INDIGENOUS RESISTANCE, 1960S-PRESENT
Since the invasion of our territories began in 1492 our people have had to mobilize to defend our sovereignty. Indigenous Resistance has taken on many forms, and has revealed itself through the Pontiac Rebellion, Battle of Little Bighorn,The Ghost Dance, Riel Rebellion, American Indian Movement, Oka Crisis, the Zapitista Movement, Native Youth Movement etc.However, when most settlers think back to the conquest of the territory that now makes the United States and Canada, most of them think that the end of the so-called “Indian Wars” as the cap of it, officially happening sometime around 1890. In that year some 300 unarmed Lakota men, women & children were massacred at Wounded Knee, South Dakota by the armed forces of the United States.From this period until the 1950s, Native peoples were largely pacified & controlled by the colonial settler states. Native children were stolen from their families and thrown in schools in an act of genocide. Their cultures, languages and spiritual practices were annihilated by the white supremacist schooling in an effort to, by any and all means, assimilate Natives into white settler society.Resistance by our people, and militant police action by the colonial state to suppress our resistance, did continue though. In 1924 Canada violently suppressed the traditional government of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, one of the few remaining traditional Native governments in the wake of the Indian Act.For the most part however the protests of Natives consisted of lobbying the government for better treatment. In the 1950s things began to change. Largely inspired by the Black Civil Rights struggle in the U.S., Natives in both Canada and the U.S. also began organizing. In the south west, Native students began organizing, while in the Northwest, coastal Natives began asserting their treaty rights to fish. The Prairies and the Kanien’kehaka, or Mohawks, of Québec, Ontario and the U.S. lead the charge in this new militancy.This movement was the first to occur outside the official sactioned band & tribal council system set up by both U.S. & Canadian governments (Native compradors). This early movement established a the basis for a grassroots network of conscious Natives opposed to colonization, and who were committed to maintaining their traditional culture & values, much of which had been lost in the forced schooling of Native children. This informal network formed the basis for the next phase of resistance which took off in the 1960s.Its no historical mystery that the 1960s was a period marked by rebellion and a revolution on a global scale. Taking inspiration from the fierce resistance of the Vietnamese people against U.S. invasion & occupation, the Cultural Revolution in People’s China and the widespread revolt of students and workers in Europe, new social movements emerged, including the Black Panthers, and the women’s, students, queer liberation and anti-war movement.It is from this period that the current Native resistance movement more or less emerged. In the 1980s things began to quiet down, but then Oka in 1990 exploded, reviving the movement for the last 20 years. This last 35-year period therefore forms an important part of our history as a movement.A TIMELINE OF BROWN AND RED NATIVE UNITY
I am of the firm belief that Chicanos/Mexicanos, who are a people representing both full blooded Natives as well as people of mixed Native and European, as well as African, descent should be rightly seen as Native people to North America alongside Indians, Metis and Inuit. They have had their cultures, their languages and their histories twice assaulted: first by the Spanish invaders of Mexico and the American south west, and second by the U.S. gringos following the seizure of northern Mexico. Many have lost their once organic relationship to their indigenous past, but their have always been pockets of resistance, and remembrance. During the height of the Red Power and Chicano Power movements there were many examples of powerful working relationships between brown and red Natives, and today that relationship continues on.It is not the various names, logo’s, flags, patches, initiation ceremonies or individual groups we organize under that defines us. These things are not important. It is the institution of Indigenous Resistance that unifies us, brown and red, all into one Movement. In recognition of this I have included on this time line not just those actions and events by people called Native by the colonial state, but also those of our brown brothers and sisters.Mexica Tiahui! Hoka Key!1954
The U.S. Congress passed the Menominee Termination Act, ending the special relationship between the Menominee tribe of Wisconsin and the federal government. Following the termination of the Menominee the Klamath tribe in Oregon was terminated under the Klamath Termination Act. Finally The Western Oregon Indian Termination Act was enacted west of the cascade mountains. This termination was unique because of the number of tribes it affected. In all, 61 tribes in western Oregon were terminated. This total of tribes numbered more than the total of those terminated under all other individual acts.1958
The U.S. Congress passed the California Rancheria Termination Act. Rancherias are unique Californian institutions referring to Indian settlements established by the U.S. government. The act terminates 41 of these settlements.1964
An amendment to the California Rancheria Termination Act was enacted, terminating additional rancheria lands.1967
The first Brown Beret unit is organized in December in East Los Angeles, California.1968
At Kahnawake (ga-na-WAH-gay), a traditional Kanien’kehaka Singing Society is formed, which would later become the Mohawk Warrior Society. They begin to take part in protests & re-occupations of land. As well, a protest & blockade of the Seaway International Bridge (demanding recognition of Jay Treaty), at Akwesasne, ends with police attack & arrests of scores of Mohawks.The American Indian Movement, a Warrior Society of urban Indians, is formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Inspired by the traditional Warrior Societies of nations like the Mohawk, and taking cues from the serve the people programmes of the Black Panthers, AIM establishes a community centre, and provides help to Indians in finding work, housing and legal aid. It also helps to organize early protests, and establishes a copwatch patrol. Although the most well known, AIM was just one part of a broad Native resistance movement that emerged at this time (sometimes referred to as Red Power). Other important groups to emerge out of this period are United Native Americans and United American Indians of New England.The Brown Berets organized chapters throughout the states of California, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and as far away as Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon, and Indiana, becoming a national organization.1969
