Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee | Based on a True Story

[@CynicalHistorian]

This is *demonetized by manual review.* So please buy some merch or check out my Patreon: www.patreon.com/CynicalHistorian 17:15 - I finally made a documentary on how historians killed the Western genre: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rmfddWSpn9N2oq8 25:25 - John Two-Hawks plays flute in the soundtrack, and he is also Sioux (thanks to Sedimaster for pointing that out), unfortunately it is uncredited 30:15 - I have my Jeep back. They stole a bunch of stuff, but the damages have been repaired. I'm working on soundproofing the room, BTW

[@es686]

I'm sorry that happened to you, man, but I'm glad you got the jeep back. I'm fond of your work and therefore will contribute to it. Take care, amigo.

[@Dashound46]

Hoping things get better for you man! Right now I'm broke, but as soon as I get my check from Uncle Sam I'll send some money.

[@TheCassandraStryffe]

Very glad you got the Jeep back! And like a few others I'd like to see a 'Death of the Western' video too! Also...if you do a video like that get some ACTUAL translations of what some of the American Indian extras were REALLY saying on camera. That shit is hilarious!

[@misterfonix]

I was always under the impression that US soldiers killed where hit by friendly cross fire

[@MrLeoni2]

First, glad to hear that you got your jeep back. Second, please do a video on what killed the western. I'm sure it'll be interesting to folks in general.

[@vincewhite5087]

Most of history is very messy. Had a history teacher say ‘If you always have white & black hats on your historical characters, you belong in Hollywood or Washington., but its not history.’

[@vanhovemare]

Yeah. I say 'life is not a Disney movie'.

[@rear9259]

Vince White what about Stalin he kinda just did his thing

[@vincewhite5087]

Videokidmaker what about him? Plus, doesn’t change my comment. History is messing. A good question is, why did Britain & France declare war on Hitler , not on Soviets. What about Lennin, he did his thing, what about Julius Cesar he did his thing. Group preference are always around. The point is history is a narrative of facts & outcomes & different groups will have different approaches, & reasons, and you need to become aware of all sides. It doesn’t mean you agree with an action but you don’t white wash it, and w should learn and know history for its story, not to make over simplified cheering sections. In my opinion, trying to live a life of constant re enacting a disappeared way of life is self defeating. Re enacting to keep history of education alive if ok, but same as medieval festivals in Europe, can be educational & time for learning about past & have a good time, but you can’t stay there either. Time only goes in one direction no matter what hollywood tries to say.

[@wyleong4326]

What a wise history teacher you have there ;)

[@ChristopherShaskin]

History is neither black nor white. This much is true. And the whole story of the subjectation of the Natives is a depressing tale. But Wounded Knee makes me want to kick my cat.

[@meanhe8702]

These are my people, I’m Cheyenne River/Oglala Lakota, and I had relatives who died at Wounded Knee, and I also had a g-g-grandfather who was a scout on the US side and was an observer of the massacre at Wounded Knee. He didn’t take part in the fighting, but he gives a very detailed account of the events, which was corroborated by people on the Lakota side and the US side. He ended up marrying a Lakota winyan, (woman) of the Oglala, who was my g-g-grandmother, they lived on Pine Ridge for awhile, then later owned a large ranch. He knew and was friends with Wild Bill Hickok. He tells a story of a time when he was drinking in a bar in Cheyenne, WY with Wild Bill, it was a favorite stories. He was a scout for General Crook, and was present during a skirmish with Tashunka Witco (Crazy Horse). He later became a postmaster and a deputy sheriff. He led a very colorful life.

[@sw8741]

In a nut shell, you show why real history is very complicated. Who was bad or who was good in your own family? I don't think you can label any as good or bad, they are all just people acting on what they thought was good or bad according to their own thoughts or beliefs. Much like everyone does today or in the distant past.

[@paualadyproductions651]

Thank you...write the book ...please record his history,your history,and in turn the nations history...fact over fiction...

[@andygossard4293]

If any of my lineage had any indirect or direct link to those perpetrators, my deepest heartfelt regrets. I just finished watching the 2007 movie and it's just too much to digest

[@corycody6967]

My wife taught at a school on Cheyenne River Reservation Called Takini. It is Lakota for “Survivor”. It is said that this is where the Survivors from Wounded Knee escaped to.

[@marthahuls8385]

Trump had huge stock holdings in the pipelines.

[@sppro994]

​@@marthahuls8385Thats crazy because they start attacking Bill Cosby after he denied selling his natural resources (to energy cooperation) in early 2014. By late 2014 Bill Cosby randomly start receiving rapes claims. Bill property had enough natural gas to Power Massachusetts state over the next 150 years. I wonder how rich he would've been 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔....

[@sppro994]

​@@marthahuls8385Trunp also making money of wireless 5G phoneline using tax payer funds...

[@EvoraGT430]

@@marthahuls8385 What a surprise.

[@markwilliams2620]

Read the book when the pipeline debacle was occuring near Standing Rock. Wasn't lost on me that Standing Rock was mentioned in the book 3 times over several generations. Somethings never change.

[@wileyphipps1976]

Why do "We the People" allow any of our history to be revised? Only the truth can set us free... Even when it is Ugly. Thanks for the knowledge.

