Eric Lawton reviewed Custer died for your sins by Vine Deloria
Review of 'Custer died for your sins' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
A very witty and erudite collection of essays by a writer who uses detailed descriptions and sarcasm to show how settler culture uses lies, bureaucratic obfuscation and breaking of its own laws as much as military force as it steals Native Americans' lands and pretends that they no longer exist as peoples and cultures. "But in those days it was not uncommon for commissioners to promise the most enticing things in treaties, knowing full well that the United States would never honor them" - followed by many supporting examples.
There are particularly funny essays, not only the obvious Indian Humor, but others like Anthropologists and Other Friends.
It also provides interesting and useful analysis of white culture and a comparison of the tactics of Black and Indigenous people in advancing their causes and some proposals for the way forward.
The chapters can all be read individually, so I …
A very witty and erudite collection of essays by a writer who uses detailed descriptions and sarcasm to show how settler culture uses lies, bureaucratic obfuscation and breaking of its own laws as much as military force as it steals Native Americans' lands and pretends that they no longer exist as peoples and cultures. "But in those days it was not uncommon for commissioners to promise the most enticing things in treaties, knowing full well that the United States would never honor them" - followed by many supporting examples.
There are particularly funny essays, not only the obvious Indian Humor, but others like Anthropologists and Other Friends.
It also provides interesting and useful analysis of white culture and a comparison of the tactics of Black and Indigenous people in advancing their causes and some proposals for the way forward.
The chapters can all be read individually, so I took my time as it is enjoyable to read. As a white man, I valued the opportunity to see some things previously not visible to me or others in a new light.
Although somewhat dated (published in 1969 with a new preface in 1988) it has stood the test of time in all but some of the tactical proposals. It refers only to American events, so details not necessarily applicable in Canada, though the general ideas are.
