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Dec 16, 2009

Arukiyomi rated it:

took me a long while to read this. it wasn?t that it was a boring read. far from it. but it was a disturbing read and the fact that each chapter follows virtually the same pattern made it that much harder to read. you knew from the start how it would end, though you desperately hoped it wouldn?t.[return][return]dee brown?s book should be required reading for every us citizen and on the booklist for anyone considering us citizenship. it tells the true story of what the us was built on. far from w More...

2 comments like (16 people liked it)

Jan 05, 2010

booklady rated it:

I got this book on our first trip around what I call the 'Great Sioux West'. When my dh retired from the AF we took a version of the trip I always dreamed of taking to see a good portion of our American West. We drove through parts of KS, NE, WY, MT, UT, and then back home. We visited mostly historic forts and National Parks. We stopped at endless historical markers and for countless deer, bison, and other wildlife. And all the while I read this incredible book. Although it covers Native A More...

8 comments like (10 people liked it)

Oct 21, 2011

Andrew rated it:

NOTE: I in no way mean to denigrate the opinions and/or feelings of people who gave this book 4 or 5 stars. I make no assumptions as to why people have given this book such a high rating, though I do suggest one possibility could be to acknowledge the book's undeniable importance in presenting the Native American side of the story against the then-prevailing "victor's narrative."

I only read the two chapters concerning the fate of the Apache in general, and Cochise and Gero More...

6 comments like (6 people liked it)

Apr 25, 2008

Morgan rated it:

I am FINALLY done with this book. It took me forever to read, largely due to the fact that it is absolutely heartbreaking. Most days I couldn't take reading it for more than 15 minutes.

That said, I believe it is one of the most important books I have read in my life. I find it absolutely unbelievable that I grew in Wyoming of all places, where many parts of "Bury My Heart" take place. I was surrounded by Native American culture, I learned about them in school, we took More...

1 comment like (17 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Richard rated it:

Dee Brown, Head Librarian at the University of Illinois, has written a number of histories and novels with the American West and Civil War as his main themes, both before and after he wrote "Bury My Heart" while in his 60's. Almost 40 years after its first printing, this book is still in print. It shows that the common perceptions of the "winning of the West" have been based on a flawed viewpoint, since they do not represent a winning proposition for all Americans. Brown writ More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 25, 2007

Cam rated it:

It is easy to forget the history of broken treaties, racism, and massacres that mark our country's relationship with the aboriginal peoples of our continent. Worse, it is easy to dismiss that legacy as "history," ignoring its direct relevance to today's Indian community--a population of thousands that stiil lacks equal access to jobs, education, and health care, and has the highest attendant problems of drugs, incarceration, and infant mortality.

"Bury My Hea More...

1 comment like (7 people liked it)

Jan 09, 2009

David rated it:

Apparantly "all men are created equal" left out the bit in brackets that said (unless you are a member of an Indian tribe). A detailed ride across the West using archive material that tells a very different story of how the West was won than any cowboy film does. The rapid spread west of an ever increasing white population hungry for land to build a home, allied to a sense that Indian tribes were inferior and savage, saw the erosion of hunting lands and the desecration of the great buf More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Feb 24, 2009

dead letter office rated it:

there's so much history, and so many names and dates and places, that i feel like i don't remember much in detail (i have no mind for that stuff), but the underlying story is the same in every case. misunderstanding and betrayal and chauvanism and savagery and death. over and over these indian civilizations were reduced to small bands of young men, forced into the hills and fighting hopeless guerrilla wars against the american army after all the others had been killed or pushed onto reservatio More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 10, 2008

Eileen rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jun 19, 2010

Monica rated it:

I've owned a hard cover copy of Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee since 1971. I started to read it but couldn't concentrate because I started college, had other required reading, and life went on in other directions.

By good fortune, last September, a friend and I drove out west -- around the southern tip of Lake Michigan, northwest on 94, across Illinois, up to route 90 in southern Wisconsin (the Wisconsin Dells were awesome) -- straight along the southern boundary of Minnesota into Sout More...

15 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Jen rated it:

I love this book. Definitely a history book and definitely more sympathetic to Native Americans (although in my opinion they deserve it), it's the history of the "conquering" of the West and the last Indian tribes to go onto reservations and cease to control land. Sometimes this book can get confusing, for example now that it's been about a year since I've read it I can't always remember which people are associated with which conflict but this book is definitely worth a read. It is More...

5 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Erin rated it:

This is such a fabulous book. I think it should be required reading for high schoolers... NEVER are Native Americans presented in history classes in their own (highly articulate!) words. This book made me cry while reading it in the subway, and I was depressed for a good time after finishing. I'm excited for the upcoming HBO series even though I don't have HBO... maybe I can invest in it just for the week the feature is on? Read this book. I wish I could give it more than five stars!

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 23, 2010

Trevor rated it:

This was a remarkably depressing book. It is the sort of book that shows over and over again that there was literally nothing the Native Americans could have done to protect themselves from the all consuming and endlessly veracious greed of the European settlers. Just about every ‘tactic’ imaginable was used by the Native Americans – from treaties to war to abject capitulation – and nothing made any difference. The final result was always the same.

This is a tale of genocide. It i More...

18 comments like (18 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Amy rated it:

This book is very educational and eye-opening, but it's dang hard to get through. The writing is rather dry, but with a subject such as this, of course it's going to be a heavy read. It's one of those books that everyone should read so they know what really happened, but it's not the easiest to get through. I would never have finished if it hadn't been a book discussion pick.