[@JerryEricsson]

Having been born and raised in the area that was once Sioux reservation on the border of the Dakota's, I am quite familiar with the history. Our farm was once the location of a large encampment although we have no idea when, but my father had a huge collection of stone tools, arrow heads, war axe heads and hammers as well as flint knives and petrified bones, perhaps they were from prehistoric animals and not the Bison bones he thought when he found them. I was working on a local police department in 1973 during that uprising, just a few miles from our town a police officer was ambushed at a staged accident, when he walked down to the overturned car in the ditch, he was shot in the shoulder and hip, the shooters, all Indians fled the scene and joined up with the protesters at Pine Ridge. I was with the National Guard, we were at our summer camp, however it was being held at the local Armory, since I was a police officer, I was released from Army duty to take my place on the PD as we were short handed and there was heavy traffic on the highway through town, the only highway leading from Montana and Wyoming to the Pine Ridge area. I recall in my youth, there was a dispute over Sitting Bull's bones, they were stolen from one reservation and taken to another where they were buried then stolen again by the other, then again by the SD faction who buried him and poured a cement truck filled with concrete over his grave to preserve the bones so the thing was settled and so was Sitting Bull, now I believe his bones are just outside Mobridge South Dakota if memory serves. We now live 14 miles from where the bear attacked that fellow Hugh Glass back in the early days of our nation, and you can still see where the 7th Cav carved their logo in a cliff near a local lake made on the confluence of the North and South Grand River, flooded in the late 50's as a conservation program. Great place to camp and fish. We were required to read Boots and Saddles by Libby Custer in the 7th grade at the country school I attended north of town, a nice look at life in the 1870's on the plains of the Dakota Territory. My mom, now 94 told us tales of the Indians stopping at their farm in the 30's and demanding food (She still does not care for Indians but gets along with those in the nursing home), their farm was on deeded Reservation land, and the Indians were plenty-full, just south of our farm was the burial place of Chief Thunder Hawk, a friend of Sitting Bull, and war chief at the Little Big Horn. There is a small town still there although it is getting smaller every day, no businesses there any more but still some residents, that was our post office on the farm in the 1950's. I worked on a PD just north of Pine Ridge South Dakota back in the late 1970's and experienced the way the Indians back then lived, they would travel the highway between the Pine Ridge reservation and the Cheyenne River Reservations which went through our town. The men of the town were all Cowboys at heart, many still carried their colt's on their hips when they came in off the range in their 4WD Pickups. A few years ago, my wonderful wife of 51 years and 4 days (RIP) and I traveled to Montana and visited the Little Big Horn Battlefield, it was quite a shock to see all the land that it took place on, the grave stones placed where the troopers fell, and a large memorial over the mass grave gathered up by the company sent out to clean up the battlefield following the battle, one huge hole for the men, another for the horses. I hate the way the new revisionist historians are now teaching the Indian wars but I guess there is nothing I can do at my age, I thank God that I shall once again join my wonderful wife on that green-hill south of town soon, 70 years is long enough to suffer this world.

[@margaretwordnerd5210]

History is simpler when only the winners are allowed voices. Your sorrow and resentment sounds as painful as that suffered for the Lost Cause of the Confederacy.✌🖖

[@g4joe]

Could be worse. You could be in Gaza. Cheer up.

[@GasPipeJimmy]

@@margaretwordnerd5210 You would like one of those self hating White who only bleats for the plight of brown people, no matter how ridiculous they are.

[@paualadyproductions651]

There have been faults on both sides,you have seen alot,been through alot...good and bad men are across all cultures lines...

[@CerebrumMortum]

PLEASE make the "why the western genre was killed by historians" episode

[@IvorMektin1701]

"Skraelings!" A name I've not heard in a long time, a long time.

[@calebleland8390]

Before the dark times...Before the Empire...State Building.

[@calebleland8390]

@@NormanMStewart hey, they can't all be gold. 😉

[@hennoxxx]

And it means,...weakling. Not very nice.

[@stephenwright8824]

@@hennoxxx Screeching people, is the "meaning" I learned of it.

[@sedimaster]

I am friends with one of the main contributers of the music for the movie. He is Lakota

[@CynicalHistorian]

Thanks. Could you name him, so that I can add that to my pinned comment

[@sedimaster]

John Two-Hawks he has a whole slew of albums using his flutes

[@CynicalHistorian]

@@sedimaster Thanks, I'll add that to the errata

[@HeroHoundoom]

@sedimaster Could you by any chance know the song that One bull sings, when he leaves Sitting bulls camp? It's the scene where he calls Sitting bull a great leader of the Lakota and that there is no greater and tells his father to keep him in his prayers. I fell in love with that scene, when I first saw it.

[@johnkilmartin5101]

Assimilation didn't work out so well for the "Civilized Tribes". Really made a mockery of the idea i.e. developing your land into a prosperous farm just so it can be seized for someone else's use.

[@anubis2814]

KZbin hates monetizing education that makes a single person uncomfortable. Especially since its complex. pretty much everything I make gets demonotized.

[@fionafiona1146]

"this speaks to how sensitive of a subject it remains"

[@sara_sah-raezzat5086]

In Canada, we generally use the words "First Nations" unless referring to a specific nation or the Metis, where then you use that name. Not criticizing your way, just offering an alternative that FN people have asked for. At least they've asked for it here

[@saskcom2400]

I thought we called them Aborigines/Aboriginals in Canada

[@sara_sah-raezzat5086]

Herdan It’s interesting how words can mean such different things in a different context.

[@totallynotacarrot4369]

Ive seen many American Indians who are tired of the name changing, just pick a fucking name

[@johnpoole3871]

They call themselves Indians here so American Indians is therefore what I use.

[@kolinmartz]

Idk man. Could be problematic. The concept of nations and states are western ideas.

[@mikhailv67tv]

I grew up reading bury my heart at wounded knee so that story and those like it have been my canon all along. It reads much like the story of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and what little I've read of South America. From what I've read in 1975 there was pretty much a civil war going on on Pine Ridge between the AIM & Traditional Lakota verse the The then current chief and the Federal Government. It became violent with and eventually Federal Agents were shot dead. Great books to read such as in the Spirit of Crazy Horse.

[@majcorbin]

I read the book Bury my heart at wounded knee in the summer of 1970 after HS graduation before college. it burst my 1950's cowboys vs indian tv opinions it was the first time I felt ashamed of my country, but sadly not the last

[@terrancehanley8530]

I love how the Lakotah ignore driving other tribes from the region but complain the White Man drove them out. Lets ignore the Cheyenne, Crow, Arapaho, and Kiowa being there.

