Each year with the changing of the season I post this rememberance of Wounded Knee 73. I wrote it a few years ago when some of our brave people had walked to Yellowstone to stop the slaughter of our Buffalo relations. When I did I was surprised at the response from people who were too young to remember WK'73 and I was pleased that some old WK vets wrote to me afterwards. So each year on this date I post the short story again and invite you-all to send it around or use as you will.
As you do I ask you to remember that our reasons for going to Wounded Knee still exist and that means the need for struggle and resistance also still exist. Our land and sacred sites are threatened as never before even our sacred Mother herself is faced with unnatural warming caused by extreme greed.
In some areas of conflict between our people and those we signed treaties with, it is best to negotiate or "work within the system" but, because our struggle is one of survival, there are also times when a warrior must stand fast even at the risk of one's life. I believed that in 1973 when I was thirty and I believe it today in my sixties. But to me Wounded Knee 73 was really not about the fight , it was about the strong statement that our traditional way of living in this world is not about to disappear and our people are not a "vanishing race" as wasicu education would have you believe. As time has passed and I see so many of our young people taking part in a traditional way of living and believing I know our fight was worth it and those we lost for our movement died worthy deaths.
Carter Camp 2010
"Remembering Wounded Knee 1973"
Ah-ho My Relations,
Today is heavy with prayer and reminisces for me. Not only are those who walk for the Yellowstone Buffalo reaching their destination, today is the anniversary of the night when, at the direction of the Oglala Chiefs, I went with a special squad of warriors to liberate Wounded Knee in advance of the main AIM caravan.
For security reasons the people had been told everyone was going to a meeting/wacipi in Porcupine, the road goes through Wounded Knee. When the People arrived at the Trading Post we had already set up a perimeter, taken eleven hostages, run the B.I.A. cops out of town, cut most phone lines, and began 73 days of the best, most free time of my life. The honor of being chosen to go first still lives strong in my heart.
That night we had no idea what fate awaited us. It was a cold night with not much moonlight and I clearly remember the nervous anticipation I felt as we drove the back-way from Oglala into Wounded Knee. The Chiefs had tasked me with a mission and we were sworn to succeed, of that I was sure, but I couldn't help wondering if we were prepared. The FBI, BIA and Marshalls had fortified Pine Ridge with machine gun bunkers and A.P.C.s with M-60's. They had unleashed the goon squad on the people and a reign of terror had begun, we knew we had to fight but we could not fight on wasicu terms. We were lightly armed and dependent on the weapons and ammo inside the Wounded Knee trading post, I worried that we would not get to them before the shooting started.
As we stared silently into the darkness driving into the hamlet I tried to forsee what opposition we would encounter and how to neutralize it... We were approaching a sacred place and each of us knew it. We could feel it deep inside. As a warrior leading warriors I humbly prayed to Wakonda for the lives of all and the wisdom to do things right. Never before or since have I offered my tobacco with such a plea nor put on my feathers with such purpose. It was the birth of the Independent Oglala Nation.
Things went well for us that night, we accomplished our task without loss of life. Then, in the cold darkness as we waited for Dennis and Russ to bring in the caravan (or for the fight to start), I stood on the bank of the shallow ravine where our people had been murdered by Custers' 7th Cavalry. There I prayed for the defenseless ones, torn apart by Hotchkiss cannon and trampled under hooves of steel by drunken wasicu. I could feel the touch of their spirits as I eased quietly into the gully and stood silently... waiting for my future, touching my past.
Finally, I bent over and picked a sprig of sage - whose ancestors in 1890 had been nourished by the blood of Red babies, ripped from their mothers dying grasp and bayonetted by the evil ones. As I washed myself with that sacred herb I became cold in my determination and cleansed of fear. I looked for Big Foot and YellowBird in the darkness and I said aloud --- "We are back my relations, we are home". Hoka-Hey
PINE RIDGE -- Oglala Sioux Tribe President Theresa Two Bulls will declare a suicide state of emergency for Pine Ridge Indian Reservation during a news conference at 1 p.m. today.
I want to share a personal story, because I hope people contacting the White House will save lives by giving hope. How many, I don't know. I wouldn't share it unless I thought it would be helpful to others. Suffice it to say, hope through someone to talk to would've been the difference between a 20 gauge shotgun to my head or not at 17.
I was 17 years old and my codependence combined with normal adolescent neurosis and feelings of abandonment left me feeling absolutely hopeless. I was raised in a good family and we had a good house, but New Years Eve of '87 found me calling suicide hotlines - but nobody answered.
I further spiraled into hopelessness thinking, "New Years Eve, they know it's a night of higher suicide rates, that's it." I made the decision to end my life.
It was really a strange feeling going into my parent's room, putting a shell in a 20 gauge shotgun with tears streaming down my face, and pointing it to my head. I had taken the safety off. I just wanted someone to help me and talk to me. Nonetheless, I put enough pressure on the trigger for it to go off, but I saw something out of the right corner of my right eye. The gun didn't fire and I was amazed that it didn't. I put it to my head again and these thoughts seemed to be streamed into my mind, "If you do this, you're one selfish bastard." I put the gun up.
I sponsored someone 13 years later, and when he committed suicide via an overdose I understood why. However, many were at his funeral and I still remember thinking, "I wish you could have seen then how many people care now."
From a MySpace bulletin:
Autumn TwoBulls: Take a Stand Against Poverty & Suicide in Lakota Country join us in Calling The White House ~202 456 1111Share Today at 3:13pm Autumn TwoBulls: Take a Stand Against Poverty & Suicide in Lakota Country join us in Calling The White House ~202 456 1111 This is the time when my people should be treated fair and with justice.
Support the Sweet Grass Suicide Provention Program here in Pine Ridge Reservation This is an epmidemic among Lakota Country please give our Lakota Youth a Voice for Hope!
Follow -Up Call In to White House Tuesday March 2, 2010 Help bring a voice to the Lakota Nation in the matters Poverty and Suicide on the Pine Ridge Reservation/Contact White House
To Friends, Relations and supporters.,
Thank you for the overwhelming response to our White House Call In last Tuesday 2/16 and again on Friday. Over the last while, you have seen and heard of the terrible situations and conditions on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Again, I am asking you to come make your voice be heard.Last Tuesday all of you overwhelmed the Comment line 202 456 1111. On Tuesday, March 2, 2010, please take the time to call in again.We need to keep this subject on the President's "Radar" and this is a way for us to be heard.
Tell President Obama of the awful conditions facing my people here on Pine Ridge. Tell him the Oglala Sioux Tribe Declared a State of Emergency on Suicide in December Remind him of the promises that he has made to the First Nations/Native American people. Promises waiting to be fulfilled.
When you call the comment line tell them about the grinding poverty rates, the 80% unemployment and the desperation that is leading so many of our people and youth to commite suicide. We are asking that Aide is brought to our Lakota Nation in these matters.
1: When you make your call, please be respectful 2: State in your call Why you are calling, i.e., Suicide and povertyon the Pine Ridge Reservation, etc 3: State that you would like to know what the President can do about this. 4: Remind respectfully that the President made promises to the First NationsNative American People during his campaign.
Help us to be heard again, we've only just begun use our voice.
Together we can make a difference for the people. One voice together, loud enough for the President to open his mind and his heart to my people, the Lakota Nation of Pine Ridge Reservation.
