Dancing in the snow

[riverwalker]

On this day, December 29, 1890 the massacre at Wounded Knee happened. Nearly 300 starving and freezing Lakota men, women and children were slaughtered by the 7th Cavalry. When some of the wounded women were taken to a local church, it was still adorned with Christmas decorations, and there is a photo of a victim lying on the floor of the church with "Peace on Earth" above her head. Personally, I had to understand America's past to understand the present. To me, the road to Fallujah passed right through South Dakota. The role of the press at the time, how such a powerful nation could feel so threatened by a group of destitute people and the Ghost Dance, the racism, the genocide. It is America's history and we still run from it.


Massacre At Wounded Knee, 1890
http://www.dickshovel.com/WKmasscre.html

The Wounded Knee Massacre - December 1890
www.lastoftheindependents.com/wounded.htm

Wounded Knee Introduction
www.bgsu.edu/departments/ acs/1890s/woundedknee/WKIntro.html

EyeWitness to History

www.ibiscom.com/knee.htm

Time & Again - Wounded Knee - Massacre of 1890
msnbc.com/onair/msnbc/ TimeandAgain/archive/wknee/1890.asp

Massacre at Wounded Knee Story and Index
www.dreamscape.com/morgana/wknee.htm

[rosesaylavee]

1. We are doomed to repeat our

mistakes until we confront them honestly.

Thanks for the reminder.

[meganmonkey]

2. "...the road to Fallujah passed right through South Dakota..."

That is a very powerful statement, and it is painfully accurate.

We are a nation in denial of so many things, and we will never heal as individuals and as a nation, or be able to act as a force for Good in the world, until we recognize this.

Thanks for posting this.

Rec'd.

[fishnfla]

7. "Thieves road" it was called

Black Hills Gold they were after then. Iraqi black gold now

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. They are still stealing gold from the Black HIlls

The amount that the US govt has stolen from the Native American tribes in SD is absolutely staggering.

[annabanana]

3. It is heartbreaking

and it is true. There is an ugliness in the root of 'civilization', and it is a poison. When the tree is young and strong and growing the poison is nothing to it. When the tree gets old and slow the poison works in it.

Thank you for the links.

[catnhatnh]

4. Sometime in the fall or winter of 72'/73'....

we (the 4th inf division Ft. Carson Colo.) were put on alert for Wounded Knee...we had enough indians in the division that I like to think our (helicopter) support would have been mixed...Ilike to think that mainly helicopters would have been massacred...

[kliljedahl]

5. This post is now on the Greatest Page

where it so richly deserves to be. TYVM for this reminder.



Keith’s Barbeque Central

[pansypoo53219]

6. beware what the great father, W

is bringing you Iraq.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. Thanks for the reminder.

If your typical white American can shut down Americans on American soil, then why are we surprised that they want to annihiliate all Muslim children across the world; and if they're willing to do that, then how long before they believe in annihiliating any American who was born with brown skin because they look like a Muslim?

There is some serious disconnect in this country, and we should have realized that what this country did to the American Indians was the beginning of a pattern.

[robbedvoter]

9. That investigation report sounds exactly like the Iraq war reports

where all the bombs falling on markets and other city areas were "Saddam's - firing on his own people" - just as eventually the make of the bombs (in USA) was making its way in the international press - but never here.
And most people didn't care anyway - then or now. Thank you for the sobering reminder. This is not new.

[catnhatnh]

10. Up here in New England,we ate our indians....

or at least assimilated the remnants of tribes...as a proud irishman I readily admit to red blood (though I deny the Englishman who gave me my last name)....my family were oystermen....we knew the places our indian forefathers lived by the communal piles of oyster shells...we harvested the shells for "aquaculture"-the seeding of oyster beds and private farming of them...those Pequots and Penobscots left us a wealth that lives till this day...I would have loved to meet my ancestors...