[@drewmoore365]

Well the WM (your words) genocide the Indigenous people 90% were killed. Then put children in boarding schools, restricted them of their language and culture ect ect.....but yea conflicts between tribes is the same thing right 😅😅 🤡

[@Ben-tb5di]

I'm taking a class on the History of North American Indians, and like you said, it just shows the complexity of this entire branch of history and the many perspectives in this area of history. What our professor says is actually really thought provoking: To the Indians, industrialized America and Europe were the New World, and the American Indians were in the Old World. This video reinforces how complex, yet important, this topic is. Sorry about the jeep, don't go crazy over these videos, and good job on this one!

[@JeffreyDeCristofaro]

You do a FAR greater service to YT and its users than YT itself. We'll keep supporting your efforts!!! YT, leave Cipher ALONE!!!

[@JustinWilson1984]

I really enjoy this channel. This is the only channel I have actually done patreon for. Keep up the good work.

[@charlestehuia9263]

The most moving experience that I ever had while reading anything on any subject was the book "Bury my heart at Wounded Knee" I am a Maori man of New Zealand and we also suffered land loss through confiscation by white European people from England who some of our tribes fought and some tribes joined the white men , but in the end we all suffered through the assimilation process of colonization and language loss , land loss , cultural practices destroyed. The similarities between ourselves and the American Indian peoples are the same , the impact has been alcoholism , prison , violence , gangs , poverty , victim mentality,poor health,short lives and every manifestations of insecurity that there is . I was so moved to tears while reading this book and came to the conclusion that we also experienced the same fate but on a much smaller scale in terms of land loss , language loss , culture loss but none the less of value by scale of the heart breaking similarities. I had to stop reading it because it was so harrowing , take a break , then start reading it again, it took me a long time too read it . My heart went out to the nation's of American Indian people for their suffering and loss and understanding , eventually I befriended some Lakota Indian people and shared their experiences with them through listening to them talk to me in person of the effects of living at Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota , USA , the truth was painfully clear , Their pain still remains so evident like ours in New Zealand is ... we are brothers an sister's .

[@byronconnell9288]

Being half Indian and half irish growing up my parents would argue who's people had been done worse. My mother always won with sentence " did they tell you do like us or we'll kill you" no they just threatened to send y'all back home.

[@benc6252]

Wtf are you talking about? Also why are your parents making peoples suffering into a competition?

[@The88Cheat]

@@benc6252 I suspect the story was made up.

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

Yup. We need that video on the death of the western.

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

Also, sorry about your troubles, man.

[@paulcarey1708]

I would argue the western, as a movie genre is NOT dead - the Coen Bros. alone have had 2 great ones within the last decade (the True Grit remake & Buster Scruggs). Perhaps only the John-Wayne-et-al-Depiction of "American Indians" (or First Nations or Aboriginals) in the western has died. Although Adam Sandler's hopelessly bad Ridiculous 6 did it's best to destroy the entire movie industry and take down westerns along with it! :^P

[@LadyTylerBioRodriguez]

Minor point but I'm happy you didnt call Custer a general. That annoys me everytime and people do it all the time.

[@sammosaurusrex]

Would be rly interested to see your take on “The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee,” a reply to / progression from the “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” book which emphasizes not how American Indian life was systematically destroyed, but how American Indians innovated survival strategies in the wake of such cataclysm and survived in the both pre and post Wounded Knee colonial order

[@CynicalHistorian]

Haven't read it yet, but it's on my shelf

[@theashennamedjerry3203]

Please make that episode. Sounds super interesting.

[@trainconductorlenin1616]

Having read Dee Brown's book I can definitely agree with you that it's a very one sided take on events. That being said it kind of made it a lot more entertaining of a read. Something I often find with older works of history in general is that they often have these polemical tirades in which the author really let's their opinion be known. Whilst I understand why historians shouldn't do that it definitely is a style I can't help but enjoy reading.

[@shannonhondo260]

I am close to buying the book but i have a question, how is it one sided? Its an honest question that may sway me from purchasing the book. Thank You in advance

[@jeffreycollins9705]

@@shannonhondo260 I read the book thirty years, and I remember it being extremely one sided in favor of select First Nation peoples.

[@jeffreycollins9705]

Sorry, I meant, "...read the book thirty years AGO..."

[@HeroHoundoom]

Jeffrey Collins Could you elaborate in short how it was one-sided in your opinion? In my view, though I haven't read the book, in summary I found most of the events being discussed were more traumatic and long-lasting for the indigenous peoples than it was for the whites. Of course when reading and researching history you should remain unbiased, but if the sources and material lead you to as you say a generally one-sided affair what does one do? You must be willing to accept that the indigenous peoples lost for more unfortunately due to their less advanced societal structure and most importantly weaponry.

[@shirineromankurth1633]

@@shannonhondo260 it is not, those reported events are facts. Buy it and make sure to read it all.

[@SunflowerSocialist]

I also found Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee to be a difficult read for the angry rhetoric, but I think that the purpose of that was because the book was meant to be reckoning for the American Public. But seeing that speech in the movie where the man (who I assume is grant, I have yet to see the movie) refers to the “Irish problem” made me think of my own research into Irish history, which veers pretty heavily into revision is and one of my professors accused my first draft of being “overtly Anglophobic”. The Assimilation of the Irish was a process that began not in America with the arrival of the Irish immigrants but in Ireland itself by the English. The Irish language was in the process of being eradicated in Ireland and Irish immigrants only lost their native tongue faster in America because it was not taught to subsequent generations (my great grandfather, who’s parents were immigrants, was the only son who never learned his parents native tongue), as the language was not used in the US at all. The Gaelic Irish were also classified as second class citizens in Ireland through the Penal laws, and even after catholic emancipation, they continued to live in what was effectively a state of serfdom until the land wars (which is why my great grandfather left Ireland). The Irish were in effect, able to assimilate into American society because they were already being forced to assimilate into English society in their homeland. With their language already on the verge of extinction in their homeland, the only thing that separated the Irish from the rest of American society was Catholicism, and that was effectively protected by the fact the Irish were able to use politics and became a major force within the Democratic Party and American politics more broadly. This is largely unrelated, but it’s just interesting and I really wanted to talk about it. History is awesome and I love getting to talk about it!

