Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Bury My Hatchet at Wounded Knee

Well, here we go.  The Indians are trying to run this ragged old flag up the pole instead of shoving it where it belongs, and - keep reading if you want, but know that non-politically correct language lies ahead alongside my alcohol fueled views on Injuns and history in general.

The Indians have tried this one before, and it crashed and burned so quietly that they gave up on it for a while, but now they're back.  From Lawmakers Seek to Revoke Wounded Knee Medals for US Soldiers by Kali Robinson, Associated Press.

From the article:
Advocates for Native Americans called Tuesday for Congress to revoke the Medals of Honor given to the U.S. soldiers who participated in the Wounded Knee massacre.
They’re being supported by three members of Congress: Traitorous turn coat RINO from the fascist nation of Kalifornia Paul Cook (R, CA) is on board.  He must have red skins in his backyard, because everyone knows the Mexicans hate the Indians with a real passion.  Then we've got moonbats Denny Heck (D, WA) and Deb Haaland (D, NM).  I couldn't begin to guess why a moonbat from Washington gives a tinker's damn about this one, but Haaland is easy - just click the link and see for yourself.

My objections?  Do you really have to ask?

For openers, when the US Armed Forces award a medal, it's awarded and that's that.  In this particular case, on December 29, 1890 (128 years, 5 months, and 27 days ago as of 6/25/2019) a bunch of Lakota Sioux Indians got together for a little celebration they call the ghost dance.  Just what that is, I couldn't tell you.  The US Calvary showed up and demanded the Indians turn over their guns (where have I heard this one before?  Oh yeah, moonbats on parade...), which sounds Draconian until you realize that these are the same noble, heroic, and essentially friendly Indians that had a bit of a misunderstanding with a US Calvary officer named Custer, and we all know how that went.  So way back then, the fertilizer hit the turbine blades and when the dust settled and the tombstones were counted, 31 US soldiers were dead.  No one can agree on the number of Indians that were killed, but estimates range from 150 to 300.  Depending on who you are, this is either called the Wounded Knee Massacre or the Battle at Wounded Knee.

There's plenty of blame to go around on both sides here, but the bottom line is that medals were awarded to US soldiers by the United States, and those medals should remain awarded.

The Indians have never forgiven the White Men (particularly old, fat, gun owning white men) for this victory, but my own rejoinder to their opinion is that this battle happened over 100 years ago, and if the Indians had been armed with, say, AR-15s, we'd all be reading about the self-defense victory at Wounded Knee.  But that's not what happened, and anyone who thinks that these Indians wouldn't have killed every single white man they could put lead into that day knows nothing of the Sioux.

Another thing I have a major hard spot with is the self-proclaimed Native Americans.  I was born in the United States.  Doesn't that make me a Native?  This label is full of contradictions.  Probably enough to fertilize a football field or two.  Native my grandmother's venochie.  I'm native.  They're Indians.  If they have a problem with that, fuck 'em.

But it doesn't stop there, oh hell no.  Again, from the article:

The legislation is a healing road that everyone needs to take, said Cheyenne River tribal member Manny Iron Hawk, whose grandmother survived Wounded Knee.

"There was no honor in these murders and the Lakota, we live with these traumas to this day," he said.

A healing road?  Okay, what about the ancestors from Custer's infamous Last Stand?  How about a little healing from that?  How about some healing for the settlers who were tortured to death and killed by the Indians?  Naturally, Iron Hawk will never bring any of that up.

I've lived out in South Dakota, and I've been out to the Indian Reservation to do a little gambling at the casino.  When I told a few friends that me and my buddy Tennessee were headed out to do some low stakes gambling, the first thing they said was Don't stay out there after dark - the Indians will shoot at you.  My good friend Commander Cody asked me if I was carrying anything out that way, and suggested it might be a good idea to do so.  "For," he said, "the Goddamned Indians will shoot at you."  And he was right about that.

That rez looks like a DMZ.  Cars and houses burned out, people staring at you like they'd like to scalp you.  No, I'm not exaggerating.  These are the same people who, when sober, want to dishonor US soldiers who did their job, and who lost friends in that battle.

The elected officials in South Dakota are very non-committal about this one. Even the conservatives have nothing to say, which says something about politicians in general and SD conservatives in particular.  Me, I'd cheerfully assemble a rail, tar, and feathers, then put them all to good use in Washington, D.C.

3 comments:

CWMartin said...

You know, when we were kids, we all listened to Raiders and Indian Reservation and we all knew when and where they had been disrespected, and we felt for them. In the meantime they were getting drunk, angling to fleece the white man with casinos, and generally acting just like the poor pitiful Palestinians. Each one that opens their mouth these days whittles more of that respect away. More than willing to be used by the Dems (notwithstanding how many of them Andrew Jackson has on HIS conscience), who think reality is something easily erased and replaced by ... what? Empty air and empty promises? In other words, they are cordially invited to KMWA.

Old NFO said...

Revisionist history anyone??? Sigh...

Mad Jack said...

CW: Well, you sure got that right. Yes, their ancestors had a bad time of it, and my ancestors were right out there handing them a double load of bad-time buckshot. This is the absolute truth, as my paternal grandfather was big on family trees and ancestors, and he traveled around the U.S. looking all this up. I've still got his notes around here, somewhere. I'm related to several famous Indian fighters.

Old NFO: Just wait until you see what they've done with Wounded Knee II. When I was out West in Pierre, I talked to some of the cowboys that were involved in that fiasco, and what you read bears an approximation of the truth. Okay, it isn't even close enough for government work. :)