Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto

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

“One of the finest things about being an Indian is that people are always interested in you and your ‘plight’. Other groups have difficulties, predicaments, quandaries, problems, or troubles. Traditionally we Indians have had a ‘plight.’”

Several times in the book, Deloria examines the word “plight” as it applies to Indigenous Americans. To him, the word is emblematic of a common stereotype among white American society that Native people are helpless and pitiable, rather than an intentionally marginalized group who have managed to keep much of their traditional culture alive despite constant attempts to assimilate them.

“Understanding Indians is not an esoteric art. All it takes is a trip through Arizona or New Mexico, watching a documentary on TV, having known one in the service, or having read a popular book on them.”

This quote reflects Deloria’s view that many white people see Native people as a monolith and rely on assumptions for much of their knowledge of Indigenous life. Knowing even the tiniest amount about Indigenous people often makes white people feel qualified to form opinions about the “Indian plight.”

“America has yet to keep one Indian treaty or agreement despite the fact that the United States government signed over four hundred such treaties and agreements with Indian tribes. It would take Russia another century to make and break as many treaties as the United States has already violated.”

This quote is an example of Deloria’s skilled use of irony. Many politicians and members of the public viewed the Soviet Union as untrustworthy and condemned Russia for treatment that Native people had faced from the United States for centuries.