[@CynicalHistorian]

That's Dawes giving the speech. It is interesting to see the connection between Irish and Amerindian assimilation. Have you ever read Caleb Richardson? He's a professor of mine, and has written about the Fenian Brotherhood in the US during the time of their Raids into Canada. Fascinating look into how Irish-Americans' assimilation into America was hindering their ability to fight assimilation efforts of the British in the Old Country

[@SunflowerSocialist]

The Cynical Historian I’ve not read him, but his writings have come up rather frequently in the bibliographies of the sources I’ve used and in the search results in the library databases. It does sound like I’ll need to take a look at his work on the fenian raids though, it sounds interesting.

[@bear544]

I see the main mistake, besides the director's lack of preparation, in the fact that the film relies on Charles Eastman's account. But Eastman met Sitting Bull once, in 1884. Not long after Sitting Bull lost his daughter. He didn't spend much time with Sitting Bull, so he didn't have a chance to get to know the man better. Not the leader, but the man. And he ignores the account of Valentine McGillycuddy, who was present at the time of the massacre, he treated the wounded. He was the one who called on the army to immediately remove the Hotchkiss guns from Pine Ridge before trouble happened. He also knew Sitting Bull. Eastman himself relied on his account in his writing, misrepresenting many things despite the fact that the surviving family members told him in detail the story of Sitting Bull's murder and the details of the massacre at Wounded Knee. In addition, the director portrays Sitting Bull as much older than he was, and his physique is inaccurate, despite the fact that there were many photos of Sitting Bull. Furthermore, whether intentionally or not, he replaces Running Antelope with Red Cloud, whom Sitting Bull was indeed angry with for signing the Fort Laramie treaty, although the two remained respectful. Furthermore, he completely ignores Bill Cody's attempt to save Sitting Bull and persuade him to leave the reservation, which McLaughlin prevented. (And before anyone writes, no, it's not true that the police found Cody, Cody made it to Fort Yates, where he met McLaughlin face to face, who told him that Sitting Bull had surrendered.) The negotiation scene with Miles is also a slip of the tongue, it is the content of a letter that Sitting Bull wrote to Colonel Otis asking him to remove the soldiers from the Black Hills, ending his lines in a friendly tone ("I am your friend, Sitting Bull"). In fact, we do not know whether Otis replied to Sitting Bull, if so, what he wrote to him, or whether they met in person. He clearly met Miles, they negotiated with each other. Miles described the negotiation process with respect for his enemy. But he does not provide any information about the details of the negotiation, what was said at the negotiation. There could be more, but it would be too lengthy to discuss the intentional or unintentional mistakes that occur in the film. Nevertheless, it is perhaps the first film about which we can say that it approaches life on the reservation, the battle, and Sitting Bull's character from an Indian perspective.

[@jacobvardy]

I don't find Dee Brown's language grating. It is entirely justified.

[@angryowl5972]

I thought Dee Brown was quite restrained. Eurocentric, Abrahamo-supremacist history (ie present day history) has always treated cultural genocide with a severe lack of sensitivity since they've never been on the receiving end of it.

[@Sirharryflash82]

​@@angryowl5972Says the one willing to airbrush past the genocide perpetrated their own side. Stop acting blameless, there is plenty to go around. Genocide was happening on a mass scale in nort, central and south America before the Europeans arrived. My Grandmother was born on a reservation in Oklahoma and she felt this way.

[@HebaruSan]

CreatorsForChange? As in "You create, we pay you pocket change"?

[@stephenhanan8611]

Yes, please make a 'why the western genre was killed by historians' episode.

[@stephenwright8824]

29:45 "What they're trying to do ... is cut off our access to information itself. If they can't do it by law, they know there are other ways to do it." - Jello Biafra, 1991

[@simonpeter5032]

Didn't know it took guts to do an oil company's bidding and go against the people.

[@stephenwright8824]

The pipeline will be remembered as Stupid Hitler Trump's Autobahn.

[@Chriscaf24]

Is Amerindian used interchangeably with American Indian? Just wondering

[@CynicalHistorian]

Yeah, but Amerindian is only written, not spoken

[@lisaboyl-davis9188]

My only comment.. as a trauma therapist, it's the 'broken up old men' who are the movers and changes of our society. For him to have been through all he'd experienced, he'd have to have been a stone wall or some such thing to not have been shattered and traumatized. Some people become less than themselves after trauma, some become mosaics - stronger than before - resilient, driven, effective - I'm guessing this is the case for him.

[@jupitersscourge]

Your example at 19:40 is the writer trying to make you uncomfortable by showing how the colonization of the new world must've felt to the people being colonized. I feel like it had its intended effect on this occasion.

[@MiserableJosephson]

Major props on another superb effort here, Cypher. You consistently tackle the toughest, most potentially divisive subject matter, and do so in an even-handed way with intellectual Integrity. It's very disappointing to hear about the issues you're having with KZbin demonetizing your content, and I hope that they come to their senses soon. For those of us who are already loyal Patrons, is there anything else we can do to aid you in your dispute with KZbin? (I dunno, petitions, letter writing, phone calls, etc?) Whatever happens, just know there are a lot of people that have your back, and hope you're able to keep making your unique brand of insightful and thought-provoking videos for a long time.