Please begin calling during buisness hours which are 9am - 4 pm Eastern time. Keep calling and emailing all day.
I am so grateful for the support in this effort to help Our Lakota Nation be heard. Lets work together as one voice
Pila Unyape, Wopila Tanka Echichiyape Respectfully, Autumn Two Bulls Oglala Lakota of Pine Ridge South Dakota http: //www.whitehouse.gov/contact PHONE THE WHITE HOUSE: 202 456 1111
Faced with rash of suicides, OST President Two Bulls declares an emergency www. rapidcityjournal.com In an emotional appeal to the people of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Oglala Sioux Tribe President Theresa Two Bulls declared a state of emergency Thursday in the face of overwhelming numbers of suicides and suicide attempts on South Dakota's largest reservation.
Chief Teresa TwoBulls declared a State of Emergency weeks ago, as conditions have become unbearable in a very harsh winter. The White House is silent.
Where is the HOPE that President Obama has promised? Where is HOPE for the Lakota?
Here is the President's Opening words to the Tribal Nations Conference last November.
I have never quite understood people who travel oversees and put forth so much effort to help those in Under developed countries, when we have a place right here in the US that has Third World conditions. Technically, this place is not “in the United States.” It is an Indian Reservation, therefore a Sovereign Nation.
- snip –
• The Average life expectancy on the Reservation is 46 • Pine Ridge Teen suicide rate is 150 times higher than the National Average • 65% of the residents of the Reservation live in sub-standard conditions such as no electricity, running water, and often, without heat
An ongoing series sponsored by the Native American Netroots team focusing on the current issues faced by American Indian Tribes and current solutions to those issues.
Jim Bradford (R), District 27 (includes Pine Ridge Reservation; Jackson & Shannon Counties) P.O. Box 690 Pine Ridge, S.D. 57770-0690 605.867.5369
Ryan Maher (D), District 28 (includes Cheyenne River Reservation; Dewey & Ziebach Counties) P.O. Box 237 Isabel, S.D. 57633-0237 605.466.2389
State House of Representatives
Larry Lucas (D), District 26A (Rosebud Reservation; Mellette & Todd Counties) P.O. Box 182 Mission, S.D. 57555-0182 605.856.2439
Kim Vanneman (R), District 26B (Rosebud Reservation; Tripp County) 31148 269th St. Ideal, S.D. 57541 605.842.2751
Ed Iron Cloud, III (D), District 27 (Pine Ridge Reservation; Jackson & Shannon Counties) P.O. Box 172 Porcupine, S.D. 57772 (No phone listed)
Kevin Killer (D), District 27 (Pine Ridge Reservation; Jackson & Shannon Counties) P.O. Box 322 Pine Ridge, S.D. 57770-0322 605.454.8105
Dean Schrempp (D), District 28A (Cheyenne River Reservation; Dewey & Ziebach Counties) P.O. Box 62 Lantry, S.D. 57636 605.964.6541
LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS
Dewey County (Cheyenne River) Robert Berndt, County Commission Chair P.O. Box 277 County Courthouse Timber Lake, S.D. 57656-0277 No e-mail address listed
Ziebach County (Cheyenne River) Clinton Farlee, County Commission Chair P.O. Box 68 County Courthouse Dupree, S.D. 57623-0068 Phone: 605.365.5157 Fax: 605.365.5204 E-mail: cjfarlee@lakotanetwork.com
Jackson County (Pine Ridge) Jim Stilwell, County Commission Chair P.O. Box 280 County Courthouse Kadoka, S.D. 57543-0280 605.837.2422 No e-mail address listed
Shannon County (Pine Ridge) Connie WhirlWind Horse, County Commission Chair 906 N. River St. County Courthouse Hot Springs, S.D. 57747-1309 605.745.3996 Fax: 605.745.6835 No e-mail address listed
Mellette County (Rosebud) Casey Krogman, County Commission Chair P.O. Box C County Courthouse White River, S.D. 57579-0703 605.259.3291 No e-mail address listed
Todd County (Rosebud) Gregg Grimshaw, County Commission Chair 200 E. 3rd. St. County Courthouse Winner, S.D. 57580-1806 605.842.1700 No e-mail address listed
Tripp County (Rosebud) Greg English, Commissioner 200 E. 3rd. St. County Courthouse Winner, S.D. 57580-1806 605.842.3727 E-mail: genglish@gwtc.net (Note: Source does not specify who chairs county commission; Greg English is the only commissioner with a listed e-mail address.)
U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
Main Committee Contact:
Committee on Indian Affairs Allison Binney, Staff Director and Chief Counsel United States Senate 838 Hart Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Phone: (202) 224-2251 comments@indian.senate.gov
Lincoln Office: 294 Federal Building 100 Centennial Mall North Lincoln, NE 68508 Tel: (402) 476-1400 Fax: (402) 476-0605 Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. CST
Omaha Office: 9900 Nicholas St., Suite 325 Omaha, NE 68114 Tel: (402) 758-8981 Fax: (402) 758-9165 Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Kimberly Teehee (Cherokee Nation), President Obama's Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs. No direct number available; call the White House switchboard, 202.456.1414, during regular business hours, to be connected (reports to M. Barnes, below).
Melody Barnes Domestic Policy Adviser and Director, Domestic Policy Council No direct number available; call the White House switchboard, 202.456.1414, during regular business hours, to be connected.
Update 2:
From no way lack of brain:
Here is contact information for Lt. Governor Dennis Daugaard: Dennis.Daugaard@state.sd.us. When I emailed people about the storm conditions in SD, Lt. Governor Daugaard was the only person who responded.
But our winner, the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Where are you guys? Three major Native American reservations in South Dakota, particularly the Cheyenne River Reservation, have been buried under snow and ice with major power failures, for two weeks.
Power lines down, thousands of other Lakota and other tribes people, already face 75 to 85% unemployment, before a blizzard and an ice storm that added six inches of ice weight to utility poles – hit. Two weeks since those lines were knocked down and most of the electricity went with it. They managed to get the water turned back on at Cheyenne River, unfortunately most of the water goes into a pipe system that failed during the storm. The pipes are broken. With the wind chill it was minus 19 there today. What we find out about this on the Senate Committee of Indian Affairs – some means of donating to the affected tribes, means of underwriting the energy companies now distributing propane tanks by hand? An emergency hearing on a crisis there? Nothing. There’s a committee meeting Thursday to discuss regular business. The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs – AWOL. Today’s worst persons in the world.
Mr. Olbermann, I wrote you a letter a long time ago after your Special Comment about the Military Commissions Act, that maybe you were the next Edward Murrow. Since that time, I definitely say yes, with your own style and voice. The ironic thing is, after the MCA passed I was scared and a lot of others were too. Speaking for myself, I needed someone to have the courage to speak out about it. What’s different about this is, while the Democratic Party was bullied into the MCA that was “redrafted” at the last minute, the primary culprit here is apathy, not fear.
The planned uranium mine site in the southern Black Hills can impact four aquifers. Powertech, Inc. USA plans to begin uranium extraction in 2011 and operate for 15 years in the permit area of 10,580 acres located in Dewey and Burdock Counties, north of Edgemont, SD.
