Custer on Canvas: Representing Indians, Memory, and Violence in the New West

The 1876 events known as Custer’s Last Stand, Battle of Little Big Horn, or Battle of Greasy Grass have been represented over 1000 times in various artistic media, from paintings to sculpture to fast food giveaways. Norman Denzin shows how these representations demonstrate the changing perceptions—often racist—of Native America by the majority culture, juxtaposed against very different readings shown in works composed by Native American artists. Consisting of autobiographical reminiscences, historical description, artistic representations, staged readings, and snippets of documents, this multilayered performance ethnography examines questions of memory, race, and violence against Native America, as symbolized by the changing interpretations of General Custer and his final battle.

Table of Contents:
Chapter One: A Good Day to Die: The Battle of Many Names, Part One Chapter Two: Whose Last Stand: The Early Paintings Chapter Three: A Brewery Buys a Painting: Aneheuser-Bush and Cassilly Adams Chapter Four: Whose Custer? Chapter Five: Killing Custer: Reading Red Horse Chapter Six: Here Custer Fell Chapter Seven: Custer, Cody, Sitting Bull, and Wild West Shows Chapter Eight: Buffalo Bill's Museum, Custer and Western Art Chapter Nine: Art, Robber Barons and the New West Chapter Ten: The Last Rodeo Notes References Index About the Author

About the Author :
Norman K. Denzin is Distinguished Professor of Communications, College of Communications Scholar, and Research Professor of Communications, Sociology, and Humanities at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Review :
"A useful, informative experiment in the methodology of presenting multiple perspectives on a contested topic. Folklorists will be interested in how Denzin has attempted to attend to a variety of opinions, including those of folklorists... I believe this is an important book not only for our understanding of 'Custer's Last Stand' but also for our more general appreciation of the presentation of Indian-white relations in expressive culture."--William M. Clements, Journal of Folklore Research "His goal is to shed light on the politics of representation by examining an iconic set of White men's paintings of Custer's Last Stand" and to provide a parallel examination of little-known Native American representations of the battle... Denzin's book is a must-read for those interested in (even if critical of) performance ethnography. He has given us a fine example of this particular methodology and writing style. The book can also be used in a large number of potential courses--from cultural anthropology and sociological theory/methods to Native American and cultural studies."--Symbolic Interaction "This thematic collection exploring Last Stand paintings by white and First Nations artists... argues that these paintings are performative. More than novels, poems, or motion pictures, they are "mythical restagings, performances that say the U.S. military did not lose" and that "reproduce racist discourses about Native Americans." Denzin's own use of performance puts the work of these paintings under scrutiny, renders the West as a performance, and lets him imagine a "meta-museum" that is critical and reflexive about its own displays rather than adding to the repackaging and repurposing of the West for tourist consumption."--Great Plains Quarterly