Killing Custer: The Battle of Little Big Horn and the Fate of the Plains Indians [Paperback]

James Welch (Author), Paul Stekler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1995

General George Custer's 1876 attack on a huge encampment of Plains Indians has gone down as the most disastrous defeat in American history. Much less understood is how disastrous it was for the "victors, " the Sioux and Cheyenne under the leadership of Sitting Bull: within fifteen years all Native Americans were confined to reservations, their culture in ruins. James Welch poignantly resurrects their side of the story from beneath a mountain of myth and misinterpretation, relating in masterful prose the pride and desperation of a people stripped of treaty rights and hounded from ancestral hunting grounds into wretched reservations. Through this critical missing piece that tells the Indian side of the story, " Killing Custer" rethinks the meaning of the Little Bighorn for a multicultural society.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Novelist Welch and documentary filmmaker Stekler probe the long-term repercussions that victory over Custer had for Native Americans, in a companion book to their PBS documentary Last Stand at Little Bighorn.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Novelist/poet Welch has produced a compelling history of the Indian wars of the northern Plains with insights from his firsthand experience with tribal life.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (November 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140251766
• ISBN-13: 978-0140251760
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #894,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars it's a good day to die, May 8, 2001

By 

JEAN-MARIE JUIF (BESANCON France) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Killing Custer: The Battle of Little Big Horn and the Fate of the Plains Indians (Paperback)

It's a good day to die; the book was issued in France under this title.Looking for other books on this american site,I was surprised and shocked to read some of the reviews.I think this book is important . Of course, I guess that many books have been written about this subject, and I don't know if this one gives us more informations than the others.But what is important to me is the fact that this book has been written by an indian,a man who has more than anyone else, the right to speak about what happened to his people. The 20's century great democracies, including France,can't be proud of their foundations.America with indian and black peoples,France in the West Indies ,and North Africa.One thing surprises me in the reviews of this book:a reviewer only writes about the Little Big Horn battle,although the book goes from 1869 to Sitting Bull's death in 1890.He is sad not to have been able to see the Reno site while visiting the country; personnaly,I would have prefered (and hope I'll have the opportunity) to spend a few hours on the place,near the river,where the Sioux and Cheyennes were living with their families.Another reviewer complains about "the political subtones of the author".And so what? Senator McCarthy fortunately died,no? And I think Mr Welch ,like any other human being, can and has to have a political conciousness.YOu can agree with him or not,but you can't reproach him with telling what he thinks .I was glad to read this book,and I recommend it to you.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a lot of army vs indians history, April 19, 2008

By 

Catharine T. Kolb - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Killing Custer: The Battle of Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians (Paperback)

James Welch, a Blackfeet/Gros Ventre novelist, turns his hand to history after writing a screen play on the same topic, The Battle of the Little Bighorn.
The book is very smoothly written and easy to read and follow; there are maps and photos to augment the text.
For anyone interested in the events which led up to "Custer's Last Stand" and more importantly to the effect it had on Native Americans this book provides a great deal of understanding.
Welch has the wisdom to write for his readers, some white, some not and maintains a clear eye throughout without devolving into blame or distortion.
The book is particularly interesting if you have been to or plan to go to the National Monument in southeastern Montana , an hour north of Sheridan , WY and the Bighorn Mountains.
The site has a moving quality to it, bare hills with white markers for fallen soldiers flanked by steep gullies leading down to the valley floor where a three mile long village of Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho gathered in late June 1876.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well Written, but not History, October 2, 2007

By 

John M. Lane "statesman and philosopher" (Hardin, Montana, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Killing Custer: The Battle of Little Big Horn and the Fate of the Plains Indians (Paperback)

The late James Welch is ranked among American Indian writers like N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko and Gerald Visenor. His skill as a writer is evident in KILLING CUSTER: THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN AND THE FATE OF THE PLAINS INDIANS which was published in 1994.

Paul Stekler, a talented filmmaker from Massachusetts is listed as the co-author. He persuaded Welch to write a documentary about Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Stekler hoped to make a film about the battle from "the Indian point of view." Welch, a member of Montana's Blackfeet Tribe from Browning, was "the Indian."

In fact, Welch used to refer to himself that way. He eschewed phrases like "Native American" or "Amerindian" in favor of "Indian." I rather liked that about him.

Welch didn't know much about Custer, or the Battle of the Little Bighorn and he never seemed especially interested in them. He resolved that issue by writing another classical James Welch book. His works were being translated into French and most other European languages and he was even Knighted in France. Sir James was made a Chevalier de l' Ordre des Art et des Lettres of France in 2000.

I have always suspected that Sir James put one over on us unwashed commoners in KILLING CUSTER. The book is well written and, if you like Welch's literary style, you'll like this book. It does not, however, really describe either General Custer, his death, or the battle in which he fell.

So, if you actually want to know something about the General and the Battle, this is the wrong book. That doesn't make it a bad book, just a misleading one. I like KILLING CUSTER, but it impresses me more as another of Sir James' novels rather than a work of history.