The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee

David Treuer presents, in this moving and insightful and deeply researched book, a holistic perspective on the reality of modern Native Americans. Combining historical research, qualitative interviews, and some quantitative methods in the later sections, one gets a sense of the continuing evolution of this essential part of American society.

There is still decent space given to level set on the past, covering Native American history prior to colonization and prior to 1890. After this section Treuer goes through detailed accounts of the shameful and fraught interactions between tribes and the US government, highlighting some successful negotiations and others that ended with further appropriation of native lands. There are brief glimpses of more enlightened policy makers, with some laws and organizational decisions that continue to reverberate today.

The last few parts of the book are nothing short of stunning. The heartfelt study of the activist period of the 60s and 70s was profound, and the legal challenges that led to some tribes embracing gaming and further sovereign rights was illuminating. The sober analysis of the economic challenges many Native Americans face is also contrasted with some incredible success stories. Those success stories leave one wanting a full economic analysis of their underlying causes, but given Treuer's academic background it's probably best that he just set the table here for other scholars.

Especially if you're an American like myself, you'd be hard pressed not to find yourself moved and motivated by this book. Highly recommend.

3.5, rounding up as a nudge for you to read it but with a caveat: it’s dry. Less so when he focuses on individual stories, he comes alive then, but the historical background parts can be a slog to read through. Read it anyway: for the perspective, for the insight, and even for the history. There’s much here to learn, including perhaps new inspiring ways to think about Native cultures and their future.

Don’t expect romanticized outlook or Native Wisdom woo woo: Treuer is remarkably objective not only about the destruction wrought by whites but also by Natives upon themselves, through inter- and intra-tribal conflicts, corruption, and greed. All the parties throughout history, it turns out, have been human. And don’t expect a sob story either: Treuer consistently points out instances of astounding resilience and adaptability, individual and collective, from 1493 through today.

I don’t know what I’ll do with all this knowledge—forget most of it, to be honest. There’s so much. But some of it will stay with me, and I intend to keep reading and learning from Native sources, and over time more and more will be part of me. And maybe it’ll change how I act and who I am.

This is the third book I've read by David Treuer, all of them extremely well written and thought provoking. In Heartbeat, Treuer looks at indigenous life during the past century plus, assessing US policy towards Native Americans and the many ways, intentional and otherwise, it has reverberated through the lives of real people. He stresses that Indians have never been merely passive victims of fate; in ways that varied from tribe to tribe and from era to era, they made choices that have allowed them to survive as distinct peoples and, increasingly, to thrive. The nuanced and detailed discussion of the American Indian Movement was particularly interesting. In the final section he looks at how 21st century Indians are interacting with the wider culture - for instance, the way in which the protests at Standing Rock in 2016 sparked new discussion well beyond the indigenous world about what kind of society we really want to live in.

An excellent overview from a Native author of his people’s American journey.