Customer Reviews

A Sioux Chronicle (Civilization of the American Indian Series)

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Hyde's chronicle begins with the surrender of the Sioux to the U. S. government, and the beginning of the "noble experiment" of transforming Native Americans into Neo-Europeans (by making them farmers, for example). The book ends with the tragedy of the Wounded Knee massacre, and can be read as an analysis of all the factors leading up to that incident, which revealed the failure of said experiment.

Hyde recounts the many factors which led to the resumption of hostilities between a small minority of Sioux and the U. S. Army. the author clearly has favorite villains on both sides: from religious philanthropists on the East coast, who had never met a live Sioux in his native habitat, to Sitting Bull who went about caching firearms, to the corrupt politicians who replaced relatively knowledgeable Indian agents with inexperienced political cronies. Hyde paints the portrait of all of these actors and more with verve and detail.

Missing from Hyde's account is any in-depth analysis of Sioux culture that would allow us to understand the appeal of the Ghost Dance. Instead, Hyde's account posits that Sioux and white are motivated by the same factors: greed, political infighting, fear, hatred, and hunger. But Hyde's focus on action and decision, his love of detail, and his sardonic style make for gripping and informative reading. Recommended for anyone interested in frontier history or in the fraught relationship between whites and Native Americans.