Black Coyote Character Analysis

Unfortunate Sioux man whose age, confusion, and deafness may accidentally have sparked the Wounded Knee Massacre (although it’s possible that Black Coyote was a scapegoat). After U.S. soldiers marched Black Coyote and his fellow Sioux to the Wounded Knee Creek, they ordered the Sioux to surrender all weapons. Black Coyote began waving his rifle, though it’s unlikely that he was trying to shoot American troops: mostly likely, he was confused and was simply grumbling about having paid a lot of money for his weapon. Brown suggests that Black Coyote’s supposed “act of aggression” was just a flimsy alibi for what followed: the U.S. army proceeded to murder hundreds of innocent Sioux men, women, and children.