[Maraya1969]

34. This needs to be sent around to all those claiming this is a "Christian

Nation" and should follow "Christian dogma"

[donsu]

11. kicking for justice

nt

[sojourner]

12. the history of this so-called "great" nation is terribly disturbing...

my dad was a history buff and grew up in western Montana -- he taught us all about our culture's wonderful dealings with the native americans who once lived on the land. it is heartbreaking and can never be excused. :cry:

ps: recommended - great post (however sad)

[Sparkman]

25. It is sickening. Dances With Wolves was on regular TV last week.

My copy of A People's History of the United States supplements the COMPLETE LACK OF ORIGINAL PEOPLE'S GENOCIDE in my public school experience in Calif. We visit the casinos, and supported the messure 70 limiting taxation on tribes (failed) and opposed prop. 68, allowing non-tribal casinos locating anywhere business wants (failed). The public still doesn't see the need for economic independance of the tribal peoples.

[Spazito]

13. Thank you for posting this, it is a very important reminder

"To me, the road to Fallujah passed right through South Dakota."

Very powerful statement.

Recommended.

[neweurope]

14. Good that you reminded us. Some pictures:

20 National Medals of Honor were given for this slaughter of over 200 children and women along with over 100 unarmed men




-----------------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[hiley]

15. To me, the road to Fallujah passed right through South Dakota.

chilling and true, thank you.

[robbedvoter]

16. Truth is a daughter of time

[bloom]

17. kick...

:(

[Clara T]

18. Rec'd

Must know our history and stop telling the lie so we can stop living the lie.

When you look at the seeds of violence then you can understand the wars too numerous to account fpr here, are really no aberration for this nation.

It is always about the land.

[neweurope]

19. kick

[BamaBecky]

20. Thank You RiverWalker for reminding us! Nominated!

[roguevalley]

21. This is one of the saddest days in North American history. I can

hardly stand the awfulness of this.

[Clara T]

22. A Quote

"We Americans love our freedom; apparently though the freedom to revel in acts of mass murder ranks high upon our list of national pleasures. Nothing new and surprising here, folks: From Wounded Knee to Fallujah, genocide has always been our favorite blood sport. As proof of this, one simply needs to consider the impressive body count of Iraqis that we've rung-up in only two short years of our freedom fructifying crusade in their country. No need for a congressional hearing into this matter: We've rung up the high score without any steroid enhancement."
-Phil Rockstroh

[kliljedahl]

23. When we have a day of remembrance for this

like they try to have for 9/11™ then we'll have made some progress.



Keith’s Barbeque Central

[Clara T]

32. "Day of Rememberance"

insufficient. And mostly patronizing feel good false ceremony used by the conqueror to absolve himself of guilt. Don't want any We're Sorry national apologies, or even an entire month.

Land of a high quality on sacred ground is the only sufficient and just response, right of return. Dignity not assimilation. New twists on old ways.

[kliljedahl]

41. That's what should happen if justice is served

I was just trying to be realistic about what could happen. Realistically it should be a day of mourning and atonement, not remembrance.



Keith’s Barbeque Central

[Clara T]

42. What goes for being realistic

is self limiting and usually used as a form of false comprise that suits the criminal class.

Maybe it's time we stopped being "realistic", having heard this alot we can see where it has taken us. To the edge.

[Sparkman]

24. When I recalled that millions of original people were killed by Euro-Ameri

cans, here on DU, a couple of comments disputed the magnitude of the genocide.
Imagine living on the plains and the pristine mountain and valley lands, taking the fauna and flora as needed, and then having to move onto CONCENTRATION CAMPS after your tribes men and women and children were murdered by war machines wielded by whites invading the land.
God Damn It, where's the spirit of those invaders reside? What spirit drops cluster bombs and 500 or 1000 pound munitions onto neighborhoods...same as the U.S. cavalry and the "settlers" barging in on the original people in America.

[uppityperson]

26. Thanks, knew it was around now but not which date

sad holidays

[Straight Shooter]

27. White men like to think they are the most free people on earth.

But the truth is, they are bound by the heavy chains of their cruelty to others, and are slaves to the lies that build those chains.