On Dec. 4 an action was taken against Crow Creek tribal land near my district that shook the absolute foundations of Indian law all the way back to the 1800s. Yet, few people were in the small room in Highmore, S.D. to see this monumental action and few other tribes even know it has taken place. Any tribe with land should shutter with the magnitude of what this precedent could mean for themselves or their individual tribal members. The Internal Revenue Service collected against 7,100 acres – 11 square miles – of Indian owned land in Hyde County, S.D. This particular parcel was part of the original Crow Creek treaty boundaries, but the treaty was subsequently broken and this land was sold to LeMaster. Interestingly enough, our tribe was able to use settlement money from another federal land taking to purchase this land back in 1998.
I don’t want to speculate any more on as you so said, “There’s a committee meeting Thursday to discuss regular business.” However, sadly this is “business as usual” from my point of view. What isn’t, is your covering it with conviction and integrity. Thank you Mr. Olbermann, thank you from the bottom of my heart. If the people get some more help, they can better fight for their land.
The 35-year-old chairman was camped on 7,100 acres of wind-swept, snowy land owned by Crow Creek Tribal Farms. The IRS recently seized the tract and on Dec. 3 auctioned it off for $2 million less than its $4.6 million value to pay a purported tax bill for the tribe, a separate legal entity.
Mr. President,
It is in a weary state I write this. I know you have a lot on your mind right now, so just continue reading, which I am grateful you do.
“It’s the Black Hills gold rush all over again,” said historian Waziyatawin, Ph.D., Wahpetowan Dakota from Upper Sioux and a University of Victoria research scholar. “Nowadays, the press is reporting on a green energy land rush and Department of the Interior efforts to free up millions of acres for wind and solar development. Open prairie land, such as that on Indian reservations in the Plains, is suitable for such enterprises. So the U.S. government is going after the poorest of the poor to find the resources it needs.”
On Dec. 4 an action was taken against Crow Creek tribal land near my district that shook the absolute foundations of Indian law all the way back to the 1800s. Yet, few people were in the small room in Highmore, S.D. to see this monumental action and few other tribes even know it has taken place. Any tribe with land should shutter with the magnitude of what this precedent could mean for themselves or their individual tribal members.
The Internal Revenue Service collected against 7,100 acres – 11 square miles – of Indian owned land in Hyde County, S.D. This particular parcel was part of the original Crow Creek treaty boundaries, but the treaty was subsequently broken and this land was sold to LeMaster. Interestingly enough, our tribe was able to use settlement money from another federal land taking to purchase this land back in 1998.
Dear Brothers and Sisters; Recently, the IRS has seized and auctioned 7100 acres of our prime development land on the Crow Creek Reservation. We have tried to raise funds for months to save our land. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful. We have tried to stop them from auctioning off our land through the justice system, however justice did not prevail.
It is no secret that Buffalo County is the poorest county in the nation and that 78% of the people on our reservation live far below the poverty line; this is why we are reaching out to our Native Brothers and Sisters. Only you know the importance of retaining our land base.
Recently, we were granted a trial for a judge to decide whether or not we should be allowed to keep this property, which they already sold to a non-Indian. This allows us 120 days to raise 4 million dollars to purchase our land back and clear up the levy that the IRS ($600,000) has on the property.
Any financial assistance that you could give to us would be greatly appreciated. We have set up an account at Wells Fargo in Chamberlain, South Dakota and all donations are tax deductible. The bank can be contacted at 605-734-6001 or contact Leroy Bear Thompson at 605-245-2304. Your kindness and generosity is greatly appreciated.
Contact: Wells Fargo Bank Attn: Cindy Adams 201 S Main Chamberlain, SD 57325 Account Name: Save CCST Lands Fund Account Number: 9917827345 Contact: Cindy Adams 605-734-6001 Contact: Leroy Thompson, Jr. 605-245-2304 or 605-730-0091
Sincerely, Brandon Sazue, Chairman Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Posted by brendanorrell@gmail.com at 9:15 PM
2nd Update:
Action Alert! Please sign online petition Crow Creek Sioux Land is NOT For Sale Saturday, December 12, 2009, 1:35 AM
Please help spread the word about our online petition to support the Crow Creek efforts! There is NO reason why we shouldn’t have several thousand signatures before this weekend is done!
Everyone PLEASE UNITE together on this issue. This issue could set a precedence and next time it could be your lands!
Crow Creek Sioux Land is NOT For Sale http://www.petitiononline.com/CrowCrek/petition.html
To: Bureau of Indian Affairs, President Obama, SD Governor Rounds, SD Senator Tim Johnson, SD Senator Thune,U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin On December 3, 2009 the Internal Revenue Service unlawfully auctioned off 7100 acres located on Crow Creek Sioux Tribal land.
The land is owned by Crow Creek Tribal Farms, Inc. a Tribal corporation and distinct legal entity from the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe.
According to the recent motion for temporary restraining order, filed by the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, the IRS seized and auctioned the land to recover $3,123,789.73 dollars in unpaid employment taxes. The document states, Because of erroneous tax advice received from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe became delinquent in the payment of employment taxes collected by the IRS beginning in 2003. The BIA had informed the Tribe that, because it was a federally recognized Tribe, it was not necessary to pay federal employment taxes.
The Crow Creek Indian Reservation was created by the 1868 Treaty, Act of April 29, 1868, 15 Stat. 635, and by Section 6, Act of March 2, 1889, 25 Stat. 888.
The Crow Creek Sioux Reservation encompasses Buffalo County and portions of Hyde and Brule Counties . Crow Creek Sioux Tribe is consistently documented as one of the poorest Reservations in the Nation, with 78% of their members living below the poverty line.
This despicable and irreparable action from the IRS, could ultimately eliminate 20% of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribes Reservation lands.
This action taken by the IRS could ultimately set a precedence, allowing the continual land grab on Tribal Lands. We must ALL UNITE and take a stand on this issue, to voice Tribal Lands are NOT for Sale !
We the undersigned, hereby request the immediate return of the unlawfully auctioned Crow Creek Sioux Tribal Lands. Click this link to sign the petition!
Winter Rabbit (9+ / 0-) Kimberly Teehee, a member of the Cherokee Nation, was appointed by President Obama as Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs. Could it help to contact her? I can't find an email address, but the Whitehouse switchboard number is 202-456-1414.
by dharmafarmer on Tue Jan 05, 2010 at 05:03:31 AM PST [ Parent | Reply to This |
The Sand Creek Massacre and the Washita Massacre both led to the Wounded Knee Massacre. The Sand Creek Massacre brought the realization that “the soldiers were destroying everything Cheyenne - the land, the buffalo, and the people themselves,” and the Washita Massacre added even more genocidal evidence to those facts. The Sand Creek Massacre caused the Cheyenne to put away their old grievances with the Sioux and join them in defending their lives against the U.S. extermination policy. The Washita Massacre did that even more so. After putting the Wounded Knee Massacre briefly into historical perspective, we’ll focus solely on the Wounded Knee Massacre itself for the 119th Anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre.
Black Kettle, his wife, and more than 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho had just been exterminated, and Custer’s 7th was burning the lodges and all their contents, thus stripping them of all survival means. Sheridan would wait until all their dogs had been eaten before “allowing” them into subjugation, then Custer would rape the women hostages in captivity.
Jerome A. Green. “Washita.” p. 126.
Far across the Washita Valley, warriors observed the killing of the animals, enraged by what they saw.
