Custer Died For Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto

Custer Died For Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto, Vine Deloria Jr., University of Oklahoma Press, 1988

This is a pretty comprehensive look at the state of Indians in America, as of 1969, when this book was first published. For those whose conceptions of Indians revolve around Tonto, casinos or old Westerns, this book will be jarring reading.

Every few years, in response to constituent mail, Congress asks for a Task Force report on Indian problems. They all conclude that more money must be appropriated to help Indians. Congress isn't about to actually do such a thing, so the report gets added to the pile of other ignored Indian task force reports. Each summer, Indian country is flooded with anthropologists who make observations of Indian life with the intention of "explaining" Indians. These observations will turn into books and reports that no one will read. The reports are summarized and sent to government agencies to justify the previous summer's research, or to foundations to finance next summer's research. Religious missionaries have spent hundreds of years attempting to impose Christianity on Native Americans, forgetting, for instance, that Indians have a different view of the world than whites. Indian religious life was forbidden; any social activity other than church services on reservations brought in the cavalry with guns drawn. A Native American version of Christianity is also forbidden on reservations, as are Native clergy, because it would show that white Christianity is irrelevant.

Indians are able to laugh at themselves; there is a tradition of teasing between tribes. Popular subjects for jokes are General Custer and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the federal agency that handles all Native affairs.

For most people, this will not be an easy book to read, as it starts to show that the policy of the white man toward the Indian has ranged from oppression to outright slaughter. Anyone who wants to get past Indian stereotypes, and get an honest look at the lives of real Indians, would be very well advised to start with this book.