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. One of the saddest places in our country is Wounded Knee

I was there in August of '04. It is off the beaten path but I recommend strongly that if you are ever in the area, go see it. It is so sad yet so important that we never forget what happened to the Native Americans in SD.

[welshTerrier2]

30. racism is really just the most convenient excuse

i often believe if we couldn't find easy and obvious differences, we'd still find others to believe ourselves superior ...

one of my favorite quotes comes from a George Harrison song:

Isn't it a Pity; Isn't it a Shame ...
WHEN NOT TOO MANY PEOPLE
CAN SEE WE'RE ALL THE SAME

[bonito]

31. I think

It is acceptance that is the key that will set what we call humanity free.
When searching for peace among different people, the differences will always be foremost to settle.
And when finally recognizing we are fighting ourselves, recognition emerges, and it is the acceptance, of our collective selves, is where the loosing of our self identity accrues, finely finding ourselves as one, against no one. That will bring us together. Peace

[omega minimo]

33. Why was the Ghost Dance threatening/forbidden?

[Hissyspit]

35. Short Answer: The White Man would disappear from Earth

It started out as a peaceful movement, but took on the 'threatening' aspects. Others can expand, extrapolate, expound on that if they'd like. It is an oversimplification. Whether white men in power were actually "threatened" by this or used it as a demagogic tool, or both (along the lines of whether the Nazis actually felt threatened by gays and artists, etc. or just used them as useful scapegoat tools, or both) is open to debate.

"According to this article by Paul Saffo on the UC Berkeley Alumni Association website, the term “ghost dancing” originates from a native mystic who prophesied the fall of the white man and the re-ascendance of native peoples. The tribes, such as they were at the end of the 19th century, interpreted this in various ways and adopted “ghost dances” to hasten the fall of the interlopers. Apparently, the Sioux adoption of the ghost dance, and their violent interpretation of the mystic’s prophecy, led to the death of Sitting Bull and the massacre at Wounded Knee."

FULL QUOTE: "By the late 1800s, a decades-long assault of European values and technology, not to mention forced relocation, poverty, and disease had taken their toll on Native Americans across the west. Many tribes were at or near collapse when on New Year’s Day 1889, a Walker River Paiute mystic named Wovoka had a vision. Wovoka foresaw a new age in which the white interlopers would vanish and the natives would reclaim a rejuvenated world and be rejoined by their ancestors. Wovoka preached that this new world would arrive sooner if believers would engage in moral conduct, peaceful behavior, and practice a ritual round-dance that came to be called the Ghost Dance.

Word of Wovoka’s prophecies electrified the western tribes. Native delegations visited Wovoka and carried his prophecies back home. But each community interpreted the message in its own way. The long-suffering Sioux concluded that the ritual of the dance would accelerate the imminent destruction of the white man and that wearing special ghost shirts (likely inspired by the ritual garb worn by their Mormon neighbors) would protect the Sioux against white men’s bullets. Uncomprehending government agents noted the rise of the Sioux Ghost Dance with alarm. This culminated in the death of Sitting Bull and the 1890 massacre of the Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. White agents across the West suppressed the Ghost Dance rituals and when Wovoka’s prophecies failed to come to pass, the disappointment only accelerated the collapse of native cultures. By 1900, the Native American Ghost Dance was all but forgotten."

[omega minimo]

37. Thank you Hissyspit

There are no words.

[Hissyspit]

36. That same year (1890) the western "Frontier" was officially declared

closed, by the U.S. government.