The event that really kicked things off for the Red Power Movement, the occupation of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. The occupation was largely in response to the U.S. Federal Government’s policy of Termination, which eliminated tribal status. The two guinea pigs for the policy, the Menominee of Wisconsin and the Klamath of Oregon, suffered terrible social and economic consequences. The action would last 19 months and be the first Indian protest to receive national & international media coverage. Thousands of Indians participated in the action, most coming from urban areas and searching for their identity.In March, in Denver, Colorado the Crusade for Justice, a Chicano organization, organized the first National Chicano Youth Liberation Conference that drafted the basic premises for the Chicana/Chicano Movement in El Plan de Aztlán. The following month over 100 Chicanas/Chicanos came together at University of California, Santa Barbara to formulate a plan for higher education: El Plan de Santa Barbara. With this document they were successful in the development of two very important contributions to the Chicano Movement: Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) and Chicano Studies.1970
AIM protests disrupt the re-enactment of Mayflower landing at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, gains national attention & helps AIM to expand. United American Indians of New England declared US Thanksgiving Day a National Day of Mourning. It becomes an annual protest.The San Diego Brown Berets occupy the land that was to be a California Highway Patrol station in LoganHeights under the Coronado Bridge, forming Chicano Park.1971
In Pennsylvania, unknown persons break into FBI office and take many classified documents. These revealed the existence of the Bureau’s Counter-Intelligence Program. COINTELPRO, as it was known, set up surveillance and organized repression against progressive social movements in U.S. The program initially targeted the African Liberation Movement, especially the Black Panthers, but would later also turn its eyes on the Red Power and Chicano Movements. It used imprisonment, assaults and lethal force to enforce the established order.The Brown Berets marched one thousand miles from Calexico to Sacramento in “La Marcha de laReconquista” to protest statewide against racial and institutionalized discrimination, police brutality, andthe high number of Chicano casualties in Vietnam. The Brown Berets then embarc on a yearlong nationwide expedition in “La Caravana de la Reconquista” toorganize La Raza on a national scale to secure rights and self-determination for La Raza.After much struggle by both the Chicano and the Indian communities (though not without some disagreement), D–Q University is founded. The two year college is path breaking in the way it openly treats Chicanos as tribal Native people. The school becomes home to members of the American Indian Movement, as well as a meeting place for MEChA.1972
AIM and many other native groups organize the Trail of Broken Treaties. The TBT is a caravan that travelled from the west coast to Washington, D.C. When the caravan of several thousand activists arrived in Washington, government officials refused to meet with them. In response The Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters is occupied for 6 days. Extensive damage is done to the property and thousands of files taken.In February of that year Raymond Yellow Thunder is killed by settlers in Gordon, Nebraska. His murderers are only charged with manslaughter, and were then released without bail. AIM organized several days of protests and boycotts, and succeeded in having actual murder charges laid against the settlers. The police chief fired. Yellow Thunder is from Pine Ridge, and this incident helps build a stronger relationship between AIM and traditional Lakotas on the reserve.The Brown Berets reclaimed Isla de Santa Catalina in order to bring attention of the illegal occupation of theislands by the U.S. and to claim it on behalf of the Chicano people and to bring attention to the shortage ofhousing for the Chicano community. The U.S. has illegally occupied this and the other Archipelago Islandsknown as the Channel Islands since 1848 when they signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.Brown Berets were infiltrated by sellouts and subversives working for outside organizations including butnot limited to the FBI, LAPD, CWP, ATF, and other “law enforcement” agencies and organizations workingto co-opt the Movimiento Chicano to serve their own agendas. The Brown Berets were disbanded by thethen Prime Minister David Sanchez in order to circumvent any violence the members of the organizationwhich was being promoted by those infiltrators mentioned above.1973
Another Indian, Wesley Bad Heart Bull, is killed by another racist settler, this time in South Dakota. Again the perpetrator is only charged with manslaughter. On February 6, an AIM again protests against this kind of injustice. In Custer, SD, the protests cause the courthouse erupts into riot. Police cars and buildings are set on fire. 30 people arrested.On the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, large numbers of police and US Marshals are deployed to counter the activities of AIM and traditionalist Lakotas opposed to the corrupt tribal president Dick Wilson. With the aid of U.S. government funing Wilson established a paramilitary force known as the Guardians of the Oglala Nation, called GOONs by AIM and its allies.In a period beginning in this year and ending in 1976, some 69 members or associates of AIM were killed by the GOONs, BIA police and FBI agents in and around Pine Ridge.Angered by the ongoing repression and violence, some 200 AIM memebers, supporters and traditionalist Lakota warriors begin an occupation of Wounded Knee on February 27. The government responds with a 71-day siege during which two Natives were shot and killed (Buddy Lamont & Frank Clearwater). The siege ends on May 9.At Kahnawake in September, the Mohawk Warrior Society evicts non-Natives from the over-crowded reserve. This leads to armed confrontation with Québec police in October. Warriors begin to search for land to re-possess.1974
