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The title is taken from the final phrase of a twentieth-century poem titled "American Names" by Stephen Vincent Benét. The full quotation, "I shall not be there. I shall rise and pass. Bury my heart at Wounded Knee", appears at the beginning of Brown's book.
- Dee Alexander Brown
- 487
- 1970
- 1970
Nov 11, 2023 · The title “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” metaphorically represents the deep emotional connection between Native Americans and the tragic events that occurred at Wounded Knee. It symbolizes the desire to acknowledge and honor the suffering endured by Native American communities.
- Glenda Owens
The book takes its name from—and ends with—the infamous 1890 slaughter of 300 Sioux men, women and children on the banks of South Dakota’s Wounded Knee creek. “This is not a cheerful book,” Brown, BA ’37, writes in his introduction.
Full Title: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West When Written: 1967-1970 Where Written: Arkansas When Published: Fall 1970 Literary Period: Native American Renaissance, Social History Genre: nonfiction, history Setting: Western United States, 1850s-1890s Climax: The Wounded Knee massacre
The title of the book was a reference to the 1890 massacre of Lakota people at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. With the heart-wrenching details of the 1890 Wounded Knee event in the thoughts of many Americans, AIM members gambled that making another stand at Wounded Knee would get them the attention of a sympathetic national audience.
Dee Brown begins Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee with an overview of the major political forces in North America during the second half of the 19th century. During this period, the United States emerged from the Civil War battered on the one hand, and yet with its military and government more powerful than they’d ever been before.
In 1971 Dee Brown wrote Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee —a book that stunned America, persuading a generation to listen to the voice of Native Americans. Society learned about the Indian as a victim in the American West. The full impact involved the emergence of an academic Indian voice in the following years.
