Action: Rescind Wounded Knee Medals of Dis Honor

( – promoted by navajo)

Petition: Medals of Dis Honor

Twenty-three soldiers from the Seventh Calvary were later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for the slaughter of defenseless Indians at Wounded Knee.

We are asking that these Medals of DIS Honor awarded to the members of the 7th Calvary of the United States Army for the murder of innocent women children and men on that terrible December morning be rescinded.

Credit & permission for image to & by www.myspace.com/removewoundedkneemedals

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A feather was lying on the sidewalk when I left work; I picked it up and looked closely at it. Carrying it as I walked, there was a baby bird beside my car, homeless. The baby bird had no wings and just stared at the pavement in the darkness, moving its head up and down. Several thoughts came into my mind as I watched and realized picking the bird up would get my scent on it and cause rejection from its mother. I thought about the suicides on reservations, the lack of justice on reservations, climate change, alcohol and drug addiction in the American Indian population, health concerns of American Indians, and the worries of the American Indian People in general. I then looked at the bird again, relating to it.

It is precisely things like “Twenty-three soldiers from the Seventh Calvary were later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for the slaughter of defenseless Indians at Wounded Knee,” counties and national parks being named after Custer, streets and so on being named after Sheridan, and Chivington Colorado being named after Chivington, that can lead me to feel like that bird with no wings staring at the pavement in darkness. Interesting, there isn’t a town, street, river, tank, or monument named after Hitler in Israel, nor would any medal of honor be bestowed upon a Holocaust Overseer. But the dominant culture in America, a term applied only to those doing harm, needs a rationalization when there are “national indigenous movements fighting to protect their dwindling territories and the right to manage the natural resources.” Why rescind “the Congressional Medal of Honor for the slaughter of defenseless Indians at Wounded Knee” when condoning genocide works so well? Let’s take a trip to the past to make a correlation in order to outline the right thing to do.

I had gotten into a discussion with a woman in Cheyenne about Washita, and she told me how a couple men coordinated an event of reconciliation. It involved a reenactment with Sand Creek Massacre descendants and grandsons of Custer’s 7th Calvary at the same location Black Kettle was exterminated by Custer. Paramount was the re-burial of a child victim’s bones.

The descendants camped where Custer’s 7th Calvary had attacked Black Kettle’s camp one century earlier; however, they were unaware that the grandsons of Custer’s 7th would be coming over the hill firing guns with blanks in them. When the 7th Calvary’s grandsons came towards them on horses firing blanks in their weapons, there were many feelings of surprise, fear, anger, and betrayal experienced by the Sand Creek Massacre descendants. Remember, the Sand Creek Massacre descendants and the ones who were slain at Washita were the same individuals.

Unknown to the Cheyenne, a California group called the Grandsons of the Seventh Calvary, Grand Army of the Republic, had been asked to join the Reenactment-

A line was formed after the reenactment with the grandsons of the 7th Calvary, who obviously wanted to help in this healing, at the front of the line. Lawrence Hart, a Mennonite pastor, felt very angry as he watched the bones of the child being passed down it towards the front. A Native woman then put a blanket over the little coffin containing the child’s bones, which continued to be passed down the line to Hart. The blanket was then handed to him.

“Among the Cheyenne was Lawrence Hart, a peace chief and a Mennonite pastor. The celebration became tense. The final event of the day was the re-burial of the victim’s remains. The small coffin was covered with a beautiful new woolen blanket. According to Cheyenne tradition, the blanket would be given to a guest.”

“The older peace chiefs asked Hart to give the blanket to the captain of the Grandsons of the Seventh Calvary! He couldn’t believe what they were asking. This man was the enemy! Hart’s own great-grandfather, Afraid of Beavers, had barely escaped the attack by hiding in a snowdrift.”

“Hart was tense. As the captain came forward, Hart told him to turn around. Hart’s trembling hands then draped the beautiful blanket over the captain’s shoulders.”

It was a grand moment. The wise Cheyenne peace chiefs had initiated peace.
The Grandsons embraced the chiefs. Some cried. Some apologized. When Hart greeted the captain, the officer took the Garry Owen pin from his own uniform and handed it to Hart.”

“Accept this on behalf of all Cheyenne Indian people,” the captain said. “Never again will your people hear Garry Owen.”

Read that last sentence again said by the captain, and remember that “Garry Owen” was the song Custer had his band play right before the exterminations began at Washita.

“Accept this on behalf of all Cheyenne Indian people,” the captain said.” Never again will your people hear Garry Owen.”

The lady I spoke with said there wasn’t a dry eye left.

Now, forty years later, it’s time for “Never again will your people see a ‘Congressional Medal of Honor for the slaughter of defenseless Indians.’” Please sign the petition if you haven’t already.

Petition: Medals of Dis Honor

Twenty-three soldiers from the Seventh Calvary were later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for the slaughter of defenseless Indians at Wounded Knee.

We are asking that these Medals of DIS Honor awarded to the members of the 7th Calvary of the United States Army for the murder of innocent women children and men on that terrible December morning be rescinded.

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Mitakuye Oyasin

10 Comments

  1.  PhDinHistory on 7/27/2008 7:48 PM:

    I know the guy who is going to get the medals rescinded. If people are interested, I could put them in touch with him.

    Thought you might want to take it from here, since you would have a much, much better idea of how to go about it.

  2. this strange turn of events (giving medals to mass killers) is pretty common in the ndn wars. Trying to recind them has proven a very thankless task because Americans don’t want to see their heros have feet of clay. To Americans of the day a vengeful seventh cav was understandable and as ok as napalming villages in ‘nam. Remember the kids author Frank Baum (Wizard of Oz) wrote a pro-genocide editorial during this time.

