A native american question.

Hi Sulcata -

(BTW - are you really in Indonesia or have you just adopted the flag? I loved touring there!)

Native American history raises some good questions but not without controversy as you have already seen.

I would primarily agree with Pike on this one. The objective of the majority of the Indian wars in North America was neither the eradication nor economic exploitation of the Indians themselves, but rather a fight for the land that the Indians controlled. As far as many Europeans (and later white Americans) were concerned they were simply in the way. Much the same is true of the histories of the indigenous populations of other places settled by Europeans: South America, Australasia, South Africa...

In the United States, Indians were gotten "out of the way" through several methods. Some were removed by relocation; as in the Trail of Tears mentioned above. Some tribes were decimated by disease; the weakness of the once dominant Mandan and Hidatsa following plagues allowed the Sioux to move onto the plains, replacing sedentary agricultural peoples with nomadic hunter-gatherer societies. Some groups were reduced by starvation; the Plains Indians depended on the buffalo, which was hunted almost to extinction by whites. There were few attempts at outright eradication.

In the American model, I agree that genocide is the wrong word. Genocide is defined as "The systematic and planned extermination of an entire national, racial, political, or ethnic group." Such was rarely the case during American Indian Wars. While it was, occasionally, a goal pursued by individuals, it was never a purpose sanctioned either by the government or by the majority of the residents of the growing country. Once the land was in the hands of the Europeans and the Native Peoples were no longer considered a threat, their presence was tolerated. As the distance from the actual fighting increased you would find greater sympathy for the Indians and their cause. Then, perhaps more so than now, Americans had a need to feel that they were a just and enlightened people, and included in this was the correct treatment of defeated enemies. After the threat of war had passed in the east there came, for many Americans, a feeling of guilt, and with that a tendency to romanticize the Indians.

Throughout the 19th century, even while Indian Wars were still being fought in the west, the image of the Indian as an enemy was gradually being replaced by the romantic image of the "Noble Savage." Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans" (1826) gave us Chingachgook and Uncas, proud forest warriors who are the last of their tribe. Other popular literary characters, including Longfellow's Hiawatha (1855) joined them. Bodmer and Catlin painted realistic images of the Indians that fired imaginations and inspired sympathy. Wooden "Cigar Store Indians" became a popular sales tool. Sioux warriors, including Sitting Bull, who was at the battle of the Little Big Horn, toured America and Europe with Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, and Geronimo signed autographs (for a fee) at the St. Louis World's Fair. While the image of the Indian portrayed in popular culture through the end of the 19^th and well into the 20^th century was not in any way correct, it did, in many Americans, plant a desire to preserve some of the lost ways and spurred further study of the Indian cultures.

While there were some who believed that "The only good Indian is a dead Indian," this was in no way a universally held belief in 18th and 19th century America. Many Americans actually had sympathy for the Indian cause from very early on. Roger Williams, who founded the state of Rhode Island, also wrote the first book of translation from Algonquian to English. His "A Key into the Language of America or An help to the Language of the Natives in that part of America called New England," was published in 1643. Throughout his life, he insisted that any land settled by whites had to be fairly purchased from the Indians. He acted as a mediator during the Pequot War, and in King Phillip's War, during which 12 colonial towns were burned to the ground, he remained unharmed in Providence as the town was being attacked and burned by the Indians. The country was only a few years old when Thomas Jefferson was inviting leaders of the tribes contacted by Lewis and Clarke to come to Washington. In one of the most cold-blooded and calculating events of the Indian Wars, Cheyenne chief Black Kettle's village at Sand Creek was attacked by Col. Chivington's Colorado volunteer cavalry. One hundred and twenty three Indians, mostly women and children, were killed. Some of Chivington's own troops were so disgusted that they wrote letters of protest to Washington, leading to an investigation and national outcry that disgraced Chivington and Colorado. When Chiricaua Apaches were removed to Florida prisons, General Crook (see below) campaigned for the rest of his life to have them returned to their homes and never let the media or the public forget how the Indians had been treated. Catherine Weldon, a wealthy widow, moved to Dakota in 1889 as a representative of the "National Indian Defense Association" and her (especially for those times) outrageous antics assured that the plight of the reservation Lakotah stayed in the headlines. Each of these individuals was backed by national organizations and by members of the growing American press.

