Vine Deloria, Jr. Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Francis Paul Prucha

Critical Essay by Francis Paul Prucha

In his Behind the Trail of Broken Treaties: An Indian Declaration of Independence …, Deloria draws together the arguments for autonomous status for the Indians. It is not an objective account, for Deloria is clearly promoting a cause. The book, too, has a good many factual errors, and it is frequently inconsistent in what it proposes. The author, moreover, has a hard time deciding just what status he is advocating for the Indians. Is it to be "international status," "quasi-protectorate status," "contractual sovereignty" or "a new treaty relationship"? Nor can he assert that he speaks for all the Indians. Yet the message that comes through despite these faults is an extremely important one. No one can read this book and continue to think complacently that the Indians' cries for justice and compensation are only a passing irritant for white America, which will soon quiet down and go away. Whoever is...
(read more)