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

This term, referenced many times throughout Brown’s book, is Indigenous nomenclature for the US president. On several different occasions, Native American leaders were invited to Washington, DC, to meet the current Great Father—Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland, or Benjamin Harrison.

Within many Native American cultures, this term refers to God. The Great Spirit was thought of as the Supreme Being—a benevolent creator who cared for and guided people. However, it should not be assumed that the Indigenous theologies of the Great Spirit are an exact parallel with God as understood in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Many Native American cultures were not monotheistic; aspects of pantheism, panentheism, and nature spirituality were frequent elements of Native American religion.

Within Brown’s text, the standard way to refer to people of Native American descent is “Indian,” following accepted conventions at the time of its writing. The term derives from the initial period of European exploration of the Americas, which at first had been erroneously supposed to be an extension of the Indies (that is, eastern and southern Asia). Later conventions tended to opt for other terms, such as “Native American,” “Indigenous,” or (particularly in Canada) “First Nations.