Dee Brown’s “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” is a story about different groups of Native Americans’ struggles against the invading United States government. Multiple battles occur where the Native Americans attempt to defend themselves against the government. Some are successful others are not. Many Indian civilizations are taken over by the government to allow for expansion. Many treaties are written to try and defend the Native Americans and secure land for them but, the government does not hold up to their end of the bargain and the Native Americans struggle for freedom. In multiple cases the Indians try to help the United States government and …show more content…
This struggle sparked the Navaho’s to start a battle at Fort Defiance. This is just one of the battles that are sparked but in the end the Navaho’s are killed. Anyone left is moved to the Bosque reservation. Next, we see Sante Sioux angry at the Americans. They continue to move in on the Sioux and the Americans are not taking control of the credit system. This sparks four Indians to kill five white men. The Sioux then lose a battle at Yellow Medicine River. The Sioux refused to give back prisoners and a lot of the Santees are killed after Abraham Lincoln decided to get them killed. Then, we move to the Cheyenne and the Arapaho’s territory. There is a big gold rush In these tribes territories and like so many other times a treaty is signed that the Americans do not uphold and a battle is started. Eventually to keep peace the Cheyenne move to the south. Many other battles occur throughout the duration of the book. Many attempts are made by the Native American’s to try and regain their territory and freedom again. In the end troops are told to go to Wounded Knee and achieve a census and turn in their guns. One Indian, Black Coyote, will not give away his gun. The gun is accidentally fired and 300 Indians are killed by the soldiers who believed it was a sign of attack. The Indians who were not shot attempted to get to Pine