"This volume presents an overview of the history of the Plains Sioux as they became increasingly subject to the power of the United States in the 1800s. Many aspects of this story - the Oregon Trail, military clashes, the deaths of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, and the Ghost Dance - are well-known. Besides providing fresh insights into familiar events, the book offers an in-depth look at many lesser-known facets of Sioux history and culture. Drawing on theories of colonialism, the book shows how the Sioux creatively responded to the challenges of U.S. expansion and domination, while at the same time revealing how U.S. power increasingly limited the autonomy of Sioux communities as the century came to a close. The concluding chapters of the book offer a reinterpretation of the events that led to the Wounded Knee massacre of December 29, 1890."--BOOK JACKET.

"Vilest miscreants of the savage race" : the Plains Sioux in an empire of liberty -- "Futile efforts to subjugate them" : failures of conquest -- "Doubtless an unauthorized promise" : the politics of the Great Sioux war -- "Force is the only thing" : the killing of Crazy Horse -- "We were raised in this country" : claiming place -- "I work so much it makes me poor" : the reservation economy -- "Just as well with my hair on" : colonial education -- "All men are different" : the politics of religion and culture -- "Great trouble and bad feeling" : government agents and Sioux leaders -- "Enough to crush us down" : struggles for land -- "When the earth shakes, do not be afraid" : the ghost dance as an anticolonial movement -- "To bring my people back into the hoop" : the development of the Lakota ghost dance -- "The most serious Indian war of our history" : the army's invasion -- "If he fights, destroy him" : the road to Wounded Knee -- "A valley of death" : Wounded Knee.