Proof of Genocide
When Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World in 1492 there was an estimated 12 to 15 million Native Americans living in what is now the United States by 1890 there were only 250,000 native people left alive (Davey and Woman). What happened to all those people? Where did 98% of the native population go? They were systematically eradicated through what we now call genocide. Here is the legal definition of genocide from the United Nation's Articles II and III of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide:
Article II describes two elements of the crime of genocide:
1) the mental element, meaning the "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such", and
2) the physical element which includes five acts described in sections a, b, c, d and e. A crime must include both elements to be called "genocide."
Article III described five punishable forms of the crime of genocide: genocide; conspiracy, incitement, attempt and complicity.
"Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
(a) Genocide;
(b) Conspiracy to commit genocide;
(c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;
(d) Attempt to commit genocide;
(e) Complicity in genocide. "
Genocide in the United States was not only the accepted “Indian Policy” it was codified. While it is still a matter of controversy as to whether or not the indigenous tribes practiced "Scalping" prior to European contact it is abundantly clear that it was not until the English Crown offered paid bounties for scalps that the practice became wide spread (Martin 1). The English offered bounties for "Scalps" and the American States continued the practice making it a cottage industry (1). Many White settlers made a living by taking the scalps of Indians who simply did not care whether they were "friendly Indians" or not (1). The settlers usually took the scalps of the defenseless elderly or woman and children due to the ease of procurement (1). There is an impression held by many historians that the practice of taking "Scalps" was a purely Indian invention giving proof to their inherent savagery. This assertion is pure propaganda. In the book, "Unlearning Indian Stereotypes", author Philip Martin published an account by an Iroquois elder, "Europeans put them up to it, y'know...The Englishmen offered bounties for scalps, since scalps were easily collected as proof of enemy killed. Lots of cheap whiskey was paid for with scalp money. Most of the scalps were from "enemy" tribesmen. Of course by "enemy" I mean enemy of a particular European power , such as Huron scalps when the Brits were backing the Iroquois" (1) The state of Massachusetts codified the taking of Native American scalps in “The Acts and Resolves of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay Vol. 1 1692-1714. The scalp law read:
In modern monetary terms the price for a scalp was $60 per head. More locally in 1756, Pennsylvania Governor Morris, in his “Declaration of War against the Lenni Lenape (Delaware) people, offered "130 Pieces of Eight [a type of coin], for the Scalp of Every Male Indian above the Age of Twelve Years, " and "50 Pieces of Eight for the Scalp of Every Indian Woman, produced as evidence of their being killed " (1). Being of Lenni Lenape decent I found this fact most disturbing and probably one of the reasons our Indian ancestry was a closely guarded family secret. The offering of bounties led to widespread violence against any person of Indian blood, male or female, young or old. Paying money for scalps of women and even children reflected the true intent of the campaign - to reduce native populations to extinction or to smaller numbers so the natives could not oppose European seizure of Indian lands (1).
"On this raid, Colonel Neill adopted a singular, if not barbarous, method of sending destruction upon the Indians. Having procured some smallpox virus, he vaccinated one of the captive warriors, and then released him to carry the infection into his tribe! Nothing was ever heard as to the success or failure of this project."
Although we do not have exact numbers we know for certain that millions of Native Americans perished after contracting the Small Pox virus many more died this way than by the gun.
Those Indians who were not directly murdered by U.S. troops or used as sex slaves by private militias that were compensated for murder by the U.S. Congress were forcibly removed from their lands and herded into concentration camps called Reservations (Brown 78). Many thousands died during these forced migrations, referred to by Native Americans as the "Trail of Tears", because the army provided no transportation for the elderly, no shelters from the elements, and no food rations (80). Most died of exposure and were left to rot on the sides of the trails (80). On the Reservations, which were situated on the most useless farm lands that could be found, the Indian became the first citizen of the welfare state (178). No longer able to hunt or to grow enough food to maintain proper nutrition many thousands died of hunger and malnutrition. Those that survived on government rations, which often included rancid canned meats, developed chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease (206). Leaving the Reservation was forbidden and any escapes were dealt with by summary execution (78). However, if gold was discovered on a Reservation the Indian population would be forcibly relocated again (79). After the Reservation system had been well established it was discovered that most tribes resisted assimilation. The Indians had a nasty habit of remaining Indian. Even though it was now illegal under Federal Law, many tribes persisted in practicing their religion and speaking their native tongue (16). The "Indian Problem", now became, "How do we force assimilation?"