    I’ve supported the efforts to recind these medals and every so often it come up in ndn country… petitions and stuff, but others are doing the work on this, I’m not sure who they are. That the victors write the history is more true of our history than any others, correcting it is therefore all the more daunting. But it’s happening, slowly but surely some truth is popping through the bs and good posts like this one helps it along.

  3. Sometimes I don’t know whre to post things like this, perhaps I should learn to post a diary. Here’s somethiung from Kalyn Free, you can see their pics and bios at the INDINs list site. CC

    Dear INDN Friend:

    We are thrilled to announce the victories of two of our Oklahoma endorsed candidates in their July 29 primaries!  Judge Bob Murphy and Representative Anastasia Pittman were our only Oklahoma endorsed candidates who had primaries yesterday, and they both won heartily.  

    Bob Murphy, a member of the Cherokee Nation, won with 63.5% of the vote.  We are excited he is the Democratic nominee for Senate District 21, and we know he will be successful in winning this open seat.  The Republicans are targeting this seat so they can take control of the State Senate, and we need Bob to win in November for Democrats to keep the majority!  We can help him be victorious with your support.

    Representative Pittman, a Freedman member of the Seminole Nation, won with an unbelievable amount of support – 91.5% of the vote for House District 99.  We are so proud of her.  She has a general election opponent this fall, and she needs your help for reelection.

    Thank you so much for your support of these two incredible candidates, as well as all of our endorsed candidates for 2008.  We look forward to endorsing even more INDN candidates in the coming weeks, and we can do more with your help.
    Sincerely,

    Kalyn Free

    P.S. Want to help our INDN candidates more?  Please consider donating $10, $25, or $50 a month to INDN’s List, so we can provide assistance to our wonderful candidates and have the resources to reach out to more people.

  4. and couldn’t respond till now. I’m not sure who they are either, and it seems the best thing is to just help it along. There was even some hesitation over at Kos, but those who were questioning it signed in the end. It seems so engrained that it’s like tearing down a wall one brick at a time. Anyway, thankyou cacamp and I’m sorry I couldn’t respond sooner.

  5. Teresa Two Bulls and Johnathon Windy Boy are both good friends of mine and all the others deserve our support. C

    Dear INDN Friend:

    We are thrilled to announce our next round of endorsements for 2008!  These candidates from 9 states and 11 tribes will certainly represent Indian Country well when they are elected in November.  We are excited to be able to support five candidates who we first endorsed in 2006.  They won then, and all of our candidates can win this year with your help!

    You can read more about all of our endorsed candidates here.

    Oklahoma

    Bruce Curnutt, a member of the Choctaw Nation, is running for LeFlore County Sheriff.  Bruce won his primary on July 29, but he has a runoff on Tuesday (Aug. 26).  He needs your support to win!

    Gary Starns, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, is running for HD 25.  He won his primary on July 29 with 64.4% of the vote, and now faces the Republican incumbent in November.  Two years ago, this seat was lost by only 2 votes, and Gary needs your help to be victorious this fall!

    Senator Richard Lerblance, a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, is seeking re-election to SD 7.  We need to make sure Democrats take a true majority of the state senate in Oklahoma, and we need this incumbent to win again!

    Montana

    Representative Jonathan Windy Boy, a member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe, is now running for the Montana State Senate, District 16!  He won his primary, but faces a write-in campaign in the general.  He needs your support to win!

    Tony Belcourt, also a member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe, is running for Windy Boy’s open house seat (HD 32).  He won his primary by one vote, but he faces a write-in campaign from his primary opponent in the general.  Let’s make sure he wins again and make it a bigger margin of victory!

    Nevada

    Assemblyman John Oceguera, a member of the Walker River Paiute Tribe, is running for reelection to the Nevada State Assembly (District 16), where he currently serves as Majority Leader.  We support his campaign to win again!

    Arizona

    Senator Albert Hale, a member of the Navajo Nation, is running for reelction to SD 2.  We were proud to endorse him in 2006 and are excited for the opportunity to do so again.  Join us in supporting Senator Hale!

    Alaska

    Representative Woodie Salmon, a member of the Chalkyitsik Tribe, is running for reelection to the Alaska State House, District 6.  We proudly endorsed his campaign in 2006, and are pleased to support him again!

    Pennsylvania

    Representative Barbara McIlvaine Smith, a member of the Sac and Fox Nation, is seeking reelection to HD 156 in Pennsylvania.  We endorsed her in 2006, when she won by less than 50 votes, and her victory flipped control of the state house!

    South Dakota

    Senator Theresa Two Bulls, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, is running for reelection to SD 27.  She won her primary this year, and faces a Republican in the fall.  We endorsed her in 2006, and are proud to do so again.  She needs your help to win!

    Colorado

    Senator Suzanne Williams, a member of the Comanche Nation, is seeking reelection to the Colorado State Senate, District 28.  She had no primary, but faces a Republican in November.  Help us propel her to victory this fall!

    And last but not least…

    Wyoming

    Representative Patrick Goggles, a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe, is running for reelection to HD 33.  We proudly endorsed him in 2006, and are excited to do so again!

    We have now endorsed 28 candidates, from 11 states and 19 tribes, who can go on to the general election in November.

    Since our founding 3 years ago, we have experienced an impressive 79% win rate, with 22 of 28 of our endorsed candidates winning in 2006 & 2007!  With your help, we can do even more.  

    Please give today to INDN’s List to help us support these excellent candidates.

    Thank you for your support.

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