[@CynicalHistorian]

Thanks. Somehow this one hasn't been demonetized yet. But I can't get over the Veterans History thing, dunno what else can be done on that one

[@stormy001]

Just go Patreon

[@dylantennant6594]

Believe it or not, in Canada I have actually scene a few history textbooks used the term skraeling, usually as a descriptor for the now extinct Beothuk. Although generally we refer to them as either First Nation, Indigenous or simply their nations name.

[@TheCassandraStryffe]

I am very, very grateful that you've covered this. I don't 100% agree with your opinions, and there were some crucial points to the assimilation policy that I feel you glossed over, though that's understandable. This is a long one! I have a slightly different view of most of this his than most people do. My grandmother was deeply, deeply ashamed of her Penobscot blood. She HATED 'Indians' and hated and denied that part of herself. But, she grew up in a time when people were still regularly spouting "kill the Indian, save the man" at her. Attitudes have changed quite a bit in just the last few decades. When I started my first day at new school (during the middle of the year) in grade 10 I walked into a history class and the teacher straight up said that Indians were lazy, pot-smoking savages. That would never fly now, less than 30 years later. I would still like to see more of American Indian history taught in school, but I still appreciate it whenever anyone covers it. And I think you did a great job here! :D

[@CynicalHistorian]

Thanks. Which pieces should I have covered in more depth? I think tribal termination deserves much more depth than I gave it here (leaving room for more exploration in a "death of the western" video), but yeah, just too much for this massive video

[@TheCassandraStryffe]

@@CynicalHistorian I don't know that you really could have covered much of anything more without turning into an hour long video. Some of the Elders have talked about WHY the hunting rights were taken away. I know it's been debated for a while, some people siding with the argument that whites were just greedy and wanted all the foods for themselves. Others tend to point out that entire tribes were relocated to faily barren places and then been given starvation rations. A lot of cultural traditions revolve around food. So what happens when you take away an entire nations ability to get food, to cook any food they DO manage to get in traditional ways? A lot of traditions are just plain lost. Most foods that people think of as traditionally belonging to other countries actually have their roots here. Vanilla for yummy French pastry. Tomatoes for Italian pasta, potatoes, squash. Most tribes were moved to locations were they didn't know the plants, or how to prepare the starvation rations they were issued by the government. (flour, lard and beans) Because food changed so drastically, so quickly, traditions had to change or die too. 3 day feast with very specific meals for a coming of age ceremony? Not happening. Funeral rites that required certain meals prepared in special ways? Not happening. Courtship gifts and birth rituals and religious ceremonies all either had to change or die as well. And it was all due to a such a drastic change in location and diet. A LOT of Elders think it was a deliberate way to kill the culture and "get rid of the problem" while humoring the humanitarians. And that's just ONE thing. I think if you had covered that it would have taken too much time. And if you had covered the VERY strict regulations about where and what American Indians could learn, and how they had to dress, behave and speak on top of that, the video would have turned into a series LOL And keep in mind these policies were still very much alive and enforced right up through the 1970s! So, I still think it was a great video! I know it's not your prefered area of study so I'm just happy that you did the video! :)

[@CynicalHistorian]

@@TheCassandraStryffe interestingly enough, the movie symbolically covered the confluence of rationing and tradition. I do avoid Amerindian history somewhat, but can't completely considering how deeply entwined with American violence it is, and that's my subject

[@TheCassandraStryffe]

@@CynicalHistorian I may have to watch it again. I had pretty much forgotten all of it until I watched this. Now I feel like I missed something in your video too lol. I'll leave it up in a tab to watch again after I've slept. I'm pretty brain-fried at the moment Thank you again though!

[@alasdairwatson712]

A very sincere thanks for the information about the correct terminology.

[@FGS-yk3vc]

I like the term Indigenous American

[@user-ok8yq6nc6x]

I like the term injun

[@Trazyn_the_Infinite_40K]

But they weren't indigenous to America.

[@cv4809]

I prefer skrealing

[@Sirharryflash82]

I don't.

[@timmiron5131]

I am not a first people I am white of French Canadian ancestors but I have a great respect for the people and am ashamed of what has happened to the first people we all need to apologize for the sins of our fathers

[@putnik1914]

Yes, I'd like to see that idea.

[@TrickiVicBB71]

Jabzy is a great KZbinr. Been following him for many years and been drawn into of his videos.

[@joro5748]

While I cannot always agree with you on details, I very much enjoy your work in general, and your entertaining, but still professional approach in particular.

[@plantguy3346]

Thanks!

[@CynicalHistorian]

And thank you!

[@lukecarlson4710]

I’d like to see a video about the Western genre’s demise.

[@maiidegeese5052]

I remember my white history teacher from high school telling me that context is always important, that events and people should always be looked at with the prevailing attitudes of the time in mind. That should be the case with "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee", there are a lot of critiques about it being heavily biased but they should bare in mind. Up to that point in US history (1970s) there were almost no counter arguments about American history with it's Indigenous peoples. Or at least, they weren't given as much support. This was the tail end of the Boarding School era. My relatives from that time tell me about how they were told about the great white men of American history but never about their own people. When they were taught about their own people it was done in a prejudiced manner. I know my aunts and uncles were introduced to John Wayne by the schools they were sent to. That was probably as close to Native American history class as they could expect then. Seeing movie Indians being shot off horseback in some battle scene.

[@oldgringo2001]

18:20 The clip is from *The Searchers* which is loosely based on the story of Cynthia Ann Parker, who was taken by Comanches as a child. She was "recovered" after a long search at about 34 years old, completely assimilated and a mother of three. Her oldest son was Quanah Parker, a man of some historical note, especially in Texas. James Michener also used Cynthia Ann Parker's story as a pattern for his Emma Larkin character in his novel *Texas*.

