The period of American history known as the "Indian Wars" saw the expansion of the United States into land once owned and settled by it original inhabitants, Native Americans. Skirmishes, raids, massacres, and conflicts occurred as Native Americans, abused and mistreated by the government, fought U.S. soldiers for land.
European-American settlers, whose ancestors came from Europe (as mine did), saw land to the west of the original 13 colonies as having great potential for growing crops, homesteading, mining, and ranching. The only problem with moving into that land was that it belonged to Native Americans. Greed played a big part in the racism of European-Americans who coveted Native American land.
During the 1800s, the government made treaties with Native American tribes, but it repeatedly broke the treaties. Native Americans were marginalized and their concerns were ignored by the government. And, European-Americans began squatting on Native American land and Indian Reservations.
First Nation people, who were frustrated with the mistreatment, began to fight back against the incursion. As they did, the U.S. Army was sent in to drive off or relocate Native Americans. This led to much bloodshed and suffering.
Chief Joseph
Chief Joseph, a leader of a large group of Nez Percé, had seen how the U.S. government had made treaties with the Nez Percé and later violated those same treaties. As a result, frustrated Native Americans began fighting with the U.S. Army who wrongfully forced them off their land. As an example, the Nez Percé and Chief Joseph's group were forced to move from their land in Oregon into a greatly reduced reservation in Idaho. But, they were unwilling to move, and clashes broke out between them and European-American "settlers," who squatted on Native American land.
Feeling they needed to find asylum in Canada, Chief Joseph had his people move out, but the Army pursued them as they fled. A number of skirmishes happened between the Army and the Nez Percé until the Nez Percé surrendered, believing that they would be brought back to Oregon, but instead, they were taken to Kansas and then to the land that later became the state of Oklahoma.
An internet article titled "An Indian's Perspective, Chief Joseph" has this to say about what happened after Chief Joseph and his people were relocated:
"Joseph thereafter made repeated appeals to the federal government to let his people return to their native region; he visited Washington, D.C. in 1879 to present his grievances against the federal government to President Rutherford B. Hayes. But it was not until 1885 that he and several others were relocated to Washington state, where he died in 1904."
In the same article, Chief Joseph spoke of how his people had been stolen from, mistreated, and deceived by white men. He believed that some white people were intentionally trying to provoke members of his tribe into fighting. But, he did not want to see bloodshed. He said that he and his people were harassed, nonetheless.
Following a series of armed conflicts with the U.S. Army, he said that his people were suffering in the cold and that many had died. He was very grieved to see the suffering of his people, including women and children, who were cold and hungry. And, he expressed his pain over how Native Americans were being mistreated and given promises by the U.S. government, which the government broke repeatedly. He asked that Native Americans "... be recognized as men."
Portions of Chief Joseph's Speech Reveals the Suffering of a People
In 1879, after the defeat of his people in 1877, Chief Joseph told the North American Review the words in the following paragraphs. As you read them, please try to place yourself in his shoes. Imagine being oppressed by foreigners taking over your land and stealing from your people. And, imagine being treated as if you were "inferior" to these foreigners. (Portions of this speech are omitted to save time.) Chief Joseph said:
"White men found gold in the mountains around the land of the Winding Water. They stole a great many horses from us and we could not get them back because we were Indians. The white men told lies for each other. They drove off a great many of our cattle. Some white men branded our young cattle so they could claim them. We had no friends who would plead our cause before the law councils. It seemed to me that some of the white men in Wallowa were doing these things on purpose to get up a war. They knew we were not strong enough to fight them. I labored hard to avoid trouble and bloodshed.
We gave up some of our country to the white men, thinking that then we could have peace. We were mistaken. The white men would not let us alone. ...
... I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. . . . The old men are all dead. . . . It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people—some of them have run away to the hills and have no blankets and no food. ... Hear me, my chiefs, my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more against the white man.