A former U.S. Army Calvary officer, Capt. Richard H. Pratt came up with a solution that is summarized by his famous quote, "Kill the Indian, and save the man." Pratt became the head of the Indian Boarding school system (Brown 221). Beginning in 1887, the federal government attempted to “Americanize” Native Americans, largely through the education of Native youth (221). By 1900 thousands of Native Americans were studying at almost 150 boarding schools around the United States (221). The U.S. Training and Industrial School founded in 1879 at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, was the model for most of these schools (222). Boarding schools like Carlisle provided vocational and manual training and sought to systematically strip away tribal culture (223). They insisted that students drop their Indian names, forbade the speaking of native languages, and cut off their long hair (221). These schools were divided among the different Christian denominations and run by them with hardly any government oversight (223). The result was widespread sexual and physical abuse of the Indian children which left them with deep scars that are still felt in their communities today (225). Their are also allegations of murder at the schools. There have been a few mass unmarked graves found that were filled with Indian children nearby some of the abandoned schools but thus far this allegation has not been substantiated largely because the Justice Department has refused to open any investigations (226). By the 1960's the boarding school system was deemed a failure and a tremendous waste of money and the program was scrapped leaving poor tribal governments with the legal responsibility of educating their young.
If you are under the misconception that the genocide of Native Americans has long since ceased in the United States allow me to enlighten you. Article II, subsection D of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide clearly states, "Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group."
The Indian Health Services or (IHS) is under the direct supervision of the Bureau of Indian Affairs of (BIA) which is a an administrative branch of the Department of the Interior in charge of Native American public policy (Department of the Interior 1). On November 6, 1976, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) released the results of its investigation into the forced or coerced sterilization of Native American woman under the care of the IHS (Rutecki 1). The GAO records verified that the IHS performed 3,406 forced of coerced sterilizations between 1973 and 1976 on Native American women. Per capita, this figure would be equivalent to sterilizing 452,000 non-Native American women (1). Independent research estimated that as many as 25-50% of Native American women were sterilized between 1970 and 1976 (1). What may be the most disturbing aspect of the investigations it was physicians and healthcare professionals in the IHS who coerced these women (1). It was they who abandoned their professional responsibility to protect the vulnerable through appropriate, non-eugenic indications for surgery and informed consent prior to the procedures (1). The same study demonstrated that between 1972 and 1978, sterilization procedures went from 15.1% to 30.7% of total female surgeries on that one reservation (1). Healthcare professionals’ coercive tactics included the threat of withdrawing future healthcare provisions or custody of Native American children already born—if consent for sterilization was withheld (1). The scandal of this replay of earlier twentieth century eugenic programs and genocidal tactics led to a congressional hearing (Senator James Abourzek, Democrat, South Dakota), but little else in terms of publicity, justice, or public outcry (1). This is the last element of the five physical elements needed to prove Genocide under the UN charter. Clearly, the United States government is criminally liable for acts of Genocide against it's Native American population.
The French poet Charles Baudelaire said, “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist." The greatest trick the United States ever pulled off was committing genocide against its Native American population and convincing its own citizens that it never happened or isn't still happening. That is not to say that during this genocide there were not voices of decent among the non native and native citizenry who spoke out against the horror but those voices were and are still in the minority and largely ignored. So many immigrants who settled on Indian land benefited from the Holocaust it would be like "looking a gift horse in the mouth", to question what happened to the people who lived here before. So they live in towns named "Catasauqau" or on Pawnee Street and never think twice about the fate of the people who bear those names. Like the German citizens of Nazi Germany they claim that they know nothing about what was done in their name or even worse lie about the truth so much that they began to believe their own lies.Those Indians who were not directly murdered by U.S. troops or used as sex slaves by private militias that were compensated for murder by the U.S. Congress were forcibly removed from their lands and herded into concentration camps called Reservations (Brown 78). Many thousands died during these forced migrations, referred to by Native Americans as the "Trail of Tears", because the army provided no transportation for the elderly, no shelters from the elements, and no food rations (80). Most died of exposure and were left to rot on the sides of the trails (80). On the Reservations, which were situated on the most useless farm lands that could be found, the Indian became the first citizen of the welfare state (178). No longer able to hunt or to grow enough food to maintain proper nutrition many thousands died of hunger and malnutrition. Those that survived on government rations, which often included rancid canned meats, developed chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease (206). Leaving the Reservation was forbidden and any escapes were dealt with by summary execution (78). However, if gold was discovered on a Reservation the Indian population would be forcibly relocated again (79). After the Reservation system had been well established it was discovered that most tribes resisted assimilation. The Indians had a nasty habit of remaining Indian. Even though it was now illegal under Federal Law, many tribes persisted in practicing their religion and speaking their native tongue (16). The "Indian Problem", now became, "How do we force assimilation?"
A former U.S. Army Calvary officer, Capt. Richard H. Pratt came up with a solution that is summarized by his famous quote, "Kill the Indian, and save the man." Pratt became the head of the Indian Boarding school system (Brown 221). Beginning in 1887, the federal government attempted to “Americanize” Native Americans, largely through the education of Native youth (221). By 1900 thousands of Native Americans were studying at almost 150 boarding schools around the United States (221). The U.S. Training and Industrial School founded in 1879 at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, was the model for most of these schools (222). Boarding schools like Carlisle provided vocational and manual training and sought to systematically strip away tribal culture (223). They insisted that students drop their Indian names, forbade the speaking of native languages, and cut off their long hair (221). These schools were divided among the different Christian denominations and run by them with hardly any government oversight (223). The result was widespread sexual and physical abuse of the Indian children which left them with deep scars that are still felt in their communities today (225). Their are also allegations of murder at the schools. There have been a few mass unmarked graves found that were filled with Indian children nearby some of the abandoned schools but thus far this allegation has not been substantiated largely because the Justice Department has refused to open any investigations (226). By the 1960's the boarding school system was deemed a failure and a tremendous waste of money and the program was scrapped leaving poor tribal governments with the legal responsibility of educating their young.
