Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West

Research the history of another Native American nation’s encounter with US expansion in the American West (consider the Crow, Blackfeet, Osage, Omaha, Pawnee, Shoshone, or others). How does it compare with the ones that Brown highlights?

Throughout the book, Brown chooses to use Native American nomenclature to describe the people, locations, and events of his narrative. However, Brown still defers to Anglicizations or exonyms, as when he uses English renditions of Indigenous leaders’ names (rather than keeping the names in their own languages) and retains Euro-American names for some groups (like the Nez Percé). Assess this apparent inconsistency in Brown’s method. Would using Indigenous-language names have strengthened Brown’s portrayal?

Brown chooses not to set his depiction of the interactions between the US and Native American nations in the context of other contemporary geopolitical events. Choose one such event (for example: the Civil War, Reconstruction, or waves of non-English European immigration) and assess its impact on some of the events in Brown’s narrative.

Select an aspect of cultural misunderstanding between US officials and their Native American counterparts and explain how it impacted the unfolding history of the American West.

Study Helen Hunt Jackson’s classic critique of US policy concerning Native Americans, A Century of Dishonor, first published in 1881. What are the similarities between Jackson’s portrayal and Brown’s? What are the differences?

Why does Brown include portrait photographs, long sections of quotes to open each chapter, and Native American music to close chapters? Which of these structural elements of the book—portraits, quotes, or music—are the most effective, and which least effective? Why?

Research the current conditions of one of the Native American nations portrayed by Brown. What efforts have they made to preserve the cultural legacy of their heritage? How do current members of this nation relate to their history?

Which of Brown’s portrayals of Native American relations with the US ended most favorably? Why do you think that is, and could its results have been replicated elsewhere? If not, why not? If so, why weren’t they?