The Apache Wars of Arizona and New Mexico are a good model for what happened during many of the Indian wars. The Apache initially made friendly overtures to the American settlers, who treated them quite badly in return. One chief, Mangas Coloradas, was whipped almost to death simply for repeatedly approaching a one group as he tried to learn more about the whites. Cochise made friendly overtures but was led into an ambush negotiating with soldiers and was shot several times. While both survived their attacks, they felt strongly betrayed and became implacable enemies of the Americans. For the duration of the hostilities, from the 1830's through 1886, The United States broke every treaty and agreement with the Apache. During these wars one US military leader, General Carleton, did look to the complete extermination of the Apache. He was opposed by many, even in his own command. Colonels Kit Carson and John Cremony actively worked against the extermination policy and regularly ignored his orders. The 1871 massacre of eighty-five Apache was celebrated in Arizona, but caused national indignation and started a firestorm of protest. A special envoy was sent to the southwest reporting directly to the President. Carleton's replacement, General Crook, pursued a policy of conciliation, and while he was later replaced by General Miles who finished the campaign, he developed a lifelong admiration for the Apache.

The treatment of Native Americans during the settlement of the United States was by no means fair or good or in any way correct - particularly when judged by today's standards, but there were and are many who recognize that this was the case. This does not, however, allow license to credit the Indians with more than what they had actually accomplished. The Choctaw, Creek, Cherokee and other "civilized" tribes (as pictured in the post above) were living in a society modeled entirely after the European based society that surrounded them. These wealthy Indians were slave owning southern planters who mimicked all the habits, good and bad, of the jealous whites who finally displaced them; again for their valuable land. We cannot separate and judge today the wrongs committed by our ancestors against our ancestors. We can only strive to see that we do not forget the lessons of history and do not let similar situations occur today.

In the case of Utah it must be remembered that Utah was once predominantly Mormon and the Church of Latter Day Saints held (holds) great influence there. The Mormons are not traditionally a racially tolerant group and have a unique perspective on things. A more modern example; after much discussion, God finally revealed to them in 1979 that blacks could be full church members and hold positions in the priesthood. That's another discussion.

The early New England Wars were some of the best attempts by the Native Americans to stop the settlement of the Europeans, as well as being the some of the bloodiest of the Indian Wars. The Pequot War in 1637 could have eradicated all settlements in the Connecticut River Valley and along Long Island Sound had Roger Williams not used his influence with the powerful Narragansett tribe to keep them from entering the fray. They allied with the English colonists instead. It was a war of short duration. In the deciding battle of the war, now called the Mystic massacre, between 300 and 500 Indians, including women and children, were surrounded by the Connecticut colonists, Massachusetts Bay militia and a large force of Narragansett and burned in their palisade at Misistuck (present day Mystic). This effectively finished the war, although the Pequot were hunted through the New England forests for another year or so. Their chief, Sassacus, tried to take refuge with the Mohawk, who put him to death instead of giving him sanctuary.

Ironically, the alliance of the powerful Narragansett with the colonists led to their later demise as the colonists were then able to fight the tribes piecemeal rather than in force. Had the Narragansett joined with the Pequot it is almost certain that the European colonies in New England would have been temporarily eradicated. It was still a close game. During King Phillip's War in 1675, the Narragansett, Wamponoag and other New England tribes did rise up against the ongoing depredations of the Colonists. Of the 90 some New England villages and towns existing at the time, over 50 were attacked and at least a dozen were burned. By preventing their taking the side of the other Indians in 1637, the "Friend of the Indian" Roger Williams had inadvertently brought about their eventual downfall. Another of the many ironies; in one of the most devastating battles of this war, the Connecticut and Massachusetts militia came in over the ice near present day Kingston, Rhode Island and surrounded and destroyed a Narragansett palisade in what is now called the Great Swamp Massacre. They had learned the tactic from their Narragansett allies during the Pequot War.

A humorous (today) footnote to the War is included in the report of Edward Randolph, special emissary of King James II, who reported that the War was the colonist's fault.

Vanity is its own punishment. Go to church. And God forbid, don't be tolerant!

Re: Colonel Chivington - He was apparently an ass with political ambitions. In "Moon of Popping Trees," his excellent study of the Plains Indian wars, Rex Alan Smith says of him:

Another good example of what you get when you mix God and war. At least he didn't (that I know of) complain about Quakers and wigs.