first off, i was completely unaware of the fact that there was a takeover of wounded knee. i'm so surprised that this was never brought to my attention in any of my history/social science classes since grade school. maybe i wasn't paying enough attention, or maybe i was paying attention just fine and it was 'THEY' who are at fault. i don't know who 'they' are, and i don't want to be cynical, but c'mon people, this was a big event for america's history.. especially for the original americans, the native americans.
moving onto the original massecre of wounded knee... it pisses me off that the 7th calvary still has their medals of honor. when i looked up "medal of honor" on wikipedia, it says..
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed on a member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States."[1]
so gunning down a bunch of unarmed women and children and men means you are gallant and brave? yuck. i see no reason why they should still have this award, and it's ridiculous that the 7th calvary would even be rewarded in the first place. knowing all of these things doesn't make me feel hopeless for our country, no i haven't given up, but who else feels like there's something that needs to change? i mean there are no do overs in life, and the things that have happened will stay like that forever, but i think there's something that can be done.. but what? i don't even know the status of the native people today. is it good/bad? well, i know how the overall status of the world is, and it's not good. so lets change it. cue dramatic background music. we deserve the medal of honor more than the 7th calvary ever will.
I agree with you on how this is a vital part of history that the textbook authors leave out. I'm sure you were paying attention! Its definitely not our fault that someone else chooses what they think is important enough to get into a history book.
ReplyDeleteI was also surprised that I never knew about such an event from my history class. But at the same time, I also realize that there is a finite amount of time in history classes, so looking at the things I didn't learn might not be representative of anything. Perhaps it isn't in our history books as a huge event because it wasn't very successful. Sure, there was publicity, but the Natives didn't want just publicity. They wanted change, hopefully brought on by a combination of demands and publicity. Has this brought on change? Perhaps. Has it brought enough change to be in every textbook? perhaps not.
ReplyDeleteHere's the current status of the debate:
ReplyDelete"America's second class citizens, the Indians, have long asked for a Presidential apology for the 1890 massacre of over 300 American Indian prisoners of war at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Instead, what wa given was a 1990 statement of "deep regret" for the massacre.
From a letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs dated April 12,1920, three star General Nelson A. Miles (who was in command of the 500 soldiers that massacred the POWs) I quote:
"The present seems to me of imperative importance and justice, namely, to atone in part for the cruel and unjustifiable massacre of Indian men, and innocent women and children at Wounded Knee on the Red Cloud Reservation."
Later in the letter he stated, "I earnestly request that these measures be urged upon the action of the Congress."
Instead of an apology to the Sioux, the U.S. Government:
Awarded 20 Congressional Medals of Honor to those soldiers that participated in this wholesale slaughter
Erected a monument to the few soldiers that died at Wounded Knee at Ft. Riley, Kansas
Attached a battle streamer to flags on display in the White House, Pentagon, West Point and Army bases through out the world.
Incredibly, the Wounded Knee Massacre is listed in the Army record as the "Battle of Wounded Knee." And, it is a further travesty to have the 29 names of American Indians that have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor to be listed on the same roll with the 20 heroes of Wounded Knee.
The United State Congress passed Concurrent Resolution #153 in October, 1990 to recognize Wounded Knee as a massacre and issued a statement of deep regret."
Here is an online petition:
http://www.dickshovel.com/RescindMedals.html