And so, when the Chiefs gathered to decide what the people should do, Black Kettle took his usual place among them. Everyone agreed Sand Creek must be avenged. But there were questions. Why had the soldiers attacked with such viciousness? Why had they killed and mutilated women and children?
It seemed that the conflict with the whites had somehow changed. No longer was it just a war over land and buffalo. Now, the soldiers were destroying everything Cheyenne - the land, the buffalo, and the people themselves.
See it? Feel it?
They witnessed and felt the Sand Creek Massacre happen, again.
Consequently, a number of Cheyenne who were present at Washita helped defeat Custer at Little Bighorn.
So, let us proceed from the Sand Creek Massacre,
Why does this say Battle Ground after there was a Congressional investigation?
and from the genocide at the Washita “Battlefield” –
According to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethical, racial or religious group as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
WE, the undersigned members of the Native American community and the public at large, request that this site of the attack by the United States military against 8,500 Plains Indians camped as prisoners of war along the Washita River in 1868 be designated as the Washita National Historic Site of Genocide.
But Wounded Knee was 14 years after Little Bighorn. Would the soldiers have held a grudge that long and why would they take it out on Big Foot? They blamed Custer's defeat on Sitting Bull, who was killed two weeks before Wounded Knee. The Survivors Association members had the answer: ''Because Big Foot was Sitting Bull's half-brother. That's why Sitting Bull's Hunkpapa people sought sanctuary in Big Foot's Minneconjou camp.''
The Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890
The first intention of the U.S. Army in part was to detain Chief Big Foot under the pretext that he was a "fomenter of disturbance," remembering that Native Americans did not have equal rights at that time in the Constitution.
In addition, the real intention was doing a "roundup" to a military prison camp, which would have become an internment and concentration camp in Omaha after they were prisoners. Colonel James W. Forsyth had orders to force them into going there.
Speculating, I bet at least part of the rationalization for the massacre was so the soldiers wouldn't have to transport them to the military prison in Omaha. Murdering them would have been easier. Then, they could've had another whiskey keg, like they did the evening right before this massacre, when they celebrated the detainment of Chief Big Foot. The soldiers may have even been hung over, depending on amount consumed and tolerance levels; moreover, if the soldiers were alcoholics, tolerance levels would have been high.
White officials became alarmed at the religious fervor and activism and in December 1890 banned the Ghost Dance on Lakota reservations. When the rites continued, officials called in troops to Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations in South Dakota. The military, led by veteran General Nelson Miles, geared itself for another campaign.
Big Foot and the Lakota were among the most enthusiastic believers in the Ghost Dance ceremony when it arrived among them in the spring of 1890.
Chief Big Foot's arrest was ordered by the U.S. War Department for being a "fomenter of disturbance." Chief Big Foot was already on his way to Pine Ridge with his people, when the 7th U.S. Cavalry with Major Samuel Whitside leading them approached him on horses. Big Foot's lungs were bleeding from pneumonia.
Blood froze on his nose while he could barely speak. He had a white flag of surrender put up as soon as he caught glimpse of the U.S. Calvary coming towards them. At the urging of John Shangreau, Whitside's half-breed scout, Whitside "allowed" Big Foot to proceed to the camp at Wounded Knee. Whitside wanted to arrest Big Foot and disarm them all immediately. Ironically, the justification for letting Big Foot go to Wounded Knee was that it would prevent a gun fight, save the lives of the women and children, but let the men escape. The Warriors wouldn't have left their women and children to perish, but since the following was reported to Red Cloud:
Red Cloud
"...A white man said the soldiers meant to kill us. We did not believe it, but some were frightened and ran away to the Badlands.(1)
I believe Whitside didn't want the Warriors to have such an opportunity, under direct orders by General Nelson Miles.
(1): "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" by Dee Brown, pp. 441-442. (December, 1890).
"Later in the darkness of that December night (Dec. 28) the remainder of the Seventh Regiment marched in from the east and quietly bivouacked north of Major Whitside's troops. Colonel James W. Forsyth, commanding Custer's former regiment, now took charge of operations. He informed Whitside that he had received orders to take Big Foot's band to the Union Pacific Railroad for shipment to the military prison in Omaha.
Then, came the disarming.
..Colonel Forsyth informed the Indians that they were now to be disarmed. "They called for guns and arms," White Lance said, "so all of us gave the guns and they were stacked up in the center." The soldier chiefs were not satisfied with the number of weapons surrendered, so they sent details of troops to search the tepees. "They would go right into the tents and come out with bundles (sacred objects) and tear them open," Dog Chief said. "They brought our axes, knives, and tent stakes and piled them near the guns." Still not satisfied, the soldier chiefs ordered the warriors to remove their blankets and submit to searches for weapons...
Yellow Bird, the only medicine man there at the time danced some steps of the Ghost Dance, while singing one of it's songs as an act of dissent. Simultaneously, the people were furious at the "searches" when Yellow Bird reminded everyone of their bullet-proof shirts. To me, this was the void in time when the Ghost Dancers chose peace over war, and made it possible for the resurgence of their culture to occur in the future. A psychological justification for my saying so, is the Ghost Dancers would also have been Sundancers. Part of the well-known intent behind the Sundance is "that the people might live."
Continuing on; next, was false blame.
...Some years later Dewey Beard (Wasumaza) recalled that Black Coyote was deaf. "If they had left him alone he was going to put his gun down where he should. They grabbed him and spinned him in the east direction. He was still unconcerned even then. He hadn't pointed his gun at anyone. His intention was to put that gun down. They came and grabbed the gun that he was going to put down...(1) in proceeding paragraph, p.445.
More people survived if they tried to escape through this tree row, because there was more tree cover.
More were massacred if they tried to escape through this tree row, because there was much less tree cover.
The truth has still been tried to be slanted and concealed, even after over one century ago, because the old sign said that there were 150 warriors. The truth is, there were only 40 warriors.
For that would have been more convenient, than loading their remaining victims (4 men and 47 women and children) into open wagons and transporting them to Pine Ridge during the approaching blizzard for alleged shelter at the army barracks, then to the Episcopal mission "unplanned." They left the survivors out in that blizzard in open wagons for who knows how long, while "An (singular) inept Army officer searched for shelter."(1)
What that tells me is: they didn't plan on having any survivors. They planned on exterminating them. Of course, there wasn't any room at all in the army barracks for 51 people, so they had to take them to the mission. Well...if they'd been white, they would've found room for a measly 51 white people.
"...A recurring dream in the mid-1980s directed a Lakota elder to begin the ride as a way to heal the wounds of the 1890 massacre. It continues today to honor the courage of the ancestors and to teach the young to become leaders...The Big Foot Ride began in 1987 at the urging of Birgil Kills Straight, a descendant of a Wounded Knee Massacre survivor. Each year, the riders have come together to sacrifice and pray for the 13-day trip from the Standing Rock Reservation beginning on the anniversary of the death of Sitting Bull and ending at Wounded Knee on Dec. 28, the day before the anniversary of the massacre..."
"...The two-week Ride started in 1986 after a dream told one of its founders that it would "mend the sacred hoop" and heal the wounds of the famous massacre. For the first four years, the ride was led in intense cold by Arvol Looking Horse, keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Woman pipe bundle in Green Grass, S.D. It is now carried on by youths from the Lakota nation, starting in Grand River near Mobridge, S.D. on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation and continuing south 200 miles to Pine Ridge..."