A group of traditionalist Mohawks, along with veterans of the Wounded Knee occupation, begin an occupation of Ganienkeh in New York state. The warriors retake land and engage in an armed standoff with state police. Eventually, negotiations result in Mohawks taking a parcel of land in upstate NY (in 1977). Ganienkeh, a community run in accordance with ancient Six Nations tradition, continues to exist today.In Canada, the Native People’s Caravan, modelled after Trail of Broken Treaties takes place form September 14 to 30, and heads from Vancouver, British Colombia to Ottawa. It ends with riot police attacking 1,000 Indian activists at Parliament Building.Armed roadblocks and occupations occur at Cache Creek, British Colombia, and Kenora, Ontario.1975
Perhaps the most famous incident of the period: the shootout at Oglala. At Oglala, on the Pine Ridge reservation, the FBI botched a raid on an AIM camp. The failed operation ends with 2 agents killed along with 1 Native defender (Joe Stuntz-Killsright). The FBI launched one of the largest man hunts in US history for AIM suspects afterwords.Elsewhere, in Wisconsin, the Menominee Warrior Society occupied the abandoned Alexian Brothers novitiate building in Gresham, Wisconsin. The occupation lasted thirty four days and, when it ended, many leaders of the occupation faced criminal indictments and trials.1976
In February, the body of Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash, a Mik’maq from Nova Scotia, Canada, and member of AIM, is found on the Pine Ridge reservation. Aquash was one of the most well known female members of AIM, a veteran of the BIA occupation and Wounded Knee. Despite an initial cover-up by the FBI, an independent autopsy finds that Aquash had been executed with a bullet in the back of the head. The FBI or GOONs are primary suspects. To this day no one knows for sure who killed Anna Mae, and her death has been used to tear the movement apart, with some fingering others within AIM, and others the government.Two suspects in the FBI deaths at Oglala (Dino Butler & Bob Robideau) are found not guilty on grounds of self-defense. A third suspect, Leonard Peltier, is captured in Canada. Using false evidence, the FBI have Peltier illegally extradited to South Dakota.1977
The trial of Leonard Peltier ends with his conviction of murder and imprisonment for 2 life terms. His conviction is based on FBI fabrication and withholding of evidence. Peltier remains in prison to this day, one of the longest held Prisoners of War in the U.S.1981
On June 11, some 550 Québec Provincial Police raid Restigouche, a Mik’maq reserve of 1,700. Riot police carry out assaults and search homes for evidence of ‘illegal’ fishing. This is in response to complaints by white fishermen that the Mi’kmaq take more than their fair share of fish. This is despite the fact that the white fishermen take order of magnitude more fish than the Indians.Unión del Barrio is formed. UdB is a Marxist-Leninist and revolutionary nationalist organization Raza organization. UdB expands the usual definition of La Raza to include the indigenous people of North America, making Brown and Red native unity part of its program.1988
Over 200 Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), including riot & Emergency Response Teams, raided the Mohawk territory of Kahnawake. They claimed they are searching for illegal cigarettes. In response Warriors seized the Mercier Bridge, a vital commuter link into Montreal, part of which runs through the Kahnawake reserve.In northern Alberta, the Lubicon Cree began road-blocks against logging and oil companies devastating their territory & way of life. A logging camp and vehicles are damaged by Molotov attacks. The struggle of the Lubicon continues to this day, now with the added threat of even greater ecological destruction and health effects at the hands of the Canadian Oil Sands.In Labrador, Innu activists began protesting NATO fighter-bomber training at a Canadian military base. Many Innu were arrested during the blockade of runways.1990
The Oka Crisis. Over 100 heavily-armed Québec provincial police raided a Mohawk blockade at Kanesatake/Oka on June 11. In an initial fire-fight, one cop is shot & killed. Following a 77-day armed standoff began. Eventually it came to involve 2,000 police and 4,500 Canadian soldiers, deployed against both Kanesatake & Kahnawake. The Oka Crisis inspired solidarity actions across country, including road and rail blockades and sabotage of bridges and electrical pylons.1992
During protests against the 500-year anniversary of Columbus’ invasion of the Americas in October, dozens were arrested in Denver, Colorado. In San Francisco, riot cops fought running battles with protesters, who set 1 police car on fire and disrupted an official Columbus Day parade and re-enactment of his landing.1993
Brown Berets are re-activated under the old Charter and Provisions as laid out by the previous BrownBeret National Organization.1994
The Zapatista Rebellion begins. In Chiapas, Mexico, armed rebels of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation launched their New Year’s Day offensive, capturing 6 towns and cities. Comprised of Indigenous peoples, the EZLN declare war on the Mexican state and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In response, the government deployed 15,000 soldiers and killed several hundred civilians in attacks. Since 1994, the Zapatistas have continued to gain widespread support and sympathy throughout Mexico and the world. Along with Oka, the Zapatista uprising helps to inspire and drive 20 years of resurgence in the Indian movement in North America.1995
Two major events took place this year in Canada. The first is in Ipperwash, Ontario, were an unarmed protest and re-occupation ended with Ontario police opening fire on the protesters. They kill one Indian, Dudley George, on September 6. The re-occupation had begun in 1993. The land, originally the Stoney Point reserve, was taken by the government during the second world war for use as a temporary army base. After the killing of Dudley George, the government admitted the peoples claims were justified. The second incident is the month-long siege that occured at Gustafsen Lake in the south-central Interior of British Colombia. It began after a settler attempted to evict Secwepemc sundancers from their traditional ceremonial grounds. Some 450 heavily-armed RCMP ERT, with armoured personnel carriers from the Canadian military, surround the rebel camp.1997
The Native Youth Movement, a militant grouping of largely urban Indians inspired by the original AIM, founded a chapter in Vancouver, British Colombia. It was inspired by the year-long trial of Gustafsen Lake defenders, held near Vancouver. NYM soon began attending conferences, organizing protests, distributing information, etc. In April, NYM carried out 2-day occupation of BC Treaty Commission offices.1998
