"The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to Present" (A Review)

 

The United States government massacred 

185 Miniconjou women, children, nursing babies, and men (1)

 

Under the clear plains sky.

185 last breaths

185 dreams deferred                                     eternally

185 deaths at Wounded Knee

Yes 185 American Indians died, Ojibwe author Treuer acknowledges

BUT “no Dee Brown,” the American Indian did not die at Wounded Knee.

President Harrison could not bury the Indian with the weight 

Of 20 awarded Medals of Honor (2)

Twenty times, written

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure

The President’s pleasure at the soldiers’ conspicuous bravery

In the murder of Miniconjou women and children 

Could not bury the Indian

Nor did Congress’ deep regret 100 years later resurrect those bodies.

The Indian Appropriations Act could not kill the Indian

60,000,000 Bison slaughtered could not kill the Indian

TerminatinonRemovalRelocationAssimilationTheGreatMigration

None. Of. It.

The hundreds of Treaties Of

All bro ken

Could not extinguish the Indian

The American government could bury 

the bodies

                                         But not      the spirits

The spirits could not  be buried

Spirits float on and lift those living 

Spirits like 

Joseph Oklahombi’s World War Two bravery 

Spirits like 

Sean Sherman the Sioux Chef

Spirits like 

Sierra Frederickson the teacher and connector

Spirits like 

trapper Bobby Mathews

Spirits like

David Treuer’s words                                       

                                   out

Tendrils floating                 

Seeking our hearts and minds and souls

The Indian did not die at Wounded Knee

Instead they strove, they struggled, scraped, fought back, 

they persisted

the only reason there were any Indians left all 

was that they had fought

They had fought against the government, 

and they had fought with it.  

Deprived of every conceivable advantage 

or tool 

 or clear-heated advocate, 

they continued to fight.  

Not just…as warriors astride horses 

roaming free across the Plains, 

but rather as husbands and wives and fathers and mothers. 

As writers and thinkers.  

As farmers and soldiers in the Great War. 

So yes Dee Brown.  

Bury those children’s hearts.  

Bury those mothers.

Bury those warriors and ghost dancers.

But the Indian will not be buried.

Indians lived on, 

as more than ghosts, 

as more than the relics 

of a once happy people.  

We lived on increasingly invested in 

and changed by–

and in turn doing our best to change–

the American character.

The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee  pulses on.

Notes:
(1)  Estimated numbers vary widely on the number of deaths (e.g., 128, 146, 156, 200, 300).  There are primary source documents (letters and telegrams) from the soldiers and headquarters.  I took a middle of the road number.  Regardless of the exact number it’s clear that many women, children, and nursing babies were killed in the massacre. https://armyatwoundedknee.com/2013/12/30/lakota-casualties-at-wounded-knee/   
https://www.westrivereagle.com/articles/list-of-those-killed-and-wounded-at-the-massacre-in-wounded-knee/  

(2)  Estimated numbers vary widely on the number of deaths (e.g., 128, 146, 156, 200, 300).  There are primary source documents (letters and telegrams) from the soldiers and headquarters.  I took a middle of the road number.  Regardless of the exact number it’s clear that many women, children, and nursing babies were killed in the massacre. https://armyatwoundedknee.com/2013/12/30/lakota-casualties-at-wounded-knee/   

https://www.westrivereagle.com/articles/list-of-those-killed-and-wounded-at-the-massacre-in-wounded-knee/  

My extensive notes on the book are here.