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 02, 2007

Adrian rated it:

this is a tough one to read at times.
however, if you're an American you have
a responsibility to read it. it is a harsh
history lesson and i was in tears at the end
of the first page.

dont think any other book has made me curse
out loud like this one has.

i dare you to read it. i dare you NOT to be moved.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 14, 2008

Fiachna rated it:

A terrific but heart-breaking book. It tells the buried story of the genocide of the Native Americans and shows how its always the victors who write history.
It also becomes apparent that history repeats itself and that the american administration is still making the same mistakes now as it was then.....

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Mar 12, 2009

Tom rated it:

An important book, but depressing... and hard to read for that reason. A sad summary of the injustices done to the original occupants of this country. Unfortunately, they were a perceived barrier in the mad land grab that took place in the mid to late 1800s.

It's hard to comprehend the degree of evil done to them. So just imagine...

------------------

- One day, you're sitting around, watching Oprah or whatever. Suddenly, there's a knock on your door. You an More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Runningfox rated it:

This is one of my all time favorite books and I have read it many times..It made a difference in my life..

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Apr 07, 2010

Mike rated it:

Like many other reviewers I had a difficult time reading the book because, if you are capable of having empathy for native amercians, it causes one to re-think what you thought you've always known about American history and the values of our Christian European ancestors.

If you aren't capable of empathy, don't waste your time. You are right, you know you are right, and in your mind "the only good indian is a dead indian". But if you can consider the Chinese, for example, l More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Mar 14, 2008

Heather rated it:

A must read to provide balance to the Indian stories and histories we have learned from the white perspective of westward expansion. At times it is hard to read because of the content...chapter after chapter of tribe after tribe struggling for their existence against the onslaught of white miners, homesteaders, military, and politicians. It is pretty unbelievable how the US government schemed, lied, and cheated the land away from the natives and how the US government tried and mostly succeeded More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 07, 2008

DaveHalligan rated it:

This book was absolutely groundbreaking in its time. The first history book about the Indian Wars written from the Indian side this book revolutionised the way people viewed the Native Americans. Before this book they were viewed as simple, uncivilised savages after this they were seen as an honourable people who have had suffer injustice after injustice from their first contact with the white man. From the trail of tears to the massacre of Wounded Knee this book vividly describes these injustic More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

lisa rated it:

My passion for Native American history and the culture that all the different tribes possess was only increased by this book. Though it is not published by a university, it is still a credible source for what really happened the many tribes that once roamed our land. Even the most cold hearted individual will find themselves outraged when they read of the treatment of indigenous people who were just trying to preserve their culture. It is an incredible book that doesn't show the "happy h More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Nov 24, 2008

Steve rated it:

I grew up with a fascination with native American history. In grade school I wished I could be part "Indian", but settled for being able to name many of the tribes that once roamed freely across the US. (I can't do that anymore.) My father passed on to me the Louis L'Amour western books he read (of which the Sackett series is a great read), fueling my interest. Rarely do I encounter non-mythological stories about these diverse cultures. This book is the BEST historical reference to More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 19, 2012

Ellie added it

This book is an eye-opener for anyone with an interest in human rights and justice. As an Anthropologist I am very interested in the ordeals of the First People of America. This book was fascinating, sad, moving and tragic. We have to look ourselves as a culture--squarely in the face and see what we have done to these cultures-- the whole ugly truth of it and change perceptions of Native Americans and American History. The author Dee Brown takes the reader from the Eastern tribes to the Plains, More...

0 comments like

Nov 25, 2011

Edithcastro rated it:

Dee Brown's poignant narrative is well researched, with an excellent bibliography of the author's sources. It is also well illustrated, with photos or paintings of the various leaders of the native American tribes of the time. There are short biographies of many of the more important individuals, including Black Kettle of the Cheyennes, Little Crow of the Santee Sioux, Red Cloud and Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces ("I will fight no more forever,") Sittin More...

0 comments like

Jan 09, 2011

David rated it:

Unforgivable Sins

Bury My Heart, published in 1970, during the height of the Viet Nam war & civil rights movement, galvanized a nation, making it acutely aware of the gross injustices perpetrated against the Indian in the 19th century. The timing was such that it underscored our nation's history of abusing it's non-white people, not to mention, the true legitimate citizens of this continent. I had know of this book for many years & had always assumed that it was written by either a Siou More...

0 comments like

Sep 09, 2010

Monica rated it:

I have to first start off by saying that I have never trusted anyone who was or is a politician. I have always said that politicians lie, cheat and steal from their so called friends. So now on that happy note I have to say that I am some what surprised at what I read in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Mainly because of the way The White men swindled the Indians out of their land. As I read the book I would gasp at the things that I read. I hate to even think that I am possibly related to any of More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 05, 2010

Adil rated it:

Bury My Heart at wounded knee: An Indian History of the American West
Dee Brown
512 pgs
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is a non-fiction book about the massacres and struggles many Indians faced as Americans moved out West. This is book is sad and makes you feel ashamed at what the US government did to the Indians. Everything in this book is from the Indian's point of view and shows how brutal and unmerciful the US government can be. The Indians'whole livelihood in the West was d More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 01, 2010

Keegan rated it:

I'm well-versed in the history of Native America, but this book still shocks my sensibilities and questions my every day assumptions. The narrative debunks every one-dimensional myth of western expansion, of its pioneers, settlers and iconic politicians and generals, and it creates a new mythology around the Native American nations and their leaders, like Geronimo and Sitting Bull. When I read this book, the power of this more nuanced history feels undeniably true, largely because the writing i More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 22, 2010

Alyce (At Home With Books) rated it:

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee should be required reading for every high school and college student in the country. Filled with horrific and heartbreaking stories from the history of the interactions between Native Americans and white men, it is brutally honest about both sides of the story. Dee Brown managed to take the documents and history of Native Americans, and recount them from the Native American point of view.

When I started reading this book I thought I had a pretty good handle More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

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