The NYM branch in Vancouver carried out 5-day occupation of BCTC offices in April, and a 2-day occupation of Westbank band offices in Okanagan territory. Both of these are actions against treaty process.1999
The NYM branch in Vancouver helped members of Cheam band, located near Chilliwack British Colombia, assert their right to fish on the Fraser River. NYM Warriors wear masks and camouflage uniforms. They also carry batons to deter Fisheries officers, who routinely harassed Cheam fishers. As a result of this the NYM forms security force. This later took on a life of its on and became the Westcoast Warrior Society.2000
In May, members of the St’at’imc nation established Sutikalh camp near Mt. Currie, British Colombia, to stop a massive ski resort from being built on an untouched alpine mountain area.At Burnt Church, New Brunswick, Mi’kmaq fishermen again attempted to assert their treaty rights to fish lobster in September & October. They were again met with repression from hundreds of police and fisheries officers. Members of Westcoast Warrior Society participated in defensive operations.In October, Secwepemc established the first Skwelkwekwelt Protection Center to stop expansion of Sun Peaks ski resort, near Kamloops, British Colombia. Over the years, some 70 people are arrested and charged as a result of protests, roadblocks & re-occupation camps.After decades of the struggle by the Indian community and its allies, the San Francisco Peaks are designated a Traditional Cultural Property, which allows it to be eligible for consideration as an official National Historic Register site.2001
In May, a Secwepemc NYM chapter was established. A 2-day occupation of government office in Kamloops occured to protest selling of Native land.In July, over 60 RCMP with ERT raided Sutikalh after a 10-day blockade of all commercial trucking on Highway 97. Seven persons are arrested.2002
In December, Annishinabe in the northern Ontario community of Grassy Narrows began to blockade logging companies from destroying their traditional territory. The blockade becomes one of the longest in recent history, continuing through to the present, and directed primarily against Weyerhaeuser and Abitibi corporations.In September, RCMP, including Emergency Response Teams and Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET), raided the homes of West Coast Warrior Society members on Vancouver Island. They were allegedly searching for weapons.2003
In April, homes of NYM members were again raided, this time in Bella Coola and Neskonlith, by RCMP including ERT. This time the cops took computers, address books & propaganda.
2004
In January, Mohawk warriors surrounded the Kanesatake police station after band chief brings in outside police forces to crackdown on political opposition. Over 60 police were barricaded inside station. Chief’s house and car are burned.In June, RCMP INSET, along with Vancouver police ERT, arrested members of West Coast Warriors Society, for making legal purchase of firearms. Rifles and ammunition were seized in the bust. Shortly after, the West Coast Warrior Society was disbanded by its members. They cited the ongoing repression of them by the police.2005
In January, members of the Tahltan in northern ‘British Columbia’ occupied the band office in Telegraph Creek in opposition to band’s involvement with mining and oil & gas corporations. In July they began blockading roads being used by construction machinery, and in September fifteen Tahltans including elders were arrested by the RCMP. The Tahltan continued their campaign, including blockades, through 2006 and 2007.2006
On April 20, over 150 Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) attempted to forcibly remove a blockade at the Six Nations reserve territory near Caledonia, in southern Ontario. They violently arrest 16 Indians, using physical assaults, pepper spray & tasers. The Ontario Provincial Police are forced to withdraw however, as hundreds of Six Nations members converge on the site. More blockades were erected in the area, including on Highway 6, which consisted of burning tires, vehicles and dismantled electrical pylons, and mounds of gravel. A train bridge was also burned down. The next day on the Tyendinaga reserve, a Canadian National Railway line was blocked, cutting off a major freight and passenger line. The Six Nations members originally began their blockade to stop a housing development on land they claimed belongs to them. The blockades and land reclamation continue for over a year, with numerous conflicts with settlers and police occurring, as well as sabotage.In July, Grassy Narrows Annishinabe protesters, along with members of the Rainforest action Network, blockaded the Trans-Canada Highway. Several persons were arrested.This year also saw the founding the Wasasé Movement. Wasáse said about itself that it was “an intellectual and political movement whose ideology is rooted in sacred wisdom. It is motivated and guided by indigenous spiritual and ethical teachings, and dedicated to the transformation of indigenous people in the midst of the severe decline of our nations and the crises threatening our existence. It exists to enable indigenous people to live authentic, free and healthy lives in our homelands.” It is largely based on the thought and strategies for change laid in the book of the same name by University of Victoria professor Taiaiake Alfred, a Mohawk from Kahnawake. They are quite Gandhian in their outlook and approach, and due to its academic orientation, many warriors & grassroots organizers remained unexposed to the movement’s philosophy. The movement only last a few years before self-dissolving.2007
On March 6, a massive Olympic flag that was being flown at the Vancouver City Hall was stolen just as a delegation from the International Olympic Committee arrived to inspect the city’s preparations for the 2010 Winter Olympics. A few days later, as the IOC tour ended, the Native Warrior Society released a communiqué claiming responsibility for taking the flag, including a photograph of three masked members standing in front of the Olympic flag and holding a Warrior flag. The group claimed the action in honour of Harriet Nahanee, a Native elder who passed away after being sentenced to two weeks imprisonment for taking part in a 2006 blockade of construction on the Sea-to-Sky highway in preparation for 2010.This year also saw the attempt by a group of Lakota leaders to move for the unilateral withdrawal of the Lakota from the Treaties of 1851 and 1868 as permitted under the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, of which, the United States is a signatory. Their proposed independent nation is called the Republic of Lakotah.On the June 29 a Day of Action was called by the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), the the national organization of the Indian Act band council chiefs across Canada. The AFN claimed the event as a huge success , with over 100,000 people participating, however most of the people participating in the actions, protests, and rallies were non-native, which speaks to the AFN’s inability to mobilize their people despite all the resources they have. In fact, many militant Native organizations, such as the Native Youth Movement, called a boycott of the Day of Action. These organizations, rightly, stated that the AFN does not represent our people and that, when they talk about solutions, their long-term goal is actually assimilation.In December members of the Chaco Rio Indian community in New Mexico established a blockade to prevent preliminary work for proposed development of a massive coal-fired power plant.2008