[@paulmentzer7658]

Cynthia Ann Parker was taken with her adult pregnant older sister and her brother. The older sister ended up staying with the Commaches for about four years and her father was able to get her returned to him from New Mexico. She lost her baby while being marched to Commache territory and wrote about her time with the Commaches. Her book is studied today for it is the only contemporary accounts of the Commaches of the 1840s. As to white women committing suicide rather then being raped, she called a ball face lie. After being pulled by horses through all types of throws, no woman would have the strength to kill herself to prevent rape. A few years after being returned to her father she died but she did write about her time with the Commaches. Her brother is also interesting. He was returned to his family as a young teensger but then ran back to the Commaches. While with the Commaches ran across a Mexican female taking her dead father back to his village. He was so smitten by her that he escorted her back to her village I'm Mexico and married her and, except for the US Civil War, lived with her to his death. The Brother did serve in the Southern Army during the Civil War and survived it. As to Cynthia Ann Parker, she lived with a male cousin for 16 years, till she received news of his death at Shiloh. She never recovered from that loss for he had been her maim support after she lived again with her family. Cynthia Ann Parker's son Qunna Parker after he had surrendered at the end of the Commache war of 1870, went to her grave and meet her (and his) white family members. They treated him with respect due to a Commache Chief. Interesting family, the Parker themselves had started out in New England in the 1600s and moved to Texas in the early 1800s. They were political opponents of Sam Houston but like Houston wanted people to move to Texas, thus why his eldest daughter wrote a book about her time with the Commaches and he wrote a book about why people in the mud 1800s should move to Texas.

[@conradoccaminha]

Why the western was killed by historians? o,o Interesting. I want to see that.

[@dazuk37]

The western was killed by the by the noble savage myth spread by cultural relativism that comes from Marxism and other kinds of post modernist philosophies.

[@lois7956]

I've been considering being a patron for a while because you are by far the best Historian on KZbin. Can't wait for dat early access!

[@complexaltruist]

there are plenty of natives that use native American and Indian interchangably

[@williammcgee4690]

I am one. Informally, I use Indian or Lakotas. In formal, educated, or touchy people, I use Native American. As a side note, we took pride in wearing Washington Redskin hats. I wish they kept the hat and changed the name. The Washington Iroquois, perhaps?

[@complexaltruist]

@@williammcgee4690 yeah naming can be complicated.

[@theguest1541]

I was at standing rock. I used to work with a tribal News paper outfit. we covered it extensively. the police are not on the people's side. we were attacked along with the protestors. dogs and mercenaries in the day time and fire hoses at night.

[@herkles1]

I would like to see that episode as to why Historians killed the Western Genre. :)

[@brettalizer3271]

the word India comes from the timil word for India Intiyāvil as far as i know Bharat is the Hindi name.

[@rundownthriftstore]

I thought the name India came from either the Indus River or from the word Hindi itself

[@khanimran1238]

@Herdan well done Hindustan just means land of Hindus Bharat is a sanscript word

[@jasonberry6647]

The Pentagon Wars is a based on a true story that I would like to see on this series.

[@c3920]

Sorry about the KZbin issues, keep making great videos!

[@TheHoagie13]

i Grew up HERE in Minnesota/"The Twin Cities", home of MST3K in Hopkins... Thank you Dad for getting me into that show!!!

[@TheHoagie13]

He was a big dude, with an even bigger HEART... He was 6FT-3IN, maxed out at 330LBS before Type2 Diabetes Kicked In! I'm 6FT, 300LBS but like Dad, I'm of a stocky build, who wears a size 13 shoe... I AM trying to shed the flab over my stocky muscular body... I used to bike from Cottage Grove Minn. to Prescott Wisc with my guitar+gear in tow!!!

[@parkerm1635]

i would love to see that video. I loved the western genre and it would be great if a youtuber could bring light to a subject that is hardly discussed

[@CynicalHistorian]

There's a pretty good video essay by the MOMA called "Did the Western Genre Die?" Which is a good video beginning, but Richard Slotkin's 1992 book is the best coverage thus far

[@parkerm1635]

@@CynicalHistorian oh really i will have to check it out

[@MatthewMoudy]

25:00 "good enough to be in classrooms" watched this my junior or senior year in history class

[@fcruz43215]

Interesting video. I read the novel in university back in '90. Hard book to digest. I have been considering re-reading it. In any case, I enjoyed the video. Cheers dude!

[@rangergxi]

Weird... I've had professors rage about "American Indian" and demand the term indigenous be used. In a casual conversation I pushed as to why and requested a definition for the term. Why are Hmong people indigenous and not Vietnamese? Why are Celts not called by that? After some pushing you realize they just use it for "primitive".... a weird sorta liberal racism.

[@CynicalHistorian]

I'd say using indigenous is meant for solidarity among colonized people. It gets weird quickly though. American Indian allows for specificity, whereas indigenous is location specific. Could say indigenous-american or indigene-american, but I don't think that'll catch on. Many Amerindians are wedded to terms like "Indian Country" and the AIM. Ultimately it should be their preference

[@shadymerchant1198]

@@CynicalHistorian canada uses the terminology "first nations" while the term "nation" is a recent development would it be a more accurate way to clarify them to avoid any confusion?

[@johncashrocks221]

I disagree, Browns work condemning Europeans and their descendants in North America is very much correct and entertaining.

[@johncashrocks221]

@Megalodon Unlocked Anglo-Americans largely were responsible yes. But Anglo-Saxons were technically european

[@stephenjenkins7971]

@@johncashrocks221 Only if you apply that same logic on American Indians and all non-European peoples. As they were all guilty of such horrors. Which is exactly why its so toxic. Its applying something that fits everyone onto a specific group.

