Metaphor for power
One of the big differences between the Indians and the Americans was the fact that the Americans were better supplied that the Indians. While the Indians were forced to fight using medieval tools such as arrows and stones, the soldiers had guns that were powerful and could kill a man from a distance. Because of this, almost every time, the Indians lost the battles against the Americans. When the Indians took hold of guns, the situation changed and the soldiers became scared of the Indians that became able of hurting them as well. It became thus necessary for the Americans to have better guns that the Indians in order to subdue them. It is easy thus to assume that for the people living in the late 19th century, the guns were seen as a metaphor for power.
Hunt them like wolves
In the fifth chapter, the history of another Indian tribe is presented and also the way the US troops reacted to them. The soldiers were told to hunt the Indians like they would hunt wolves, killing them on sight. The comparison between the soldiers and wolves has the purpose of highlighting the idea that the US military did not perceived the Native Americans as being humans. Instead, they were seen as being savages that had to be killed in order to protect the rest of the world.
The iron horse
Little Wound and Pawnee Killer compared the railroads in the sixth chapter with an iron horse, highlighting the idea that they were separated from the modern world. For them, the railroads had no use and they could not understand why the Americans would go to such lengths to kick them out of their lands. By comparing the railroads to something that was familiar to them, the Indians tried to make sense of the world foreign to them.
Killing the buffalo
In an attempt to force the Indian tribes to submit, the US soldiers began killing the buffalo the Indians have been hunting for food. For them, killing buffaloes was more than just providing food, but a way of life. By killing the buffaloes and by forcing the Indians to resort to agriculture, the soldiers made sure that in a metaphorical way, the Indian’s way of life and culture was dead. By forcing them to remain in a single place, the soldiers were stripping the Indians out of their identity and forcing them to submit to a lifestyle that was not theirs.
Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee was the name given to the place where one of the great last Indian leaders, Crazy Horse, was killed and buried. The book is named after that particular place and Wounded Knee is also among the central metaphors in the book. After Crazy Horse’s death, the Indians no longer had a powerful leader to guide them and inspire them. Thus, Wounded Knee is used here as a metaphor to suggest the end of the great Tribes, the death of their powerful leaders and the beginning of a new era for the Indians who instead of being hunters, became agriculturally based, forced to live on various reservations.