Across Canada the so-called Olympic “Spirit Train” was met with disruptions and protests at its stops by Native warriors and their non-Native allies. Across Canada other preparations for the 2010 Winter Olympics, set to take place on unceded Indian land, were disrupted by protesters.The Mohawk Nation branch of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy at Kahnawake filed a formal complaint about the construction of Super Highway 30.2009
The land reclamation effort at Caledonia by the Six Nations Haudenosaunee Confederacy entered its third year with the warriors showing no signs of backing down. It continues to be ongoing to this day.Warriors of the Mohawk Nation branch of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy at Akwesasne – which straddles Ontario, Québec and New York State – expelled Canadian border guards at a crossing with the United States which passes through their territory, seizing control of the border station.Native warrior, American Indian Movement leader and political prisoner Leonard Peltier is again denied parole by the colonial government in the United States. His next parol hearing will not be until the year 2024.2010
In February Native warriors gathered with anti-capitalists/anti-imperialists, feminists, environmentalists and other social justice advocates to fight back against the Vancouver Winter Olympics which took place on unceded Coast Salish territory.In July people in Oka and the nearby Mohawk community gathered to remember the resistance at Oka and to protest the ongoing attempts to marginalize the Mohawk people and take their land.The Canadian Federal Government used an obscure part of the 1900 Indian Act to forcibly strip the Barrie Lake Algonquin of their traditional government, and replace it with a Band Council subservient to Ottawa. The Barrie Lake people met this imperialist-colonialist move with stiff resistance.John Graham, a Native of the Yukon, and a former member of the American Indian Movement, is convicted of the murder of his former AIM comrade Anna Mae Pictou Aquash. As noted earlier, much of the evidence in the case points to Anna Mae’s death having been at the hands of the FBI.2011
In June 500 agents of the colonial state invade sovereign Mohawk communities in Quebec. On paper they are looking for marijuana, but it much more likely that this is state terror tactics against some of the most firmly sovereigntist Native communities on the continent.70 RESPONSES TO NATIVE AMERICAN GENOCIDE
- When I stumbled upon this site I was looking for more information regarding the slaughter of native Americans. What I found angered me, empowered me and simultaniously disgusted me. I wish I could go back in time and tell the natives to never trust them! I am sad and forlorn. I feel as if the spirits of those taken in such a violent manner are reaching out– demanding justice for their lives, their culture and the way of life that my ancestors stripped from them. I am full of shame to be white. How could a civil human do those things? We were truly the savages. You cannot take something that doesn’t have a price. This Land belongs to the natives. There is no way we could ever make it up to them. In the last 500 years we have undone thousands of years of their prosperity and life. We are such hypocrites, full of greed and lust for what anyone else has.I apologize to those of you who are of native descent, nothing will ever make it right. You own this land. You deserve the right to live how you were meant to. I am disgusted that we worship politics and “heroes” who murdered other humans, a crime punishable by death here in Texas for only one life; much less hundreds, thousands or millions.I wish you all peace and prosperity.
- Please, publish this information in a video or create more blogs with similar information. It would be quite worth it. I think if the mainstream public are aware of this information, it can be incredibly influence how history in presented in the United State with the American Indians perspective finally present!
- As a proud Full Blooded Navajo, i am thankful that some of the madness is uncovered and brought to attention for all to learn. I am sad that my ancestors endured such hatred and also very mad for all the blood that stains this land that i walk to this day………..
- I remain without words in front of such horrible cruelty towards the Native Americans.. I always think about this like the worst crime ever committed in the world!!!!!
- I dont understand how anyone could be so cruel to such a peaceful people. I have told some of my friends about this website people need to know the story of us the true first americans
- My people have suffered much in the last 520 years. Besides the intial attacks the white man has done to us they also tried to erase us from history. ” Save the man kill the Indian” was they way they tried. We were not a perfect people, are ways and beliefs were strange to them and so that apparently mean that we all were ungodly heathens. Sometimes we would do horrible things to ourselves, but we didn’t deserve this much brutality. I am just learning my native tongue, something I should have known all of my life. I however am glad that we put up a fight till we finally had to stop. I am proud to call my self an Indian and that’s something you will never take from me.
- God bless the Native American Indians! I am proud that my grandpa was a full blooded Native American Indian!
- Keep the fight alive brothers and sisters. I’m only a quarter Creek but I still feel the pain and suffering for the natives then and now. Fight for your rights and we can all pull together to gain what was rightfully yours. Overthrow the corrupt U.S. government and restore peace to the land, no more war or pointless restrictions on our basic rights as human beings. Peace and love from Georgia.
