The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee

Native America from 1890 to the Present

By: David Treuer

Narrated by: Tanis Parenteau

Length: 17 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Finalist for the 2019 National Book Award

Longlisted for the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence

A New York Times best seller

Named a best book of 2019 by The New York Times, Time, The Washington Post, NPR, Hudson Booksellers, The New York Public Library, The Dallas Morning News, and Library Journal.

"Chapter after chapter, it's like one shattered myth after another." (NPR)

"An informed, moving and kaleidoscopic portrait... Treuer's powerful book suggests the need for soul-searching about the meanings of American history and the stories we tell ourselves about this nation's past.." (New York Times Book Review, front page)

A sweeping history - and counter-narrative - of Native American life from the Wounded Knee massacre to the present.

The received idea of Native American history - as promulgated by books like Dee Brown's mega-bestselling 1970 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee - has been that American Indian history essentially ended with the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee. Not only did 150 Sioux die at the hands of the US Cavalry, the sense was, but Native civilization did as well.

Growing up Ojibwe on a reservation in Minnesota, training as an anthropologist, and researching Native life past and present for his nonfiction and novels, David Treuer has uncovered a different narrative. Because they did not disappear - and not despite but rather because of their intense struggles to preserve their language, their traditions, their families, and their very existence - the story of American Indians since the end of the 19th century to the present is one of unprecedented resourcefulness and reinvention.

In The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, Treuer melds history with reportage and memoir. Tracing the tribes' distinctive cultures from first contact, he explores how the depredations of each era spawned new modes of survival. The devastating seizures of land gave rise to increasingly sophisticated legal and political maneuvering that put the lie to the myth that Indians don't know or care about property. The forced assimilation of their children at government-run boarding schools incubated a unifying Native identity. Conscription in the US military and the pull of urban life brought Indians into the mainstream and modern times, even as it steered the emerging shape of self-rule and spawned a new generation of resistance. The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee is the essential, intimate story of a resilient people in a transformative era.

©2019 David Treuer (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

As featured on NPR's Weekend Edition and Amanpour & Company

"An informed, moving and kaleidoscopic portrait of ‘Indian survival, resilience, adaptability, pride and place in modern life.’ Rarely has a single volume in Native American history attempted such comprehensiveness.... Ultimately, Treuer’s powerful book suggests the need for soul-searching about the meanings of American history and the stories we tell ourselves about this nation’s past." (New York Times Book Review)

"In a marvel of research and storytelling, an Ojibwe writer traces the dawning of a new resistance movement born of deep pride and a reverence for tradition. Treuer’s chronicle of rebellion and resilience is a manifesto and rallying cry." (O: The Oprah Magazine)

"Part of the magic of this book stems from Treuer’s ability to move seamlessly back and forth from the Big Indian Story to the voices of living Indians explaining to us, and to themselves, what it means to be Indian, American, and both at the same time...open[ing] a window on the contemporary Indian world, in its dazzling variety, and infus[ing] the book with a kind of vividness and punch rarely found in narrative histories.... It’s hard to imagine there will be a better, more compelling look at Indian country than this one anytime soon." (The Daily Beast)

Inspiring story of Native People

This book does a great job of telling the story of Native American history as well as the Native American present. I am a history teacher, and I found this book to be a meaningful addition to my US history curriculum. But it is also just a well written history of Native peoples generally that can be enjoyed by anyone.

An education

I came away with information I didn't know I lacked, as well as respect and hope.

💓

required reading for all Americans. David gives a beautiful encounter with the "heartbeat" of Native Americans

An essential part of US history

Loved the interweaving of personal and historical fact and the reader did a great job of conveying the power and the joys of this story.

The Beat Goes On...The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee

I will listen to the book again and pass it on to others. I plan to buy the print version for my grandsons. The narrator’s beautiful voice, its tone and cadence, makes the stories glorious and grim come alive for the listener. Aside from that this storyteller imparts history from a different vantage point that all Americans should hear and read. I was engaged and moved by this book. I hope you will be as well.

Necessary reading

This is an excellent history of the past and present. Highly recommend to all, especially those indoctrinated in the US propaganda machine.

Excellent Book

This book provided an in-depth look into the history of Native Americans, and their hardships and successes. I thought I knew about the challenges faced by Native Americans, but this book gave me so much more knowledge. At times, it was hard to hear examples of brutally imposed upon Native Americans, but it really helped to reinforce the realism of our history, present, and future. I enjoyed the narration.

Fantastic and important book

Filled with stories that stay with you and broaden your understanding of the Native America experience since 1890. What’s stands out are the rich and unforgettable micro-biographies of today’s Native Americans. The performance by Tanis Parenteau is energetic and alive. Highly recommend.

Well worth the listen

I enjoy hearing people’s stories. There are lots of those here. But there is a horrifying history that, of course, we were never taught. This book is a necessary summation of what was done to indigenous people.

Not a story of survival but one of flourishing

Being of mixed blood, raised in a city without a tribal connection this was informative and enlightening. It educated me with even more knowledge of the insidious atrocities inflicted upon the indigenous peoples. However, as horrible as the past has been, it also inspired me. The journey is one of endurance, adaptability, strength and once again finding & nourishing the roots needed to thrive.