The Indian Health Services or (IHS) is under the direct supervision of the Bureau of Indian Affairs of (BIA) which is a an administrative branch of the Department of the Interior in charge of Native American public policy (Department of the Interior 1). On November 6, 1976, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) released the results of its investigation into the forced or coerced sterilization of Native American woman under the care of the IHS (Rutecki 1). The GAO records verified that the IHS performed 3,406 forced of coerced sterilizations between 1973 and 1976 on Native American women. Per capita, this figure would be equivalent to sterilizing 452,000 non-Native American women (1). Independent research estimated that as many as 25-50% of Native American women were sterilized between 1970 and 1976 (1). What may be the most disturbing aspect of the investigations it was physicians and healthcare professionals in the IHS who coerced these women (1). It was they who abandoned their professional responsibility to protect the vulnerable through appropriate, non-eugenic indications for surgery and informed consent prior to the procedures (1). The same study demonstrated that between 1972 and 1978, sterilization procedures went from 15.1% to 30.7% of total female surgeries on that one reservation (1). Healthcare professionals’ coercive tactics included the threat of withdrawing future healthcare provisions or custody of Native American children already born—if consent for sterilization was withheld (1). The scandal of this replay of earlier twentieth century eugenic programs and genocidal tactics led to a congressional hearing (Senator James Abourzek, Democrat, South Dakota), but little else in terms of publicity, justice, or public outcry (1). This is the last element of the five physical elements needed to prove Genocide under the UN charter. Clearly, the United States government is criminally liable for acts of Genocide against it's Native American population.
If there is any doubt that America had an official policy of oppression against Native Americans it is dispelled by the words of our former presidents.
"Indian's and wolves are both beasts of prey, tho' they differ in shape."
George Washington
"If ever we are constrained to lift the hatchet against any tribe, we will never lay it down till that tribe is exterminated, or driven beyond the Mississippi… in war, they will kill some of us; we shall destroy them all."
Thomas Jefferson
"My original convictions upon this subject have been confirmed by the course of events for several years, and experience is every day adding to their strength. That those tribes cannot exist surrounded by our settlements and in continual contact with our citizens is certain. They have neither the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor the desire of improvement which are essential to any favorable change in their condition. Established in the midst of another and a superior race, and without appreciating the causes of their inferiority or seeking to control them, they must necessarily yield to the force of circumstances and ere long disappear."
Andrew Jackson
"Ordered that of the Indians and Half-breeds sentenced to be hanged by the military commission, composed of Colonel Crooks, Lt. Colonel Marshall, Captain Grant, Captain Bailey, and Lieutenant Olin, and lately sitting in Minnesota, you cause to be executed on Friday the nineteenth day of December, instant, the following names, to wit… "Text from President Lincoln to General Sibley ordering the execution of American Indians in Minnesota.
Abraham Lincoln
"I don't go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of ten are, and I shouldn't like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth."
Theodore Roosevelt
Hope and change?
"We also recommit to supporting tribal self-determination, security, and prosperity for all Native Americans. While we cannot erase the scourges or broken promises of our past, we will move ahead together in writing a new, brighter chapter in our joint history."
Barack Obama
Maybe!?
"Only after the last tree has been cut down, Only after the last river has been poisoned, Only after the last fish has been caught, Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."
—Cree Prophecy
References:
Brown, D. 2000. "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Davey, R. Woman, Thunder, Y. (April 19, 2011). The Canary Effect. In Youtube. Retrieved March 20, 2013, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD7x6jryoSA.
Martin, P. (n.d.). Scalping: Fact or Fantasy. In Manataka American Indian Council®. Retrieved March 23, 2013, from http://www.manataka.org/page1438.html.
n.a.(no author). (n.d.). Who We Are. In U.S. Department of Interior, Indian Affairs. Retrieved March 23, 2013, from http://www.bia.gov/WhoWeAre/index.htm.
Ricert, L. (February 18, 2013). US Presidents in Their Own Words Concerning American Indians. In Native American News Network. Retrieved March 19, 2013, from http://www.nativenewsnetwork.com.
Rutecki, G., MD. (October 10, 2010). Forced Sterilization of Native Americans: Late Twentieth Century Physician Cooperation with National Eugenic Policies. In Bioethics and Human Dignity, Trinity International University. Retrieved March 23, 2013, from http://cbhd.org/content/forced-sterilization-native-
I'm sorry your blog is very sad :( makes you think about how cruel people can be to one another...and how well the government covers up abuse, genocide, deception etc...Do you feel better or worse after writing this blog? What did you take away from all this information ? Does it make you sad or look at people differently? You do not have to comment, I'm just curious!
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