- I am a school Principal in Rosarito Beach Mexico and personally a Hawaiian-Mexican descendent. Have lots of cousins and other relatives of different American Tribes, so my interest in the matter is genuine. I am organizing an Summer Camp; this year theme will be Native Americans, including background information of Red as well as Brown tribes, part of our curriculum will cover the truth of the Nations that is easilly hidden to our children in schools. Thanks for sharing such wonderful information. It is our keen interest to tell the truth.
- Well done for your job. I get angry when I see these people making memorial for the Jews every year when in fact who deserve it should the whole American Indian. I would like to make people aware of this sad story, because we do not learn it in school.Thats why I volunteer myself to help you in any other future project you have about the American Indian. God bless you.
- Disgusted! But Karma doesn’t expire. They are or will pay in this life or their next lives, That is if such people are allowed to be rebirthed into mother earth. And still today there exists Idiots uncivilized and full of self centeredness that are racial and discriminate again people that are not White American/European. I can only wish that one day all of the world’s race would be simply a mixed of all….Together…..No just one, but that all humans were a melting pot of all the races put together. Do they no know or understand that it is proven that within our own DNA we will always be Native and African descendants… at least 1% of their DNA will be Native/African decendant blood lines.
- I wish First Peoples (U.S. and Canada) would stop identifying themselves by degree. It’s not necessary and it’s NOT TRADITIONAL. If you’re a descendant, you’re Indian. The ‘measuring cup’ is a perpetuation of First Peoples genocide. We’re doing it to ourselves now, without even realizing it.
It’s a construction of Bureaus of Indian Affairs. Stop doing it. - A sad truth to read, this piece of history has been so easily overlooked thanks to the intelligent handling of the world from powerful governments. It is good to see it being brought forth somewhere so we all can realize what this “nation” has been founded on. If there is ever any assistance in need, feel free to contact the provided email. I am tired of feeling the need to take back time and wish to realistically adjust the future towards better times.Earth’s blessings
- Thank you for making the public aware. I always knew the bullshit they fed us in school was just that: bullshit. Colombus and Washington being “great men”. Let us give our children the TRUTH (as they already know it in their hearts) so that they will never make the mistakes our ancestors did to fellow humans. I am ashamed my family was part of the extermination and removal of the Native people of Turtle Island. It breaks my heart. The only thing I can do is teach my son the Red Path because I KNOW, the wisdom of the Red Road will heal humanity of its insanity. Peace, Blessings, Love.
- I remeber being in school and learning about this new land. The only thing I would look at was the indain. I would feel it and was sadden but didnt know way. My spirit knew. Being native indian/ mexican/ spain myself I could feel there was more to the story then they where saying only hidden in the spirits of my ancestors I would feel like the spirits where really trying to tell me something. The lies the gov. can say what can and can not go in text books is bullshit. I want my sons to know how and what happen. My husband is Irish and he agrees that if anyone should call themself american is us. We where here 1st not them. I will keep this sit to saw my three sons.
Thank you - Just a small point. I think the line :
“for example in 1937 the Pequot Indians were exterminated by the Colonists when they burned their villages in Mystic,..”
Should have the date 1637 in place of 1937.
A simple error but should be fixed. - I stumbled on this site through Pinterest. I first found out about how many people and tribes were in north america before the genocide through time/life books that my father bought around 37 years ago. It’s amazing how this information has been hidden in plain sight. The information is there, maybe the internet will be the great equalizer for the native americans as it has been for middle eastern people whose plight has recently been brought to light. Bad things are still happening, but we have to continue to hope and share the information to raise the consciousness of everyone.
- I am suprised Chief Oseola of the Seminole nation is not shown? The Seminoles launched three wars in Florida against the white man(the three Seminole wars) hence names like Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers.
Other important Indian uprises in the Americas: The war of the castes in Yucatan,the massacre of 1932 in El Salvador,the conquest of th desert in Patagonia,Argentina.
If interested in genocides like what happened to the Caribbean and North American natives,read how the Selk’nam of Tierra Del Fuego were virtually exterminated,their way of life changed ,the bounty hunts similar to North American Indians,the loss of their language.
Also read about the fate of the Aleutian Islanders in Alaska how they commited mass sucides throwing themselves off cliffs rather than in to the “white man”
Also of interest how President Profirio Diaz of Mexico wanted to “whiten” Northern Mexico relocating the Northen Mexican Indians to work on plantations in the Yucatan and encouraging “white” European migration to settled in Northern Mexico,on the same boat President Maximiliano Hernadez of El Salvador 1932 “retribution” on the Pipil people of Western El Salvador and how after that they were ashamed of their language,did not want to wear traditional clothing,etc. and his encouragement of “white” European migration.
- many natives were taken to Europe and paraded around in a circus like manner in so called expocisions:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28123904@N02/2650320820 - Similar to the Christian boarding schools,many Indians,specially nomadic Native Americans from the Californias(both Alta and Baja including the Indians from the Channel Islands of California who were transported to the mainland missions) to Florida ,from Hispanola throughout Mexico and Central America to Missiones in Northern Argentina ,Amerindians were settled into these missions to work for the missionaries,many died of diseases such as smallpox in the missions.From the first Spanish contact when Spaniards were given large tracts of land called encomiendas; which included the Indians on those lands,the Indians were being used as labor sometimes in very harsh conditions such as in the case of mining. Later came the missions; many places still bear the name of this past such as the Domincan Republic on Hispanola or Missiones a province in Northern Argentina where the ruins of old missions still stand hence the name.
