Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto was written in 1969 by Vine Deloria Jr., a historian, theologian, activist, and member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. The work explores the oppression and exploitation of Native people in the United States, outlines the history of Indian resistance, and recommends a course of action for modern Indigenous people. Extremely influential in the 1960s and 1970s Native American Movement, Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto remains a key text in Native American studies and Native activist communities.

This guide refers to the University of Oklahoma 1988 edition.

Content Warning: Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto contains in-depth discussion and analysis of crimes against Indigenous Americans. The book contains some outdated terms. This language is avoided throughout this guide except in direct quotes and where the currently preferred language may cause confusion (such as using English names for tribes, rather than the original Indigenous names).

Summary

The first half of the book explores various ways in which white America has attempted to erase Indigenous culture, both in the past and up to the time of the book’s publication. Deloria devotes an entire chapter to the Indian termination policy of the 1940s and 1950s, which attempted both to eliminate what little support the tribes received from the Federal government and to complete the work of “assimilating” Native people. Deloria points out that assimilation has been the unspoken agenda of the federal government throughout American history.

In two essays, Deloria focuses on the role of anthropologists and missionaries, two white groups that he portrays as false “friends” to Indigenous Americans. He argues that Native people should cease cooperating with anthropologists and that anthropologists should become more aware of their impact on their human research subjects. Deloria sees missionaries as similarly self-serving, and he argues that in place of cooperation with missionaries, Native communities should advocate a return to traditional religion and an expansion of the Native American Church. The first half of the book closes with an examination of federal government agencies created to manage “Indian affairs,” arguing that their ultimate goal is to destroy Indian culture.

The second half of the book examines ways in which Indigenous Americans have resisted white America’s attempts to suppress Native culture. In the book’s most famous essay, “Indian Humor,” Deloria examines the self-deprecation and irony that he sees as defining Native humor. He argues that this kind of oblique joking is an essential component of Native tribal society because it allows critique without direct confrontation. He argues that humor has been a key survival strategy for Native people, providing them with a relatively safe outlet for the rage and frustration connected to their interactions with white society.

“The Red and the Black” analyzes the differences between the political situations of Native and African Americans, suggesting ways in which the struggle for Native rights can imitate the civil rights movement and ways in which it must differ if it is to be successful. Deloria notes that while the history of Black America is one of exclusion, the history of Native America is one of forced inclusion. He traces this difference to the whites’ desire to appropriate Native land and other resources.

The next chapter focuses on the concept of leadership in Native culture. Pointing out that leadership functions very differently in Native and white societies, he traces the historical and social reasons for the difference. He argues that the Native approach to leadership has sometimes caused problems for Native resistance. The next chapter turns to a practical recommendation for the future, calling for a redefinition of “Indian affairs.” In the final chapter, Deloria steps to the fore to explain his motives in writing the book. Noting that he expects a backlash, he sets out his hope for a successful Native rights movement.

Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto was Deloria’s first and most well-known book. The book catalyzed the Native rights movement and put Deloria at the forefront of Indigenous Americans’ cultural and political struggle. He would go on to publish over 20 others, including Red Earth, White Lies, which attempts to dismantle the widely accepted idea that Indigenous Americans entered the continent via the Bering land bridge.