Can the existence of the United States be understood without talking about genocide? How much indigenous blood did it take to baptize the land of the free and the home of the brave? How did its governments manage to legitimize the colonization of the West while condemning European imperialism? Were bullets their most powerful weapon? How did the different tribes face the threat of their disappearance? In the wake of the literature of Poe and Walt Whitman, Hollywood cinema has more than shaped the world's collective imagination by turning a terrifying episode of annihilation and barbarism into one of heroism and sacrifice for the sake of progress. But what is the truth of the story? Beyond cowboys and Sioux, Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull, bounty hunter posters and poker games, the Wild West is a dark story of subjugation, abuse and systematic extermination of entire native peoples under the Protestant premise of a manifest destiny. The White House disguised as a civilizing war a real strategy to ensure its expansion through the total eradication of those who inhabited those lands. Immerse yourself in this mind-blowing study that sets out to demystify with facts the sweetened conquest of the West and offer an accurate picture of it. Enter the Black Hills and witness the massacres of Sand Creek or Wounded Knee. Meet the Lakota, Cheyene, Kiowa or Pawnee and explore the differences that led them to fatally clash with each other, paving the way for the settlers. Hear Black Hawk and Red Cloud, President Jackson and General Custer speak. Access the laws and events that laid the foundation for a fully westernized, nationless America. Discover what has become of the survivors, what remains of their ancestral cultures.