The extent to which a Nation denies the genocide it has committed is a measure of that Nation's social conscience. The social conscience of the United States is infected with numerous rationalizations that keep the dark light from shining. Federal and state institutions are named after mass murderers, and the land tells a story of massacres and atrocities that occurred. But the truth is not forgotten, it is denied.
8. DENIAL is the eighth stage that always follows a genocide. It is among the surest indicators of further genocidal massacres. The perpetrators of genocide dig up the mass graves, burn the bodies, try to cover up the evidence and intimidate the witnesses. They deny that they committed any crimes, and often blame what happened on the victims. They block investigations of the crimes, and continue to govern until driven from power by force, when they flee into exile.
Genocide is not just denied in the United States, it is celebrated.
The term “redskins” actually refers to the Indian skins and body parts that bounty hunters had to show in order to receive payment for killing Indians, the National Congress of American Indians argued in a brief filed before the high court.
What we shall see, is that denying the genocide of the American Indian is for ideological or economic reasons. What we need to know, is how specifically people deny the genocide of the American Indian.
Leonard Crow Dog and Richard Erdoes. “Crow Dog.” pp. 6-7.
Only when we saw them building roads through our land, wagons at first, and then the railroad, when we watched them building forts, killing off all the game, committing buffalo genocide, and we saw them ripping up our Black Hills for gold, our sacred Paha Sapa, the home of the wakinyan, the thunderbirds, only then did we realize what they wanted was our land. Then we began to fight. For our earth. For our children. That started what the whites call the Great Indian Wars of the West. I call it the Great Indian Holocaust.
Ideological reasons are a motive for denying genocide. For example, "A nation ashamed of its past will fear its future;" and, "Such attitudes, which dominate the councils of the elite, are the single greatest threat to our survival." Does the dominant culture's survival really depend on denying that "battles" were massacres and Hitler was inspired by "actual U.S. examples?"
And...quoting from Chapter 5 - The Earth Is Our Mother from the book The State of Native America, Genocide, Colonization and Resistance, edited by Annette Jaimes, ISBN 0-89608-424-9:
- snip –
..Even the the nazi tactic of concentrating 'undesireables' prior to their forced 'relocation or reduction' was drawn from actual U.S. examples, including internment of the Cherokees and other 'Civilized Tribes' during the 1830's before the devastatingly lethal Trail of Tears was forced upon them, and the comparable experience of the Navajo people at the Bosque Redondo during the period 1864-68.
Of course the dominant culture's survival does not really depend on denying that "battles" were massacres and Hitler was inspired by "actual U.S. examples." Remembering the dominant culture is a mindset, at least one author and possibly his readers do feel some sort of survival instinct in connection with their genocide denial. We'll see those specific examples shortly. But we also know there are economic considerations, namely being held accountable, that motivate some to deny genocide.
Newspapers of the day publicized bounty notices on current “uprisings.” A 1922 article in the Rocky Mountain News reported a $25 reward for those who defeated “efforts to sign the roads into the Navajo reservation ... The redskins are said to tear out or carry away all sign-boards.”
The Rocky Mountain News had political and proprietary interests in the Colorado gold and in clearing the territory of Indians to get at it. The newspaper started a drumbeat against Cheyenne Dog Soldiers and other “hostiles” that culminated in the Sand Creek Massacre of a peace camp of Cheyenne elders, pregnant women and children on Nov. 29, 1864.
The News celebrated the “Battle” of Sand Creek, lauding the Colorado Volunteers’ “Bloody Thirdsters” as having “covered themselves with glory.” By contrast, the U.S. Army officers on site reported it as the Sand Creek “Massacre” and described the soldiers as “barbaric” and “covered with gore.”
Until now, we have discussed some "whys," which can be simplified into ideological or economic reasons.
There are many other examples of denial by perpetrators who wish to escape negative reactions to their deeds. More troubling are the later denials by people not directly involved in the genocidal events but who appear to have ideological reasons for their denials.
But Michael Medved and Don Feder and give us some clear examples of genocide denial, in addition to labeling massacres as battles. Medved "Claim(s) that the deaths were inadvertent," while expressing ideological reasons.
http://www.bluecorncomics.com/stype796.htm
By Michael Medved Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Moreover, the real decimation of Indian populations had nothing to do with massacres or military actions, but rather stemmed from infectious diseases that white settlers brought with them at the time they first arrived in the New World.
- snip –
A nation ashamed of its past will fear its future.
As a result of famine, migration, or disease, not because of willful murder.
Yes, 90% to 95% of villages were already depopulated because of disease, but that does not excuse the killers who exterminated the indigenous survivors.
In a different tone but still denying genocide, Feder " Rationalize(s) the deaths as the result of tribal conflict, coming to the victims out of the inevitability of their history of relationships." But Feder substitutes white encroachment for another tribe. He minimizes the Great Indian Holocaust, as Crow Dog calls it, as merely "every nation includes its share of invasions, dispossessions and injustices." Next, he supplies his own ideological reasons for denying the genocide as previously mentioned.
5. Rationalize the deaths as the result of tribal conflict, coming to the victims out of the inevitability of their history of relationships.
This was a witty rejoinder to my observation that the history of every nation includes its share of invasions, dispossessions and injustices.
- snip -
Plymouth protesters insist that America was a tragic mistake, our history is ignoble and the only valid reason for our continued existence is to provide racial reparations. Such attitudes, which dominate the councils of the elite, are the single greatest threat to our survival.
The extent to which a Nation denies the genocide it has committed is a measure of that Nation's social conscience. The social conscience of the dominant culture does not want to lose its power, so it restrains its own humanity with ideologies and anything that points the finger the other way.
Denial of genocide is the final stage of genocide. It is what Elie Wiesel has called a "double killing." Denial murders the dignity of the survivors and seeks to destroy remembrance of the crime. In a century plagued by genocide, we affirm the moral necessity of remembering.
But the real power the dominant culture loses is the power to be caring human beings. Much more needs to be researched and written about this topic.
I want you to give all these chiefs of the soldiers here to understand that we are for peace, and that we have made peace, that we may not be mistaken by them for enemies.
A Cheyenne cemetery is in the same direction as where my mother told me she watched gypsies camp through her west window as a girl, about ½ mile from that house. I have reverently walked though that Cheyenne cemetery as early as ten, looking at the headstones and wondering who they were and where they came from. I did not know then, that in that cemetery were descendants from the Sand Creek Massacre.
"...Roman Nose made his record against the whites, in defense of territory embracing the Republican and Arickaree rivers. He was killed on the latter river in 1868, in the celebrated battle with General Forsythe.
Roman Nose always rode an uncommonly fine, spirited horse, and with his war bonnet and other paraphernalia gave a wonderful exhibition. The Indians used to say that the soldiers must gaze at him rather than aim at him, as they so seldom hit him even when running the gantlet before a firing line..."
Why did Roman Nose and the Hotamitanio (Dog Soldier Society) feel the need to defend their sovereignty and way of life? The answers to that one question rest in at least the following: the Great Horse Creek Treaty (1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie), volunteer soldiers, John Chivington, white encroachment with the Pike's Peak gold rush of 1858, the "renegotiation" of the "Great Horse Creek Treaty" at Fort Wise, the Civil War soldiers who encroached on promised land, and the murder of Lean Bear.