[@5060northernmama]

Civil war seems to be how the Ashinabe ended up in northern AB then. This is not their trditional land anymore than it's the traditional land of early settlers who came by canoe. One has to wonder how the native people got into northern Alberta BEFORE the early settlers. Did they choose to come by river in late 1860's and 70's because others had come before to make it livable. Probably, heh? NObody chooses to live in Northern Alberta exactly. But because of the river and fur trade, decisions were made by crazy people to open up fur trade which caused the area to be desirable for native people to get some pocket money. When the seal trade was decimated by environmentalists in the far north, inuit figured out they just needed seal to survice. They had no money to buy anything else, but then they never did.

[@leeyahwehson2753]

Thank you friend for bringing truth to the surface. And yet the Caucasian will never be native American, but the decendent of English settler. We today must exist as one nation ignoring the bloody truth of to which this very state was build. It's imperative that we remember the true history before we look to make any promising future.

[@XuntosIzor]

Did historians ask the indigenous people what they want to be called in academia? A lot of them say they don't like being called Indian in any way, why does that not matter of

[@CynicalHistorian]

census bureau asks every decade, and the majority still prefer Indian

[@Digitalhdwmn]

You don't speak for us. 😡

[@JustSumGuy01]

@@Digitalhdwmn Well apparently the many tribes left have problems speaking for themselves.

[@O1993-f8u]

I wanna see an episode of what killed the western

[@dewittbourchier7169]

Watching these episodes it seems that a lot of the sins of American policy with the Indians are down to a hellish combination of well intentioned policies that are then not backed with nearly enough money and resources to make them work, and then by people who really, really, do not care one bit about the lives of the people and are looking to wring just a little bit more of profit out.

[@Tommy-5684]

i have herd increasing use of the Term Indigen for indigence peoples and wanderd your possition on the use of this particular word. bare in mind i have herd the term used not just in the North American context but for example in relation to CUP and Khamalist Turkey as well as Tsraist and soviet Russia in relation to Anatolia and the Caucasus regions.

[@CynicalHistorian]

Indigenous works, but refers to indigenous people everywhere, rather than American Indians specifically

[@Tommy-5684]

@@CynicalHistorian true very true though i guess it becomes obvious with context dose it not?

[@freddiecarr7602]

Nice to see the fulcrum is in the middle ( or here the illusion thereof).

[@drunkencowboi7934]

Damn dude stayed till the end and say your struggles, I wish the best of luck for you brah, I don’t have much but I’ll start liking at the end of the video. Just for you bo 😘

[@horrovac]

Right, let me get over to Patreon... Keep up the good work.

[@faerie5926]

There's another book that was sorta based off this book called The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee.

[@ripwednesdayadams]

I will never pay KZbin a cent due to the way they treat educational content creators. There are well known channels that only post about “drama” on the site frequently inciting online mobs against people who later turn out to be innocent of the accusations. KZbin not only keeps those videos monetized but promotes them constantly due to the money they rake in thanks to the millions of views. Hell even PraegerU videos are monetized and recommended by KZbin and we all know their content can hardly be considered educational. I hate that we are basically forced to use KZbin because no other video hosting site truly compares at this point. I appreciate everything that you do. I’m just waiting for my tax return to hit so I can give you a decent donation (although truly, you deserve much more). I wish you weren’t located across the country, I am desperate for friends who love history as much as I do.

[@mrp1924]

There’s a book, The History of the United States, written by Howard Zinn.

[@MarkHolzhauer_Holzy]

Thanks for the comment about "Native American".

[@hilairebelloc7815]

In the state i live in there is nocharge for medical care for american indians, but i have to pay. They lost the war but won the peace.

[@Reason1717]

Hey you got my vote, I did learn something. And I owe that to your effort. Thank you.

[@CosmoShidan]

For all their talk of property rights, if right-libertarians were consistent with their beliefs, they would speak of on Indigenous people's property rights, yet they do not.

[@robertgibson6687]

Individuals have rights, groups don't. Nuff said.

[@chuckhainsworth4801]

Aboriginal peoples tend to have different views of property ownership that modern Americans. Many nations use a matrilinear inheritance along clan lines. Now I don't know what your jab about "right-libertarians" is, not a thing in Canada, but speaking of property rights is handled by aboriginal group with the federal government acting as the bad guy.

[@stephenjenkins7971]

That really doesn't make any sense. Just because you believe in property rights, doesn't mean you will believe in returning lost land centuries ago.

[@CosmoShidan]

@@stephenjenkins7971 The Indigenious peoples of the Americas are still here, and their practices, customs, culture, and sovereignty are still here as well. So we who are uninvited guests are violating their collective property rights. It's best to return the land and start thinking about moving into Bernal space islands.

[@CosmoShidan]

@@robertgibson6687 Without groups there are no individuals, and the group tends to survive, while the rugged individual dies. Law of natural selection bucko.

[@NyndjaYT]

Just doing my due diligence and commenting that I'd love to get that video on how historians killed the western genre. Also, do you have a lot of back-logged video ideas? The reason I ask is because I always have a fear of pushing an idea I'd prefer on the back burner because I don't know about it. A comprehensive list of some sort of video ideas you have would be awesome.

[@CynicalHistorian]

I keep one, and it's a very long list

[@tbone6203]

Im retired marine from seneca- tuscorora nation i never thougt about race and such my father taught me good moral skills just common sense to treat others- - but when others speak ill will - it will fail

[@tbone6203]

This nation is being diveded by fools those who dont respect nor cherish themselves -put us all in a box

[@JustSumGuy01]

Day one of boot camp. "You are no longer white, black, yellow or red. You are green"

[@gallantcavalier3306]

Make the video of how the western genre was killed by historians please!!!

[@QuantumFiberServiceofficial]

It’s a sad state of the KZbin world when real history isn’t considered safe for advertising. Don’t be scared of the truth KZbin. I promise the viewers will be happy to watch these videos so you are just missing out in advertising opportunities

[@Beorthere]

First Nations, Indigenous Americans, Amerindians. I have heard many terms for the people who were here before us, but they seem to not really care what they are called as long as it is respectful.

