Even these days, there are arguments about how the human species originated and who started the history of humankind. David Treuer, in his “The Heart of Wounded Knee,” argues about the history of the New World and who were the first people to settle in the New World. Treuer managed to vividly describe the life of the first people in the New World and their struggles to fight for their homeland.
David Treuer suggests that the history of the New World did not originate with any occupants because it had already been going on here, started by Indian people many years before. To support his argument, Treuer describes the lives of Indian tribes across the land. He tells about the Hohokam people and the water canals in their settlements in the Southwest. He talks about areas in California that were settled more densely than most areas in Europe. He describes Indian people in the Great Basin who, unlike those in the Southwest, were highly nomadic. And then, Treuer describes how all those people fought for their homeland against Spanish occupants.
The impression I got upon reading The Heart of Wounded Knee is filled with unfairness toward the Indian tribes. Treuer talks about the people who had been living in the New World for years, who had built cities, developed cultures, and were persecuted and tortured in their homes. While I have not indicated any significant weaknesses in the chapter, the main strength of it, in my opinion, is the detailed description of the number of people. For example, the fact that only in California there were “more than five hundred distinct tribes” broadened the whole picture from thinking that there were just small groups of people here and there. Treuer also persuades his research more by graphically describing the landscapes of each area and how the people managed to inhabit them.
To summarize, David Treuer has described the features of Indian people’s lives, the areas they lived in, and their activities. He then analyzed how the Spanish started occupations in each area and what the locals had to do to protect their homeland. The topic is important in understanding American history from the perspective of its native people who had been living and developing their cultures here for years before the occupation from overseas.