Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1969

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-11

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

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Themes

The History of Indigenous Oppression in the United States

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains references to the oppression of Indigenous Americans.

One major goal of Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto is to give a picture of Native history as a whole. The book achieves this goal with case studies about individual tribes as well as analysis of specific legislation. In the early days of European settlement in North America, small groups of white and Native people lived relatively cooperatively in some areas. When the European population was small and unaccustomed to their new ecosystem, Indigenous individuals and tribes often provided critical support for their survival. As the colonial population grew, groups like the Iroquois League and the “five civilized tribes” formed economic and cultural ties with their European neighbors. As Deloria writes, this likely instilled a sense of general trust among tribal groups of the 18th and 19th centuries that white society would treat them the same way. Eastern tribal leaders readily signed treaties with the colonial government, many of which stated they could keep their customs and land if they agreed to certain stipulations under the new government. As the United States developed and more immigrants arrived, land became scarcer and resources were spread thin. The United States government began breaking treaties as quickly as it had written them, while at the same time expanding westward and signing new treaties with other tribes.

As European settlement grew rapidly throughout the 19th century, the Manifest Destiny concept became more ingrained in the American mind as well as in how the country was run. Armed conflicts between tribal groups, the Army, and newly arrived white settlers became more and more frequent, culminating in the American Indian Wars of the late 19th century.

At that time, tribes were seen as a clear-cut enemy of the United States. As the Old West faded into memory, though, Indigenous leaders like Sitting Bull became famous as symbols of a bygone era. White public opinion began to see the remaining tribal people as a relic to be preserved, rather than an active threat. In Deloria’s view, the transfer of the BIA to the DOI in the 1820s marks the shift from Indigenous Americans being viewed as a “problem,” to a concern about the “Indian plight.”

Although the government’s tactics largely mirrored public opinion, Deloria argues that the efforts toward assimilation and land theft only strengthened as direct physical conflict became taboo. Well into the 20th century, Indigenous people were rarely trusted to make their own decisions, even as politicians called for the tribes to have more “freedom” through termination laws and other tactics. Deloria ultimately argues that the only thing that will stop Indigenous oppression once and for all is to let Native people make decisions about their own lives, their communities, and their place within the modern world.

Native Resistance and Cultural Revitalization

Deloria chooses not to see Indigenous culture as a declining way of life, but rather one that has survived against massive odds. Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto uses dark humor to describe the many forces working against tribal communities, but the overall tone remains hopeful, especially in the closing chapters. Deloria achieves this by showing specific ways that Native people and organizations have effectively resisted oppression throughout history. These tactics range from killing an entire Army troop in the Battle of Little Bighorn to fitting traditional worship systems into a Christian framework to appease white missionaries. By the time of the book’s writing in the late 1960s, Deloria sees an especially strong revitalization of Indigenous religion. The major example he cites is the resurgence of the traditional Sun Dance on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations in South Dakota. Deloria finds that in the modern era, traditions like these are performed not as a tourist spectacle, nor are they given added Christian meaning; instead, they are reverent spiritual exercises in their own right. He gleefully relates a common scene at Indigenous gatherings in which Christian churches have tipi chapels set up in the hopes that people will be drawn away from the celebration to come learn about Jesus.

The second half of the book turns away from outlining resistance movements of the past and toward an analysis of what may best serve to hasten current efforts. When considering Indigenous people in the context of the civil rights movement, Deloria highlights how the unique history of Indigenous oppression can help guide activism. He warns against using the same approach as other groups, especially those more centered around the Black experience. Black people had been excluded from whiteness as much as possible to deny them personhood and justify the slave trade. Native people, by contrast, had been actively pushed toward a white lifestyle so their land could be distributed according to European conventions.

Deloria believes that Indigenous activists must lean into what makes them unique, rather than taking inspiration directly from more famous Black groups. This theme would go on to inspire the growing Red Power movement, a phrase that Deloria himself coined. Red Power groups would go on to inspire land rights initiatives well into the 21st century.

The Benefits and Drawbacks of Tribalism

Deloria believes that the unique history of Indigenous Americans puts them at an advantage over many other marginalized groups when it comes to organized resistance. The key to this, he speculates, is tribalism. Deloria argues that humans are naturally tribal. He defines tribal somewhat loosely, but generally identifies it as a group of people centered in a specific location or set of locations with a common set of norms and traditions that allow group bonding and continuity. Tribes are typically governed by a central group of leaders, who make large-scale decisions affecting the entire group. Larger tribes are then subdivided into clans, which are often extensions of family groups. Clans focus on managing day-to-day life and small-scale social relationships, while tribal leadership focuses on the community as a whole and inter-tribal interactions.

While anthropologists and the general public may see a “tribe” as an inherently old-fashioned concept, Deloria argues that this is not the case. He believes that many modern organizations are inherently tribal. Corporate hierarchies, for example, follow many of the same organizational and social rules as tribes. Company-specific traditions and team-bonding activities create a sense of community and mutual support. Corporate workers are encouraged to develop a sense of loyalty to their company and often see themselves as superior or inherently different from the employees at other organizations. For these reasons, Deloria sees corporations as the ultimate expression of white capitalist tribalism.

Deloria believes that Native people have an advantage over all other groups in the United States, and even the world, when it comes to understanding tribalism. He argues that Black Americans are beginning to rediscover their tribal identities and form new social groups based around them. However, he writes that a key element of a functional tribe is a longstanding connection to a specific land. Black people are not indigenous to the United States, and family groups were intentionally divided during the slavery period. While Native communities were often dismantled, the reservation system allowed a large number of tribes to keep at least a portion of their native land. This meant that the social infrastructure of many tribes remained at least partially intact throughout the entire span of American history. The key to regaining power, Deloria believes, is to coordinate both within and between tribes to regain rights to the land given up when treaties were broken.