During the first part of the twentieth century, the United States continued in its efforts to assimilate American Indians into an English-speaking, Christian European culture. Traditional American Indian religious practices were oppressed and discouraged as barriers to this assimilation. Briefly described below are some of the events of 1917 related to Indian religions. Native American … Continued
“We have been traveling through a cloud. The sky has been dark ever since the war began.” Moxtaveto (Black Kettle) The intent to commit genocide at Washita is hidden in plain view, unless key elements are brought together. These are: that the Cheyenne were placed on land where they would starve while promises to avert … Continued
Pope Alexander VI issued a Papal Bull in 1493 after Columbus’s first voyage in 1492. How did he order it to be complied with? Pope Alexander VI ordered Ferdinand and Isabella to comply: by agreeing the primary purpose of all voyages is christianizing and overthrowing all resisting nations, and doing so is “By the Authority … Continued
The city of Pittsburgh PA was once the center of the industrial world. But Pittsburgh was originally founded as a military fort, part of the struggle between two colonial powers to dominate the new world of North America. Blockhouse, Ft Pitt Museum, Pittsburgh By 1750, the continent of North America was divided between three European … Continued
For more than 10,000 years Indian people have lived adjacent to the Columbia River. The river provided them with countless salmon which they harvested with nets and spears. The annual salmon run provided Indians with a nutrient-rich food as well as a valued commodity for barter. It is estimated that the aboriginal salmon harvest along … Continued
In 1877 the United States army under the leadership of America’s Christian general, O.O. Howard, went to war against the Nez Perce. The five autonomous non-treaty Nez Perce bands selected Looking Glass, the leader of the Asotin band, as War Chief. Looking Glass, who had been born about 1823, took his father’s name and so … Continued
Fort Smith Surely, the United States has a divine right to maintain its rich “American expansion” it so justly obtained by forced slave labor, forced relocation, and genocide – Manifest Destiny is a term for the attitude prevalent during the 19th century period of American expansion that the United States not only could, but was … Continued
In 1966, Richard Hugo was teaching a poetry class at the University of Montana. One of his students was James Welch who had been born on the Blackfeet Reservation and raised on the Fort Belknap Reservation. Hugo realized that Welch knew nothing of poetry, but he encouraged him to write about what he did know: … Continued
By 1776, some of the British colonists in North America had become somewhat irritated with the Monarchy and particularly with its limitations on the expansion of the colonies. Colonial displeasure with the British King was expressed in a document known as the Declaration of Independence in which they express the following charge against the King: … Continued
By 1870, it was clearly evident that the Indian Service was the most corrupt branch of the federal government and that Indian reservations were often being run for the financial benefit of the government-appointed Indian agents at the expense of the Indians. In order for Indians to fully assimilate into American society, it was felt … Continued