The first core point is that hunting rights and land claims were not surrendered in the Great Horse Creek Treaty (1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie).
The following are facts with regard to the 1851 TREATY OF FORT LARAMIE, known as the "Treaty of Long Meadows" to the N/DN/D/Lakota and the "Great Horse Creek Treaty" to the Cheyenne;
1. It is a sacred document, unanimously agreed upon by each camp of each band, of each of the seven signatory nations. During the three week long 1851 Treaty gathering, the sacred White Buffalo Calf Canunpa (misnomer "Peace pipe") of the N/DN/D/Lakota, the Four Sacred Arrows of the Cheyenne, as well as the most sacred items of each of the other nations were present during the historic signing.
2. It is a unifying document among the seven allied nations to forever protect their sacred homelands.
Second of all, the Pike's Peak gold rush of 1858 brought white encroachment by ways of pony express riders, telegraph wires, stagecoaches, and more and more military forts whose soldiers (at least in the Sand Creek Massacre) included volunteer soldiers under the command of Col. John Chivington.(1)
To illustrate, here is a poster from 1864 that portrays the recruitment of volunteer soldiers, which helped to result in the California terrorist attacks. That was the same year as the Sand Creek Massacre.
The 1849 agreement between California territorial and federal governments provided $1,000,000 for the arming and supply of persons who would seek out and destroy Native American families.
I don't know if such posters were in or near Colorado, but John Chivington who led the "Bloody Third" scorned Indian children.
COL. JOHN CHIVINGTON: Ex-Methodist Minister, Heroic Indian Fighter, 1864
"Nits make lice," he was fond of saying, and of course, since Indians were lice, their children were nits. Clearly, Chivington was a man ahead of his time: it would be almost a century later before another man would think of describing the extermination of a people "the same thing as delousing": Heinrich Himmler. [LN477]
Clearly, Roman Nose had a more than sufficient reason to defend his people.
Matters continued becoming worse for the Cheyenne and Arapaho as the white encroachment increased dramatically with the Pike's Peak gold rush of 1858, despite the land being promised them in the Great Horse Creek Treaty (1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie). The Territory of Colorado was then "declared" a decade after that treaty, and politicians wanted to "renegotiate" the Great Horse Creek Treaty at Fort Wise. It was far from a compromise, it was theft.
"The said chiefs and delegates of said Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes of Indians do hereby cede and relinquish to the United States all lands now owned, possessed, or claimed by them, wherever situated, except a tract to be reserved for the use of said tribes located within the following described boundaries, to wit:..."
Some "negotiation..." 38 of the 44 Cheyenne chiefs did not sign it.
Dee Brown. "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee." p. 69:
"...When the Cheyennes pointed out that only six of their forty-four chiefs were present, the United States officials replied that the others could sign it later..."(1)
Adding still more misery, were facts that hunting was scarce on this land tract, nor was it suited well to farming. Also, the white encroachment from the Pike's Peak gold rush escalated, while Civil War soldiers roamed onto their grounds. Then, Chivington, the butcher of Sand Creek, began his campaign of extermination and genocide.
In the spring of 1864, while the Civil War raged in the east, Chivington launched a campaign of violence against the Cheyenne and their allies, his troops attacking any and all Indians and razing their villages. The Cheyennes, joined by neighboring Arapahos, Sioux, Comanches, and Kiowas in both Colorado and Kansas, went on the defensive warpath.
Chief Black Kettle was promised complete safety by Colonel Greenwood as long as he rose the U.S flag above him.(1) Black Kettle persisted in his calls for peace in spite of the continuing exterminations and the shooting of Lean Bear.
Lean Bear, a leading peacemaker who had previously met with President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C., was shot from his horse without warning by U.S. troops during a Kansas buffalo hunt. The troops were acting under orders from Colonel John M. Chivington who commanded the military district of Colorado: "Find Indians wherever you can and kill them" (The War of the Rebellion, 1880-1881, pp. 403-404).
Perplexed by the continuing genocide, Black Kettle sent for Little White Man, known asWilliam Bent.Almost prophetic, both agreed in their meeting that a war was about to be born if nothing changed. Black Kettle's peaceful attempts tragically failed, even though he took his people to Sand Creek, fully expecting peace.His last effort for peace was raising the U.S. flag just prior to the massacre.
"...Though no treaties were signed, the Indians believed that by reporting and camping near army posts, they would be declaring peace and accepting sanctuary.
However on the day of the "peace talks" Chivington received a telegram from General Samuel Curtis (his superior officer) informing him that "I want no peace till the Indians suffer more...No peace must be made without my directions."
Chivington, the Butcher of the Sand Creek Massacre:
he was fond of saying, and of course, since Indians were lice, their children were nits. Clearly, Chivington was a man ahead of his time: it would be almost a century later before another man would think of describing the extermination of a people "the same thing as delousing": Heinrich Himmler. [LN477]
"the Cheyennes will have to be roundly whipped -- or completely wiped out -- before they will be quiet. I say that if any of them are caught in your vicinity, the only thing to do is kill them." A month later, while addressing a gathering of church deacons, he dismissed the possibility of making a treaty with the Cheyenne: "It simply is not possible for Indians to obey or even understand any treaty. I am fully satisfied, gentlemen, that to kill them is the only way we will ever have peace and quiet in Colorado."
Unaware of Curtis's telegram, Black Kettle and some 550 Cheyennes and Arapahos, having made their peace, traveled south to set up camp on Sand Creek under the promised protection of Fort Lyon. Those who remained opposed to the agreement headed North to join the Sioux.
The Sand Creek Massacre of November 29, 1864
Black Kettle and his people had every reason to expect complete safety from their bloodshed after agreements for peace were made and the Dog Soldiers left to join the Sioux. Nonetheless, Chivington's troops advanced on the Cheyenne and Arapaho near dawn. The sound of those approaching hooves must have sounded ominous.
U.S. soldiers inevitably chased the defenseless Cheyenne and Arapaho by horse and foot with knives and guns in hand. Their victims had to be positioned before ripping off their scalps, cutting off their ears, smashing out their brains, butchering their children, tearing their breastfeeding infants away from their mother's breasts, and then murdering those infants. The "Bloody Third" soldiers necessarily had to kill the infants before cutting out their mother's genitals.
The one question I never saw asked in the congressional hearings was, "Didn't you disgraceful soldiers realize they were family?"
Kurt Kaltreider, PH.D. "American Indian Prophecies." pp. 58-59:
-The report of witnesses at Sand Creek:
"I saw some Indians that had been scalped, and the ears cut off the body of White Antelope," said Captain L. Wilson of the first Colorado Cavalry. "One Indian who had been scalped had also his skull smashed in, and I heard that the privates of White Antelope had been cut off to make a tobacco bag of. I heard some of the men say that the privates of one of the squaws had been cut out and put on a stick..." John S. Smith...
All manner of depredations were inflicted on their persons; they were scalped, their brains knocked out; the men used their knives, ripped open women, clubbed little children, knocked them in the heads with their guns, beat their brains out, mutilated their bodies in every sense of the word...worse mutilation that I ever saw before, the women all cut to pieces...children two or three months old; all ages lying there.
Sand Creek being a deliberate massacre is not contested, especially since the "Bloody Third" set the village in flames and took all the evidence back to Washington to hide it.