[Clara T]

38. The brutality cannot be overstated

The massacre of Cheyenne Indians at Sand Creek, Colorado Territory on November 29, 1864 is listed as a battle in the records of the U.S. Army. So too is the massacre at Wounded Knee. Massacre or battle? By whose definitions are such things determined. On one hand, when Indians killed a number of whites it was commonly referred to as a massacre, such as Fetterman Massacre of December 21, 1866. It is interesting to note that Lakota Indians had named it The Battle of the Hundred Slain, meaning that it was a fierce fight and that the 80 or so soldiers died valiantly. Yet, when Indians were killed in large numbers by the military it was usually considered a great victory and an honored battle. Perhaps that is the nature of war - to the victor goes the spoils. One of the spoils is defining the history of the event so that the victors look more heroic. However a more disturbing fact has emerged regarding Wounded Knee. It appears that the Indians who were massacred were actually prisoners of war. Ironically, for this massacre Congress awarded the Medal of Honor. Not only that, but more Medals of Honor were awarded for this massacre than were awarded for any other military action in American history. Modern-day Indians have been calling for a reconciliation to this injustice. They say that it is a wound that will not heal, as long as those Medals honor the massacre. It is not to deny any legitimate heroic action, but it is difficult for any rational mind to see the killing of unarmed women and children prisoners as heroic, by any definition.

A controversy has lingered over the details and significance of the events that occurred on December 29, 1890 at the Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Right or wrong, the whites in the west felt threatened by the Lakota version of the Ghost Dance. They saw the Indian revival as a call to arms. At first Indian agents were not alarmed by the dance that was introduced to the Lakota by Kicking Bird in 1889. Kicking Bird was married to a niece of Big Foot, the leader of the Lakota massacred at Wounded Knee. Big Foot was the half-brother to Sitting Bull, the famed Lakota leader who had led the defeat if General Custer and the Seventh Cavalry in 1876.

The Lakota too had become alarmed, mainly because the government cut food rations by twenty-five percent, despite promises not to do so if the Lakota agreed to sell more land, which they had done. Dr. Valentine Trant McGillycuddy, the former Indian Agent of Pine Ridge, wrote that the treaty allowance of six million pounds of food was cut to four million during that fateful winter. Other historians have said that the Plains had suffered drought the previous summer. Food was scarce to begin with and the cut in rations was a formula for disaster. Apparently the beef delivered to the Lakota was also of inferior quality, adding to the dilemma. McGillycuddy served as Indian agent for seven years, but had advocated a policy of turning warriors into farmers. He saw the final taking of all Indian lands as inevitable and he wanted to get the Indians as self-sufficient as possible before that day came.

It is my premise that the massacre at Wounded Knee was a planned disaster, orchestrated by the military and the Indian agents in order to force the Lakota into a fight. The army wanted a final decisive victory over the Indians and Wounded Knee provided them with the right opportunity. Once the terrible details of the massacre became evident, the U.S. army then acted to turn the massacre into a heroic victory by awarding the Medals of Honor. They wanted any questions about the conduct of the army to be seen as unpatriotic. To this very day, the army and Congress have attempted to cover up the injustice and have refused to rescind the medals. They continue to make the massacre of the Indian prisoners of war a heroic event.

http://www.dickshovel.com/hill.html

[Hissyspit]

39. Re: Victory in War

I will never forget the video of, I believe, a U.S. Navy crew and their cheers when they shot down what they believed was a threatening aircraft. The change on their faces when it became known that they had just shot down a civilian airliner is horrific. But to me the cheer in the first place was just as horrific. Why cheer when ANYONE has been killed by other human beings?

I forget which incident, maybe someone can enlighten.

[Faux pas]

40. Thanks for this. We all need a reminder that this 'great' country

was built on the deaths of the indigenous people. My caucasian (third generation American) heritage wants to die of shame. My small bit of American Indian heritage weeps for the Ancestors.

Kicked and recommended.

[Nordmadr]

43. Kicking and recommending for TRUTH!!!! N/T

[rman]

44. kick for belated justice

[Clara T]

45. it's still snowing

http://www.lawg.org/misc/publications-manuals.htm

[kliljedahl]

46. SOA needs shut down now

No wonder the whole world hates us. For that and so many other reasons.



Keith’s Barbeque Central