NPR

'The Heartbeat Of Wounded Knee' Aims To Usher In A New Narrative For Native Americans

Author David Treuer calls his new book a "counternarrative" to Dee Brown's 1970 classic. "I have tried to catch us not in the act of dying but, rather, in the radical act of living," he writes.
Memorial to the Wounded Knee Massacre that occurred on Dec. 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota.

In the 1970 work by Dee Brown Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, the author — a non-Indian with seemingly little connection to any current tribes — declared that "the culture and civilization of the American Indian was destroyed" during the late 1800s.

Not so fast, says author David Treuer.

Treuer calls his new book The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present a "counternarrative" to Brown's classic — which sold millions of copies with its story of U.S. government betrayal, forced relocation and massacres.

Treuer recalls reading Brown's book

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR4 min read
A Car-free Town In The Amazon Serves Lessons For Pedaling To Net Zero Emissions
Afuá, a remote town in the Brazilian Amazon, banned motor vehicles over 20 years ago. Writer Mac Margolis and photographer Stefan Kolumban paid the town a visit to see what life is like.
NPR17 min readAmerican Government
What Did Trump Say? Explaining The Former President's Favorite Talking Points
Former President Donald Trump continues to ratchet up his rhetoric on the campaign trail, but if someone doesn't follow Trump all the time, decoding his meaning can get confusing. We're here to help.
NPR2 min read
Hiking The Azores Into Lush Mountains And Stormy North Atlantic Weather
NPR correspondent Brian Mann went trekking on Sao Miguel, one of the most remote islands in the North Atlantic. He found volcanic mountains, birdsong, solitude and lots of rain.

Related Books & Audiobooks