- The Spaniards not only depleated the native Taino and Arawak populations of the major Antilles Islands:first Hispanola ,but later the same was done on Cuba,Puerto Rico and Jamaica;but after the population was dwingling before bringing African slaves;they did slave raids in the Bahamas depleating the Bahama native Lucayo population and later taking the last of the native Tequestas and Calusas of southern Florida to Cuba.It has been documented that on Hispanola there were workers and household servants from Indian tribes as far north as the Carolinas.
In the Guanacaste peninsula of Cosat Rica as cattle ranchers expanded ,the last of the native Chorotega indians were taken to Peru to be given as hosuehold servants.
My point is yes,natuves have been stripped of their native heritage and forcefully relocated not only the natives of the Americas,but other indigenous people as well,for example Spaniards would bring Filipinos and Guamanians to Mexico;Filipinos and Mexicans to Guam(interbreeded with the local populations to produce today’s Chammorros) and Mexicans to the Philliipines.So the native Mexicans ended up in such far away lands such as the Phillipines.
The Spanish were not the only Europeans guilty of relocating native people,for example the Black Caribs(natives that had largely mixed with Maroons,runaway African slaves.) of St Vincent were finally captured by the British after several Carib wars;they were relocated to the island of Roatan in the Bay Islands now part of present day Honduras ;later from there moved to the mainland Honduran coast and Belize and today they are known as Garifuna.For example Belize is not just home to their native Mayans,but the also home to the Garifunas ;Mayans who escaped the Caste Wars of the Yucatan and later on in the 1980′s Mayans who escaped the armed conflicts in Guatemala.So as you can see we natives have been going up and down everywhere and even today you find large numbers of Mexican and Guatemalan natives in the USA: from California to Texas to Mississippi to Florida.For example I did not know there is a town in Louisiana where they speak Mexican Nahuatl. - When you say, “500 year war”, what are the dates exactly that this would represent. My thanks in advance.
- I was doing a project and I saw all this… Is this still happening??? I think the UN need to be waken up a little. Have the Native’s tried that yet? If there’s enough support, I’m sure something will happen. Surly the US should fund these ‘reservations’ (if I’m right in saying some still live in those). Or have yanks just given up… I’m surprised there’s been no up-rise yet. What a bloody shame.
- Idle No More movement has begun … look it up on youtube. :)
- The world should remember…we are constantly reminded of the terrors inflicted upon some while others are quietly swept under the rug….
- because it is still happening. now they call it “child protection” when they steal and abuse our children. “Assimilation”.
This is called terrorism…using violence and intimidation for political purposes… - Pingback: Native American Genocide | Mr. Hladis
- There are no words to describe what white people have been doing to the Native Americans. Reading this article, tears just flow on their own. I also read quite a few books regarding the Native Americans and all of this is true but I fear that the number of people killed is much greater than presented here. For me as a caucasian it is an unspeakable shame what others have been doing in the name of ill-religion, so called “equality” and other pseudo-reasons. Although I’m from Poland I can really feel like being with You my Native American Friends. I know that the loss of many generations of great and peaceful people is a catastrophe, mankind has never seen in its existence. Personally, I would love to have Native American Friends to talk to here in Poland but it’s rather impossible as there are very few. I’m greatly interested in Your wisdom, way of life revering nature and the teachings about the Great Spirit.
- I am native american and I would love to talk with you. We have come a long way and one thing that cannot be beaten out of us ….is our love for life and mother earth.
- I cried the whole time I read this.
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- Thank you for putting this website together. It’s disheartening how many people today don’t even know the real history of our people. I’ll be sharing this website with alot of people. Hopefully some will start to wake up.
- Wow wow wow wow, I am a white american whose ancestors are probably among the evil ones who devised to exterminate the Natives & I CAN NOT STAND for a country that was built on lies & deaths of countless natives. I am ashamed of my country & my ancestors & I would willingly give my life for the loss of those who did not deserve the selfish injustices that were bestowed upon them & in the name of GOD no less. This is awful, I was aware of the truth but I had no idea just how terrible the truth really is. I could not continue to read all the horrible things that took place as they are too painful. The children is what pains me the most. Innocent beautiful children. FUCK this shit. We know who the real savages beasts were. Last year I denounced & renounced christianity, NOT GOD as well as thanksgiving. I can no longer celebrate a day that is based on false information or misinformation. To me I would be celebrating death of natives & that I just can not do. NO I CAN NOT & WILL NOT> I AM PISSSSED & THIS HAS SPARKED A FIRE WITHIN & IT IS MY GOAL TO HELP SPREAD AWARENESS. it is the least I can do for the men, women & CHILDREN that have suffered & continue to suffer among the tribes of this nation. GOD help me in my quest to spread awareness to this naive planet. God give me the tools & the direction needed to open the eyes of the people. Thank you for writing this & posting this amazing research on the web, whoever you are. May you & your family be blessed ten times over & over & over.
- I have never really been into history, but have just taken my first course in college. The course does not cover directly most of this information, but rather a search on revolutionary war information led me here. I am speechless, and ashamed to be “white”. I am married to a Mexican woman who I love dearly– and see beyond color other than I find it attractive. Words cannot express how this webpage has made me feel. I would be happy to help in whatever manner I may, in humble service and respect. Feel free to contact me. I believe men are made, and not born. My life has made me a decent person, and I have made difficult choices. Thank you for sharing this information. I hope to hear from the writers and supporters.
