Died for Your Sins

" This romance, promulgated by some(prenominal) scientist and layman alike, has done more to damage the integrity and uniqueness of Indian culture than almost any other single factor. In fact, DeLoria notes that one of the primary problem that the modern Indian has undergone, aside from being lumped into a single culture instead of a myriad of unique tribes, has been the overgeneralization that resulted from millions of dollars expense of anthropological studies.

. . the very real an human problems of the reservation were considered to be merely byproducts of the failure of a warrior people to exit domesticated. The fairly respectable dissertation of past exploits in war, peradventure romanticized for morale purposes, became a demonic spiritual force all(prenominal) its own. Some Indians, in a tongueandcheek mission for which Indians be justly famous, suggested that a subsidized wagon get up be run through the reservation each sunup at 9 a.m. and the reservation people paid a minimum wage for attacking it (p. 91).

In other words, the myth of the "noble savage," intent upon protecting land and family in a warlike fashion, places the Indian outside the American experience, when in fact, the Indian is at the heart of the experience in the low gear place. Thus, when ". . . Congress determined that it had the right to lay down Indians conform to their stem of civilization and outlined the great legislative attempt to make them into farmers," the dichotomy of placing one

Until a new ideological basis is placed under the federalIndian relationship it seems certain that the bureau will struggle along on one cylinder, carrying the burdens of misinformation and acting as the whipping boy for the collective sins of both red and white. It is unfortunate that one agency has to be designated as the target for the frustrations of people who lead not recognized their confusion mingled with culture and technique . . . (p. 145).

In reviewing ethnographic literature, an interesting trend emerges in that many newer studies appoint with questions of political and social messages being imparted through anthropological research.

sometimes this trend emerges in a more gender particular(prenominal) focus, however, in the DeLoria material, this trend is emphasized by the decades of conflict that Indians had to patronize just to keep their lands. The hypocrisy of governmental communications between Washington and the tribes becomes of paramount importance when one realizes that the vast tot up of treaties ratified by Congress are the very messages that the Indians hold up to fight to preserve.

It is not a scholarly monograph, for although there are a number of facts, extended quotations, and other relevant materials include in the book, it gives no sources, and the reader is left with the option of any believing Mr. DeLoria, or reinvestigating his numerous claims. This writer believes that DeLoria's case would have been strengthened by the inclusion of citations, but that did not take from the power of the material. DeLoria does not claim that the book represents a featherbedcultural perspective of what all Indians thing (p. 277), but so far does present a skillful diatribe of a massive variety of hypocrisy and deceit. Thus, throughout the book, a main thesis can be found dealing with the difficulties of communicating the inbred ineluctably of a variety of cultures, and in particular, the way those needs are left untranslated when one of the cultures is perceived as
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