A review by serenaj
Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto by Vine Deloria Jr.

4.0

While slow and heavy with technical theory at times, I found this book extremely compelling. Deloria makes it known that the Indigenous American is not merely a victim and should not be invisible or overlooked. This book is now a relic of the 1960s, yet I still found many of his ideas relevant to today's moment, especially with the newfound emphasis on native wisdom in regards to climate change and the explosion of the Black Lives Matter movement. I thought the chapter comparing the Indigenous struggle for sovereignty as a legal struggle with the black power movement's need for cultural reform was quite interesting, although I might need a second opinion to be fully convinced. Deloria intersperses his intriguing ideas with dry, witty humor. His snark regarding anthropologists, the christian church, and native humor was much appreciated. I also thought his relation of the history of the Jewish people to Native Americans was fascinating–definitely not something I had even considered before, nor had I thought tribalism could be portrayed in such a positive light. All in all, not the most gripping read, but still very interesting!