- The white man projected himself saying others are the savage. When the rest of the world regarded Europeans as barbarians and had lttle to no dealings with them. The white man got sicker and unwittingly developed illness which they shared I know we shouldn’t use the term “white man” I mean the idealology. I’m half white and grew up with a sense of shame strangely I’m proud to feel the shame as it makes me a better person but we should all feel shame collectively as one people of this plannet not segregate ourselves because that leads to conflicts let’s share love like what the native Americans knew taught in the beginning peace among men
- They killed to many of us as is now they try to kill our culture & I have my real name on here since I can’t use it in school
- My son is 9 and they had to learn about a native Indian an write a report. I did not check out books from the Library because a lot of them don’t tell the truth about anything. So I told him and now he knows. Being native myself i wanted my son understands what really happen and he shared it with his whole class. Playing native flute in the background. Love it!!!
- This is horrifying. As a middle school student in Canada, I haven’t heard a breath of this in our history classes. If it weren’t for my own curiosity about cultures, I would never have found that such a terrible event even existed. What is going on with our education systems? Maybe it’s just me, but when I find that our government, our entire education, has been lying to us, falsified, fudged and played around with… It’s frustrating, enraging. How is this still happening? How can our country claim to be “multi-cultural” when we are committing genocide, and unable to admit it. After some digging around on other sites, there is evidence that this is still happening today. Why aren’t we taught this in schools? I just don’t know anymore.The worst part is, people aren’t even willing to admit this crime. Not to offend any religions, but are these claims to be working for the will of god even worth listening to? Perhaps some will argue that this is an event in the past. But are we willing to admit it happened. I think I shall be sharing this with my class. No one even knows about this, how, how, how! What is wrong with this world?!?
- The enormity of the Holocaust that was perpetrated by Euro-Americans never fails to break my heart, but the more we learn and the more people who spread the knowledge the better. As a Native woman I am astonished time and time again by the lies in history books and the myths that still flourish in the USA. Facts are, USA was built on genocide, lies, and theft. Hypocrisy and racism are at the very heart of America. All indigenous peoples can come together and share our tragic histories and form a united front against tyranny and corruption.
- I have always feltbad about what went on there has been much hate in this world i am of mixed ancestry, i am english,scottish,irish,german,swedish,finnish,norman french,choctaw,african and jewish…i am not ashamed of who i am…most people seem to forget everybody was once tribal we werent meant to live like we do now but hopefully one day everyone wakes up an we can all live in peace…i am not racist i believe people of all colors an nationalities can be evil wether your black white red brown yellow blue purple green…but i am against the way soscieity is now ..it is not what it should be…it is sickening and i hope that it stops eventually…i dont care for labeling myself but my maternal grandfather was half choctaw my maternal 4th great grandmother was african an my paternal great grandmother was a jew…i have encounteredlots of racism in my life mainly cause im mixed but i myself am not ashamed i am the way the great spirit intended me to be i just hope i can do all that i can to show that i am a true human being….we all at one time came from the same place so actually we are all brothers and sisters which is why we should think before saying or doin mean things to one another…just reading this hurts me
- I will do everything in my power to create awareness & honor the noble men, women and children who were harmed in this. I ask Master DK & the Divine Mother to aid me in support of this mission, in love and light, for the Highest good. Thank you for your well-written and thorough thesis.-LMK
- I was researching on Native Americans as I have to teach this subject now for 3rd graders. I was deeply saddened to confirm all my suspisions- that history is always written by the victors. I had no idea that it all happened this atrocious, unhumane way. And of course, I cannot share this degree of information with my students, but I shall definetely select a few of the age-appropriate images and have them reflect on them together…to open their eyes softly without traumatizing, of course. To use this to teach citizenship, respect for human life and for diversity.
- Thanks for this wonderful informational site on the internet. I am sending it to my children and hopefully keep spreading the truth of what was always felt and questioned by me even as a child. I grew up in northern Ohio and had read about the Iroquois and the federation formed between several tribes. I read and saw many Native American names on the landmarks,State, counties and rivers. I even realized that there were various reservations in the U.S.–but never met an Native American in Ohio. So i asked in a history class that questions–where are all the Native Americans? Well that being said-I was branded a troublemaker and sent out of the classroom.
- My heart is broken, the strife and horrors that your people have gone, and are still fighting through, is malevolence at it’s peak. There are so many similarities to the boer war that I see here. I read a biography on Hitler about 5 years ago, but it never mentioned his appreciation and enthusiasm for the manner of genocide used against your people. It makes so much sense. So much hate.
My heart cries for your people.
i guess the notion of freedom and peace is worth dreaming of, fighting for, but will always be just out of our grasp.
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THAT IS WHY WESTERN WORLD IS CURSED !
VOILà POURQUOI L’OCCIDENT EST MAUDIT
+ BLACK SLAVERY and JEWS HOLOCAUST !
PITIFUL mAN !
Toni (Bismarck, ND)
Its OUR COLLECTIVE story and it is still continuing today. It is the Same here for the AUSTRALIAN Aboriginals.
4 Years ago these People and their lands were placed under military intervention and this Australian government under a British Constitution along with AMERICA have organized to mine; from 120 mines the uranium that their land rests upon. Please help these people acknowledge this pain and this crazy disconnection and connect with the Thrive organisation as well as the Arnhem land aboriginals / yolongu peoples http://www.ourgeneration.org.au peace and blessings to all with a conscious heart