Opening with an extended description of Kiowas’ 1873 Sun Dance, the Introduction establishes two main arguments. First, expansion into Indian lands and encounters with Native peoples prompted Christian missionaries and reformers to cast themselves as “friends of the Indian” who could acquire land and achieve Indians’ cultural transformation through peaceful means. In bringing the Christian God to Indian Country, Protestants and Catholics obscured their role in violent and coercive expansion and constructed an image of themselves as benevolent believers imparting life-saving gifts. Second, Kiowas relied on their cultural practices, including rites for engaging sacred power, to respond to American efforts to reduce their lands, change their way of living, and break their tribal bonds. They continued and adapted older practices, as well as experimented with new ritual options and potential power sources. For Kiowas, “gods” both old and new were central to their struggle to survive and flourish as Americans invaded Indian Country.
THE ARAPAHO SUN DANCE.
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