A Century of Dishonor

"Cheating, robbing, breaking promises-these three are clearly things which must cease to be done, . . . One more thing, also, and that is the refusal of the protection of the law to the Indian's rights of property, "of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." -Helen Hunt Jackson, A Century of Dishonor A Century of Dishonor (1881) by Helen Hunt Jackson provides a description of how poorly the US government was treating Native American tribes in the nineteenth century and details the histories of seven of them: the Delaware, the Cheyenne, the Nez Perce, the Sioux, the Poncas, the Winnebago, and the Cherokee. More importantly, it is a call to action for the changes that were needed. To document her argument, Jackson combined government documents, firsthand accounts, and her own interpretation.