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Re: Holocaust and the Indians
Posted By: Howard, on host 65.6.44.102
Date: Monday, January 31, 2005, at 16:50:27
In Reply To: Re: Holocaust Memorial Day posted by wintermute on Sunday, January 30, 2005, at 22:03:44:

>
> It's hard to say how many Indians were killed by white settlers (or haw many settlers by Indians), but one sign of the scale of the crimes committed against them is that the American government made over 400 treaties with the Indians, and broke every single one of them. They weren't even made citizens until 1924.
>
> winter"America hasn't been as bad as you might think"mute

I recommend "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee." It's been decades since I read it and I think it is still the book that most influenced my thinking on such matters.

Settlers killed a lot of Indians, but many more died at the hands of the military. The U.S. Army killed whole villages of Indians who were terribly outgunned. The Army had Gatlinguns and cannon while few Indians even had repeating rifles. So which battle is most often mentioned in the history books? The Battle of Little Big Horn, where the Army lost. It was a rare exception.

American Indians also died in large numbers after being infected with "white man's diseses," against which they had no immunity. I guess it was unintended, but it still seems like germ warfare.

At least Americans were consistant when it came to breaking treaties. That's 100%.

I think Americans relate to the Holocaust because the people who died looked a lot like us.
History can be very depressing!
Howard

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