘‘Sometimes they saw Iron Horses dragging wooden houses on wheels at great speed along the tracks . They were puzzled over what could be inside the houses.’’ Brown uses the terms ‘‘Iron Horses’’ and ‘‘wooden houses’’ to describe trains and train cars, as a Native American at this time would have perceived them. Brown also uses the Native American designations for U.S. military ranks in his
HST1305: U.S. History, 1865 to the Present Professor. P. Blackmer
March 7, 2012
Albert Lee
In Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown relies on many eyewitness accounts from Native Americans, letting them tell their side of how the West won. Several reviewers consider these eyewitness accounts the most important part of the book. In Browns thesis he states that “out of all these sources of almost forgotten oral history, I have tried to fashion a narrative of the conquest of the American West as the victims experienced it, using their own words whenever possible. Americans who have always looked westward when reading about this period should read this book facing eastward”. Despite the popularity of the eyewitness accounts, Brown is not an absentee narrator. In the book Brown emphasizes two main points, the language he uses and the storyline of the book. He uses these two things to give the eyewitness accounts as much impact as possible. In the process, he attempts to defile his enemy in all kinds of different manners: The way Brown makes his readers; view eastward is by using the faults that have plagued the Native Americans.
Brown’s way of emphasizes language allows the readers to connect to the Native Americans and this allows the book to thrive and continue. This book differs from a lot of other books about Native Americans, because he uses many Native American interpretations. For example, the Sioux and Cheyenne’s frequently see trains pass through their land in the Powder River country. Says Brown: ‘‘Sometimes they saw Iron Horses dragging wooden houses on wheels at great speed along the tracks . They were puzzled over what could be inside the houses.’’ Brown uses the terms ‘‘Iron Horses’’ and ‘‘wooden houses’’ to describe trains and train cars, as a Native American at this time would have perceived them. Brown also uses the Native American designations for U.S. military ranks in his