Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
by Dee Brown

or to save your progress

Santee chief who led a failed uprising against the U.S. government in the 1860s. Little Crow is notable for having initially supported peace with the United States; however, he declared war after his people called him a coward and pressured him into proving his strength. A weak and at times incompetent leader who failed to maintain control over his followers, Little Crow won few victories against American troops and was later forced to flee into Canada with his remaining followers. He later returned to the U.S. and surrendered to the United States. Little Crow’s career as Santee chief is of particular importance in Native American history because it partly inspired Sitting Bull to take up arms against the United States instead of pursuing peaceful means of negotiation.

Little Crow Quotes in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

The Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee quotes below are all either spoken by Little Crow or refer to Little Crow. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Genocide Theme Icon
).

Chapter 3 Quotes

Little Crow rejected their arguments. The white men were too powerful, he said. Yet he admitted the settlers would exact bitter vengeance because women had been killed. Little Crow’s son, who was present, said later that his father's face grew haggard and great beads of sweat stood out on his forehead.

Related Characters: Little Crow
Page Number and Citation: 43
Explanation and Analysis:
In Chapter Three, Brown discusses Little Crow, the chief of the Santee tribe. Little Crow found his people becoming increasingly unruly as white settlers encroached on their territory. Furthermore, the U.S. government sent representatives to force the Santee tribe to ratify deceptive treaties that forced them to leave their lands forever. In short, Little Crow—like so many other Native American leaders of the era—found himself between a rock and a hard place. He wanted to appease his people and take care of them, but he also wanted to maintain peace with the United States. Unlike other chiefs of the era, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. V
Get the entire Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee PDF

Little Crow Character Timeline in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

The timeline below shows where the character Little Crow appears in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3: Little Crow’s War
Genocide Theme Icon
Law and Property Theme Icon
In 1862, a Santee chief named Little Crow began to organize his people. Little Crow, an elderly man, had signed both of the... (full context)
Genocide Theme Icon
Law and Property Theme Icon
Resistance and Violence Theme Icon
Little Crow blamed himself for his people’s suffering. One night, Santee tribesmen came to Little Crow, informing... (full context)
Resistance and Violence Theme Icon
Little Crow organized a raid on a U.S. government agency. The raid resulted in the deaths of... (full context)
Law and Property Theme Icon
Resistance and Violence Theme Icon
...neighboring branches of the Sioux tribe, including the Wahpeton and the Sisseton, arrived to join Little Crow . The next day, he led a second raid on Fort Ridgley. This time, Little... (full context)
Genocide Theme Icon
Resistance and Violence Theme Icon
On September 1, Little Crow proposed a raid on the private army of Colonel Henry H. Sibley, a fur trader.... (full context)
Genocide Theme Icon
Resistance and Violence Theme Icon
Shortly afterwards, Sibley sent Little Crow an offer to negotiate, provided that Little Crow return all prisoners of war. Little Crow... (full context)
Genocide Theme Icon
Resistance and Violence Theme Icon
On September 22, Little Crow began planning a raid on Sibley’s army at Wood Lake. In the morning, his men... (full context)
Law and Property Theme Icon
Resistance and Violence Theme Icon
Little Crow led his remaining followers into Canada. By June, however, he’d decided to return to Minnesota... (full context)
Law and Property Theme Icon
In December 1863, U.S. troops crossed the Canadian border in search of Little Crow ’s remaining men. There, they found the men under the command of two of Little... (full context)