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Behind the Trail of Broken Treaties: An Indian Declaration of Independence

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Vine Deloria Jr. was born in 1933 in Martin, South Dakota. He obtained a Master of Theology degree from the Lutheran School of Theology in Rock Island, Illinois in 1963 and a J.D. from the University of Colorado in 1970. His works, including "Custer Died for Your Sins", "We Talk, You Listen," and "God is Red" promote Native American cultural nationalism and a greater understanding of Native American history and philosophy. Vine Deloria's purpose in writing "Behind the Trail of Broken Treaties" is to demonstrate that the Native Americans have valid reasons for wanting to reopen the treaty-making procedure with the United States. He also states that by the United States accepting the proposal of the aboriginal Native Americans to honor all treaties as if the Native Americans were a foreign entity, the United States would be placing itself in the forefront of civilized nations in dealing with aboriginal peoples of a continent. The author's purpose is achieved through a close scrutiny of the Twenty Points assembled by Indian activists in St. Paul, Minnesota in December 1972. These points were believed to most fairly and adequately summarize the grievances of the various Native American tribes and suggested a reform program for the United States government to follow (48). The author not only examines the Twenty Points in great detail, but he also includes a summary of Native American history regarding their interaction with the Europeans. This summary begins with the colonists on the frontier. In chapter five, Deloria explains the colonists' idealogy of the doctrine of discovery. Since the colonists were the first to discover the lands east of the Mississippi River, they had full right to claim the land, even if the aboriginal people of the continent occupied the land. With this doctrine, the colonists laid claim to any and all land in their path of expansion. Deloria states that this doctrine was the catalyst for many of the wars fought by the great Indian chiefs in the 18th and 19th centuries. These battles led up to the terrible massacre of helpless Oglala Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee Creek, which finally ended Native American bloodshed through acts of war. The author creates an encyclopedia of examples of broken treaties between the United States and various Native American tribes, culminating in his day-by-day account of the Trail of Broken Treaties march on Washington D.C. in January of 1973. Just by picking up this black hardcover book with the title emblazoned down the spine in capital letters of bold red, the reader begins to feel the ominous message from within the book before the first page is read. Otherwise, the condition of the book is fair. The reader will immediately notice the lack of pictures to supplement the reading, as well as the lack of footnotes or bibliography to validate the author's research. This fact leaves Deloria open for criticism. First, Deloria states in the first few pages of the book that no American president has benefited the Native American people since the American Revolution. This statement is contradicted by the author himself several times in the book, including his discussion of President Andrew Jackson's backing of John Marshall's decision to uphold the laws of the Cherokee nation over the laws of the state of Georgia. On page eight, Deloria quotes Jackson as saying, "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." Again on page thirty-six, Deloria mentions that the Indian activists were counting on the support of presidential candidate Richard Nixon because of the presidential administration's "genuine interest in correcting wrongs suffered by Indian people." The author remarks that this interest created "a general air of euphoria during the first year of the Nixon administration." Clearly not every president was set against the Native Americans. Another point of contention was Deloria's blatant prejudice against the government officials in charge of peacefully ending the siege of the Department of Internal Affairs building during the Trail of Broken Treaties campaign in Washington D.C. On page fifty-four, Deloria blames the guards in the building for pushing the Native Americans. He claims that this action provoked the fearful Native Americans into overtaking the building. But how does fear provoke one to assume such a violent position against the authority? The siege came to a peaceful resolution over the course of a weekend, with the government promising not to press charges against the Native Americans, even though extensive damage was done to the building during the siege. Deloria claims that much of the damage was caused by federal agents after the takeover was resolved. However, why would agents attempt to create more damage to the building if no charges were to be brought against the Native Americans involved? The author's prejudice appears to come into play in recreating this event. However slanted the author's views are against the nation's officials, Deloria's book is not totally without merit. His historical accounts of the battles of the Native Americans and the settlers are extremely accurate. His personal attachment to the Native American cause gives him a unique stance with his topic. His use of the pronoun "we" when describing the events of the march on Washington indicate to the reader that Deloria personally attended the Trail of Broken Treaties march in 1973. Finally, his incredible collection of treaties between the United States and the various Native American tribes gives the reader great background knowledge in the unfair treatment of the government against the Native Americans. This book was written for the adult audience attempting to learn more about the injustices done to the Native Americans by the United States. Although slanted toward the Native American point of view, this book is an invaluable account of our nation's trail of broken treaties.