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

Based on Dee Brown’s description, did US policy against Native Americans during the period from 1860 to 1890 fit the current definition of genocide? Why or why not?

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?