Letters written by those at Sand Creek From Lt. Silas Soule to Maj. Edward Wynkoop, Dec. 14, 1864:
"The massacre lasted six or eight hours...I tell you Ned it was hard to see little children on their knees have their brains beat out by men professing to be civilized....They were all scalped, and as high as a half a dozen [scalps] taken from one head. They were all horribly mutilated...You could think it impossible for white men to butcher and mutilate human beings as they did there, but every word I have told you is the truth, which they do not deny...I expect we will have a hell of a time with Indians this winter."
Before departing, the command, now the "Bloody Third", ransacked and burned the village. The surviving Indians, some 300 people, fled north towards other Cheyenne camps.
Medicine Calf Beckwourth sought Black Kettle to ask him if peace was yet possible, but Black Kettle had moved out to be with relatives. Leg-in-the-Water replaced him as the primary chief; so, Beckwourth asked Leg-in-the-Water if there could be peace. Principle chief Leg-in-the-Water responded with these powerful words.
Dee Brown. "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee." p. 94:
"The white man has taken our country, killed all of our children. Now no peace. We want to go meet our families in the spirit land. We loved the whites until we found out they lied to us, and robbed us of what we had. We have raised the battle ax until death."(1)
...despite broken promises and attacks on his own life, speak of him as a great leader with an almost unique vision of the possibility for coexistence between white society and the culture of the plains…
Here are some of the names of those reputed to have been killed at Sand Creek, according to various sources:
Vo-ke-cha/White Hat Na-ko-ne-tum/Bear Skin or Robe Na-ko-yu-sus/Wounded Bear O-ko-che-voh-i-tan/Crow Necklace No-ko-a-mine/Bear Feathers Ne-sko-mo-ne/Two Lances O-ne-mok-tan/Black Wolf Vo-ki-ve-cum-se-mos-ta/White Antelope E-se-ma-ki/One Eye Ne-so-min-ni/Tall Bear Co-kah-you-son-ne/Feather Head On-ne-ma(hito)/Tall or Big Wolf O-ka-cha-his-ta/Heap of Crows - killed were both a father and son of the same name, and the sons wife and children. O-ko-che-vo-voi-se/Spotted Crow Ma-pa-vin-iste/Standing Water Make-ti-he/Big Head Mah-she-ne-(ve)/Red Arm No-ko-ist/Sitting Bear Vou-ti-pat/Kiowa Mak-o-wah/Big Shell O-ne-ah-tah/Wolf Mule Ve-hoe/White Man Oh-to-mai-ha/Tall Bull Mok-tow/Black Horse Oh-co-mo-on-est/Yellow Wolf No-veh-yah/Loser in the Race Co-pe-pah/Coffee Ta-ik-ha-seh/Cut Nose Veh-yah-nak-hoh/Hog No-ko-nis-seh/Lame Bear Oh-tam-i-mi-neh/Dog Coming Up Why-mih-est/Foot Tracks One-vah-kies/Bob-Tail Wolf Mo-ke-kah/Blue Crane Ah-kah/Skunk Ni-het/Mound Of Rocks Vos-ti-o-kist/White Calf Oh-e-vil/(Morning Star or Dull Knife, listed as Black Kettles brother) Min-ne-no-ah/Whirlwind or Standing Bear Mi-hah-min-est/Spirit Walking Wost-sa-sa-mi/White Crane Wi-can-noh/Forked Stick O-hit-tan/Crow Mah-hite/(Iron ?) Mah-ki-mish-yov/Big Child Man-i-tan/Red Paint To-ha-voh-yest/White Faced Bull No-ko-ny-u-/Kills Bear No-ko-nih-tyes/Big Louse O-ha-ni-no/Man On Hill Mah-voh-ca-mist/White Beaver Mah-in-ne-est/Turtle Following His Wife Mak-iv-veya-tah/Wooden Leg O-ma-ish-po/Big Smoke Ne-o-mi-ve-yuh/Sand Hill Mo-ha-yah/Elk AKA Cohoe Van-nit-tah/Spanish Woman O-tat-ta-wah/Blue Horse Kingfisher Cut Lip Bear Smoke or Big Smoke One Eye Big Man Cheyenne Chief Left Hand. Kah-makt/ Stick or Wood; Oh-no-mis-ta/Wolf That Hears; Co-se-to/Painted or Pointed Tomahawk; Ta-na-ha-ta/One Leg; O-tah-nis-to(te)/Bull That Hears; O-tah-nis-ta-to-ve/Seven Bulls Mis-ti-mah/Big Owl No-ko-i-yan/Bear Shield Vo-ki-mok-tan/Black Antelope O-to-a-yest-yet/Bull Neck Sish-e-nue-it/Snake Non-ne/Lame Man, White Bear or Curious Horn O-ne-na-vist/Wolf Horn Com-sev-vah/Shriveled Leg O-ne-i-nis-to/Wolf That Speaks or Howling Wolf No-ko-i-kat/Little Bear O-ne-mi-yesp/Flying Bird Moh-sehna-vo-voit/Spotted Horse Ish-ho-me-ne/Rising Sun Wip-puh-tah/Empty Belly Mah-oist/Red Sheath Ak-kin-noht/Squirrel Meh-on-ne/Making Road O-ko-oh-tu-eh/Bull Pup, Male Crow O-ye-kis/Man Who Peeps Over The Hill O-ne-i-kit/Little wolf Sa-wah-nah/Shawnee Mok-tok-kah/Wolf Road O-ha-va-man/Scabby Man Ta-ne-vo/Arapahoe A-st-yet/Bushy Head Ca-sum-mi/Wolf Grey Kah-i-nist-teh/Standing Skunk Kast-yah/Lean Belly No-ko-mi-kis/Old bear Tah-vo-tuveh/Mad Bull Vo-tou-yah/Tall Bird No-ko-se-vist/? Bear Es-toh/Stuffed Gut Oh-mah/Little Beaver Mah-hi-vist/Red Bird Ve-hoe/White Man O-ko-che-ut-tan-yuh/Male Crow E-yo-vah-hi-heh/Yellow Woman Min-hit-it-tan-yeh/Male Cherry A-ya-ma-na-kuh/Bear Above O-kin-neh/Smooth Face No-ku-hist/(Possibly White Bear)
William B. Newell, a Penobscot Indian and former chairman of the Anthropology department at the University of Connecticut, says that the first official Thanksgiving Day celebrated the massacre of 700 Indian men, women and children during one of their religious ceremonies. "Thanksgiving Day" was first proclaimed by the Governor of the then Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637 to commemorate the massacre of 700 men, women and children who were celebrating their annual Green Corn Dance...Thanksgiving Day to the, "in their own house", Newell stated.
- small snip –
-----The very next day the governor declared a Thanksgiving Day.....For the next 100 years, every Thanksgiving Day ordained by a Governor was in honor of the bloody victory, thanking God that the battle had been won."
Without having the book or being able to see it online, the proclamation appears, according to Richard Drinnon, to have come from William Bradford. I'll be buying the book. "'Thanksgiving Day'" was first proclaimed by the Governor of the then Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637," as from Newell, which was John Winthrop.
The original Thanksgiving was marked by prayer and thanks for the untimely deaths of most of the Wampanoag Tribe due to smallpox contracted from earlier European visitors. Thus when the Pilgrims arrived they found the fields already cleared and planted, and they called them their own.
