I think I'll have to agree with Paul when he said that of course the book centers around war and killings. First of all, Red Cloud was daily sitting down with Deon and telling stories of his life, without a clue that Deon was turning around and writing down the stories with the purpose of publishing a book. Think about it, what kind of stories do people tell today when they're just chillin? Picture a big group of people. The person in the center of attention isnt going to tell about their trip to Publix or about how they did their laundry that day. That person is going to tell funny stories, adventerous stories, romantic stories. And two, Deon and Allen were trying to record what would sell. Remember how Allen sent the manuscript off to publisher after publisher, but they wouldnt publish it because it "dealt little with events deemed important to the winning of the West" (16) (more on this later!)? This means that even if Red Cloud had told about how he painted his plate with tribal patterns, Allen wouldnt have included it because he was looking for the $ale. And what sells? barbarians and killings! Think about movies today.... what would Braveheart be without a single battle? Imagine going to a movie and watching Indians paint pottery and washing their clothes in the river. Combined with what sells and what Red Cloud the warrior was most likely to talk about, is the white American hatrid of Native Americans, which is definitely a large reason that Native Americans are depicted as nothing but barbarians and warriors in The Autobiography of Red Cloud.
Something else that struck me as I was reading the Introduction is what is not covered in the book. Like I said before, publishers wouldnt publish the book because it did not cover the events of Red Cloud defeating the United States. Why is Red Cloud famous? Because he was "the only Indian leader to win a war against the United States" (6). The single greatest incident in his life, according to whites, is not included in Red Clouds autobiography. He talked easily about his wins over other tribes, yet refuses to talk about fighting the whites. Does this mean that Red Cloud was not proud of his victory over the whites?