American Indian Culture and Research Journal

Douglas C. Jones (1924–1998) stands out among Western novelists for his multicultural text and dialogic perspective. In Arrest Sitting Bull (1977) and its sequel, A Creek Called Wounded Knee (1978), he presents colonial issues, such as the removal of the Native American, from various ethnic points of view. Jones’s work is far more realistic than romantic, although overtones of the latter movement are apparent in how he portrays the past. His characters are not idealized noble savages or heroes; they are individuals with strong personal qualities who endure in the face of overwhelming circumstances. The novels often include ethnic hybrids—persons who symbolize points of ethnic encounter and embody hope for the future. In these respects, Jones views the frontier’s clash of cultures with a fresh, multidimensional perspective that neither condescends nor ridicules. He presents history with commendable accuracy and explores why ethnic conflict exists and how such confrontations reflect a general pattern of historical struggle. Although not a student of literary approaches or Foucauldian criticism, Jones illustrates the ways in which colonizing tactics operate: Arrest Sitting Bull demonstrates how one dominant ethnic group can establish and maintain control over the subaltern. The text reveals the author’s views on the victimization of the Lakota by the colonial process, particularly by the killing of the Sioux leader Sitting Bull. Arrest Sitting Bull, in effect, provides a case study in the operations of colonization. The novel also considers the human side of events surrounding the death of Sitting Bull, including both personal relationships among Anglo and Native Americans and more formal relationships between politicians, the army, and the agency. Native and Anglo cultures may be presented as incompatible at this time, but Jones’s treatment of the volatile situation provides a mediating perspective, one that attempts to understand what went wrong. His account of events in this literary history expands ordi-