- snip -
He was inspired to issue a proclamation: “This day forth shall be a day of celebration and thanksgiving for subduing the Pequots.” The authentic Thanksgiving Day was born.
The following source cites Drinnon in the next paragraph, so I assume the following came from Drinnon as well.
Jump 129 years to 1621, year of the supposed "first Thanksgiving." There is not much documentation of that event, but surviving Indians do not trust the myth. Natives were already dying like flies thanks to European-borne diseases. The Pequot tribe reportedly numbered 8,000 when the Pilgrims arrived, but disease had reduced their population to 1,500 by 1637, when the first, officially proclaimed, all-Pilgrim "Thanksgiving" took place. At that feast, the whites of New England celebrated their massacre of the Pequots. "This day forth shall be a day of celebration and thanksgiving for subduing the Pequots," read Massachusetts Bay Governor John Winthrop's proclamation. Few Pequots survived.
The first Official Thanksgiving was gratitude for genocide in 1637, and in 1676 – 1677 “a day was set apart for public thanksgiving,” because nearly all of them were exterminated by then.
http://www.dinsdoc.com/lauber-1-5.htm
3 See Sylvester, op. cit., ii, p. 457, for expedients adopted by Massachusetts to obtain money to defend the frontiers. Yet the number killed and sold, along with those who escaped, practically destroyed the warring Indians. According to the Massachusetts Records of 1676-1677 a day was set apart for public thanksgiving, because, among other things of moment, “there now scarce remains a name or family of them (the Indians) but are either slain, captivated or fled.”
http://rwor.org/a/firstvol/883/thank.htm
In their victory, the settlers launched an all-out genocide against the remaining Native people. The Massachusetts government offered 20 shillings bounty for every Indian scalp, and 40 shillings for every prisoner who could be sold into slavery. Soldiers were allowed to enslave any Indian woman or child under 14 they could capture. The "Praying Indians" who had converted to Christianity and fought on the side of the European troops were accused of shooting into the treetops during battles with "hostiles." They were enslaved or killed. Other "peaceful" Indians of Dartmouth and Dover were invited to negotiate or seek refuge at trading posts – and were sold onto slave ships.
- snip -
After King Philip's War, there were almost no Indians left free in the northern British colonies. A colonist wrote from Manhattan's New York colony: "There is now but few Indians upon the island and those few no ways hurtful. It is to be admired how strangely they have decreased by the hand of God, since the English first settled in these parts." In Massachusetts, the colonists declared a "day of public thanksgiving" in 1676, saying, "there now scarce remains a name or family of them [the Indians] but are either slain, captivated or fled."
Fifty-five years after the original Thanksgiving Day, the Puritans had destroyed the generous Wampanoag and all other neighboring tribes. The Wampanoag chief King Philip was beheaded. His head was stuck on a pole in Plymouth, where the skull still hung on display 24 years later.
Furthermore, the continuing historical context of the Massacre for which Thanksgiving is named was in the context of “slave-producing wars in New England.”
The war consisted of two battles: the Mistick Fight, and the Swamp Fight. In the first of these two events, but seven captives were taken.1 In the second, the Swamp Fight, about one hundred and eighty captives were taken.2 Two of the sachems taken in the Swamp Fight were spared, on promise that they guide the English to the retreat of Sassacus. The other men captives, some twenty or thirty in number, were put to death.3 The remaining captives, consisting of about eighty women and children, were divided. Some were given to the soldiers, whether gratis or for pay does not appear. Thirty were given to the Narraganset who were allies of the English, forty-eight were sent to Massachusetts and the remainder were assigned to Connecticut.4
During the years 1675 and 1676, one finds mention of the sale of Indians in Plymouth in groups of about a hundred,2 fifty-seven,3 three,4 one hundred and sixty,5 ten,6 and one.7 From June 25, 1675 to September 23, 1676, the records show the sale by the Plymouth colonial authorities of one hundred and eighty-eight Indians.8
In the Massachusetts Bay colony a similar disposal of captives was accomplished. On one occasion about two hundred were transported and sold.9 There is extant a paper written by Daniel Gookin in 1676, one item of which is as follows: “a list of the Indian children that came in with John of Packachooge.” The list shows twenty-one boys and eleven girls distributed throughout the colony.10
Hence, the continuing historical context of the Massacre for which Thanksgiving is named: "In Massachusetts, the colonists declared a 'day of public thanksgiving' in 1676, saying, "there now scarce remains a name or family of them [the Indians] but are either slain, captivated or fled."
A cold question arises about whether "the sale of Indians in Plymouth" was at least silently appreciated by the colony. Did they? Were they glad "the Indians" were almost exterminated? They never actually said they were far as I know.
It all began when Philip (called Metacom by his own people), the leader of the Wampanoag Indians, led attacks against English towns in the colony of Plymouth. The war spread quickly, pitting a loose confederation of southeastern Algonquians against a coalition of English colonists. While it raged, colonial armies pursued enemy Indians through the swamps and woods of New England, and Indians attacked English farms and towns from Narragansett Bay to the Connecticut River Valley. Both sides, in fact, had pursued the war seemingly without restraint, killing women and children, torturing captives, and mutilating the dead. The fighting ended after Philip was shot, quartered, and beheaded in August 1676.
How many were glad Saddam Hussein was hung? How many would be glad if all the perpetrators of 9-11 were shot? One last question, how many realize that then and now, colonialism always brings more violence as "a colonizing European nation was asserting political jurisdiction."
Puritans, Indians, and Manifest Destiny. p.75 - 76
...But tribal rivalries and wars were relatively infrequent prior to Puritan settlement (compared to the number of wars in Europe)...Neither would have increased if it were not that a colonizing European nation was asserting political jurisdiction, in the name of God, over indigenous New England societies...When thus threatened with the usurpation of their own rights, as native tribes had been threatened years before by them, Puritans came to the defense of a system of government that was similar, in important ways, to the native governments that they had always defined as savage and uncivilized...
Some have lost careers over stating the obvious: the US brings it upon itself.
Howard Zinn. A People's History Of The United States. p. 682.
We are not hated because we practice democracy, value freedom, or uphold human rights. We are hated because our government denies these things to people in Third World countries whose resources are coveted by our multinational corporations. That hatred we have sown has come back to haunt us in the form of terrorism.
(Paraphrasing) "And in secret places in our minds, in places we don't talk about, we can't handle the truth."
That is true now, and it was true then. Genocide and slavery "saved lives," just the lives the dominant culture wanted to live. And for that, the dominant culture (a mind set) is grateful.
William Bradford, in his famous History of the Plymouth Plantation, celebrated the Pequot massacre:
“Those that scraped the fire were slaine with the sword; some hewed to peeces, others rune throw with their rapiers, so as they were quickly dispatchte, and very few escapted. It was conceived they thus destroyed about 400 at this time. It was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fyer, and the streams of blood quenching the same, and horrible was the stincke and sente there of, but the victory seemed a sweete sacrifice, and they gave the prayers thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for them, thus to inclose their enemise in their hands, and give them so speedy a victory over so proud and insulting an enimie.”
The timeline itself along with basic knowledge of the Pilgrim's Puritan's religious beliefs exposes the fact that historically speaking, Thanksgiving was literally about gratitude for genocide.
