Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears and the Middle Passage are journeys to the first of the concentration camps—Indian reservations and plantations—and the beginnings of the U.S. strategy to work the captured and colonized to death. I went through the Trail of Tears exhibit at the Cherokee National Museum about two and a half … Continued
For the Plains Indians, the buffalo (technically bison) was more than an important source of food, shelter, and clothing: the buffalo was also an important spiritual and cultural symbol. At the beginning of the nineteenth century there were an estimated 30 million buffalo roaming the Great Plains. A century later, in 1900, the buffalo had … Continued
During the first part of the nineteenth century, the fur trade continued to be an important area in the contact between American Indians and Europeans. During this time, beaver was of primary importance, driven in large part by European fashion. Shown above are two made beaver pelts on display in the Heritage Museum in Astoria, … Continued
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