[@guyguy7634]

Are there any books for people who aren’t experts of this subject in history but want to learn for themselves? the book you mentioned in the video seemed to be biased with that first so I’m not sure if it would be good for me to read in order to get an idea of the film. Also I really like your videos and I’ll probably contribute to your Patreon.

[@fremenchips]

This book only covers the Comanche, who ruled the southern half of the great plains but "Comanche empire" by Pekka Hämäläinen is a great general history.

[@CynicalHistorian]

For all of Amerindian history, I'd recommend the edited volume that is listed in the description. An especially good chapter in there was written by Donald Fixico. He just finished a tenure as the president of the Western Historical Association, and his final speech in San Antonio was what prompted me to read basically all of his stuff. It's a varied volume, so you can find something on just about anything you'd need to know, and where to start if you wanted to read more. That's the nice thing about those "companion to [X]" histories

[@dazuk37]

I have to say I was really impressed by your even talking about this subject. It is such a contentious issue driven more by politics than a lack of understanding of the real history. one of my ex's was an archaeologist specialising in Native American studies so it is an area I have had quite a bit of exposure to. While The book Bury my heart at wounded knee was an interesting book, it is very much viewed through a post modernist lens with a very strong feeling of cultural relativism throughout it. That said it is an interesting book even if it does rely more on emotion than actual facts. Like most popular books on history it tells an emotive story based around current cultural perceptions rather than an accurate portrayal of history.

[@jauthement]

I found the book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee to be extremely one-sided. I found The Earth is Weeping to be a more even keeled.

[@TheArcaneMaster]

Some would say that the genocide of indigenous people was extremely one-sided...

[@stephenjenkins7971]

@@TheArcaneMaster Some could say that the genocide of indigenous peoples by other indigenous peoples was extremely one-sided...

[@schmaltzythegolem4828]

Also: "A Century of Dishonor is a non-fiction book by Helen Hunt Jackson first published in 1881 that chronicled the experiences of Native Americans in the United States, focusing on injustices."

[@patrickblanchette4337]

Please make an episode on how historians killed the Western genre!

[@jaystreet46]

It makes me so angry when I hear about the way we treated the people who the country truly belonged to!!!

[@shadymerchant1198]

Land doesn't truly belong to anyone but the way we took this land was reprehensible

[@bilalhussein9730]

If you believe that then countries just shouldn't exist.

[@jaystreet46]

@@shadymerchant1198 of course land belongs to someone. Are you trying to say that I don’t own my land?

[@stephenjenkins7971]

@@jaystreet46 You missed their point entirely. Land belongs to nobody from the start. Humans made that distinction. Then they started taking it from each other. The people the US stole the land from themselves stole it from others.

[@Rednecknerd_rob9634]

"I want to make history." Ought to be on a shirt.

[@noahnescio1746]

Please do the "Why the Western died."

[@thurmanstevenson5692]

I’d like to see that episode

[@torbjornlekberg7756]

Thank you for making this.

[@kenster8270]

You could also use fancy academic words like indigenous American, aboriginal American or even autochtonous American, but those all include non-Indian groups in Hawaii and Alaska, too.

[@liamtahaney713]

I don't understand why we can't just call this demographic "indigenous Americans." Is there a reason for it??? Could someone actually enlighten me??? Thank you!!!!! Great great great video

[@CynicalHistorian]

That does work. Indigenous is just weird as a noun. It also doesn't have a history of usage, hence why folks tend to not use it. That would be a good tradition in terminology. That's not what people do yet, unfortunately

[@freedomsglory1]

In all reality Indians don’t care. Go to almost any Rez and no one cares. This is more of a outsider issue. Living on a Rez they have other issues that are more pressing.

[@matthewvelge1196]

The reasons why he choice it was because we cannot ignore or deny history

[@lukelee7967]

I live about 20 miles away from where the 1862 Dakota War ended. It's a very tiny park in the town of Montevideo MN that's called Camp Release. Almost nobody who lives in the area even knows what it is. There's an monument in the shape of an obelisk. Many people know it as "the big dick" instead of by it's real name.

[@nalzhaaaaaaay]

Damn that's really sad just specks volumes of cultural genocide

[@lukelee7967]

@@nalzhaaaaaaay Yeah, it really does

[@jalicea1650]

@@lukelee7967 Jesus Christ that's very depressing. Hope people begin learning why that obelisk is there.

[@lukelee7967]

@@jalicea1650 I'd like to hope so. But currently most people who know it's there, know it's there because it's where they meet to do drug deals.

[@dewittbourchier7169]

Thinking about John Ford movies they are remembered as classical westerns. But in many ways they were the first ones to subvert the genre. Mostly by alluding to the fact constantly that the Indians are not preternaturally violent, that if they are fighting it is because they have been aggressed or have grievances due to mistreatment. Meanwhile many of the Whites are shown as glory obsessed, narcissistic, greedy and short sighted. Fort Apache is a Ford movie where all of this comes together where if there is a villain in the film it is the corrupt Indian agent. Fort Apache and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence are both excellent films by Ford that subvert a lot of the stereotypes of the 'Western' indeed definitely since 'Shane' there was an acknowledged slow death of the Western starting with the direct allusion in the films that the hero has to die or become obsolete as his whole point, his whole journey is about creating a situation where he is no longer necessary - where normal boring life becomes established. Rather than being about rugged individualism, the Western more and more into the 1950s and 1960s becomes about a fight to create a situation where our characters can lead normal boring lives, most readily articulated in 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence.'

[@paulmentzer7658]

In John Ford's 'Drums Along the Mohawk" has the First Americans being hostile based on British leadership, not something the First Americans did on they own.

[@sampovillanen_2003]

Could you do a wars you've never heard of episode on the Bluff War of 1914-15 or just a general episode on the last native rebellions in the 20th century