At last I was granted permission to come to Washington and bring my friend Yellow Bull and our interpreter with me.2 I am glad I came. I have shaken hands with a good many friends, but there are some things I want to know which no one seems able to explain. I cannot understand how the Government sends a man out to fight us, as it did General Miles, and then breaks his word. Such a government has something wrong about it. . . .
... It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the broken promises. ...
... We only ask an even chance to live as other men live. We ask to be recognized as men. We ask that the same law shall work alike on all men. If an Indian breaks the law, punish him by the law. If a white man breaks the law, punish him also.
Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself—and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty. ..." [End quote] ("An Indian's Perspective...")
Chief Red Cloud's Concern
Red Cloud, another Lakota chief, spoke of the mistreatment of his people by a governmental body called the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Chief Red Cloud said:
"An Indian Department was made with a large number of agents and other officials drawing large salaries — then came the beginning of trouble; these men took care of themselves but not of us. It was very hard to deal with the government through them — they could make more for themselves by keeping us back than by helping us forward.
We did not get the means for working for our lands; the few things they gave us did little good.
Our rations began to be reduced; they said we were lazy. That is false. How does any man of sense suppose that so great a number of people could get work at once unless they were once supplied with the means to work and instructors enough to teach them?" [End quote] (Red Cloud.)
Native Americans want to be treated as people. Sadly, racism against Native Americans exists in the U.S. to this day, as the title of this article by Tim Giago states: "Racism Against Native Americans Must Be Addressed." Tim Giago, an American Oglala Lakota journalist, wrote: "America does not want to hear about Indians." He implied that many Americans think that "Native Americans should be left in the pages of history books or in old Western movies."
Giago, speaking of racist attitudes toward Native Americans, wrote:
'And in those regions of the United States we call “Indian country,” there are few Natives who have not experienced [...] symptoms of racism. To many easterners coming out west to experience a close encounter of the first kind with “Indians,” it is so easy for them to slip into using the captivating term, “our Indians.” It is almost as if Indians are property, albeit human property, to be possessed by those who would observe, pity, assist or praise them as figments of a vanishing race.' ("Racism Against...")
Wounded Knee
Racism against Native Americans has not ceased since the North American continent was overtaken by European colonists (including mine). As America expanded west, and as land held by Native American's looked more attractive, people began to fight with Native Americans for land. Skirmishes between the U.S. Army and Native Americans culminated in the massacre at Wounded Knee.
One cold December day (Dec. 29) in the year 1890, over 250 Lakota men, women, and children were massacred by the U.S. Calvary near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota (Red Cloud).
Tim Giago wrote about this event in an article for the Baltimore Sun. (It is titled: "Decades later, the pain of Wounded Knee lingers.") Giago wrote:
"... It was on such a winter morning on Dec. 29, 1890, that the crack of a single rifle brought a day of infamy that still lives in the hearts and minds of the Lakota people.
Strangely, at least 20 soldiers, who committed the atrocities, were awarded the Medal of Honor, following the massacre at Wounded Knee (Huff-Hannon). And, soon following the massacre, the editor of a newspaper, The Saturday Pioneer, L. Frank Baum called for the extermination of Native Americans, wrongfully calling them "miserable wretches" and "despicable beings" (Pierpoint). His writings sound much like that of Adolph Hitler. On a side note, Baum was also the author of "The Wizard of Oz."
"What honor is there in the murder of innocent men, women and children? You tell me. And now, 113 years after the slaughter at Wounded Knee, America has not apologized and the Medal of Honor winners are still looked upon as heroes by the United States." ("Decades later...")
The Law of Reaping What Was Sown
Because America has shown little mercy to Native Americans (ignoring their pleas for land and better treatment), and because it has refused to restore their land back to them, and because it has shown disregard for human life (such as the unborn, who are aborted), America will reap what it has sown.
To see this best, we need to put ourselves in the shoes of a Native American. Please bear with me as we now attempt to see life through the eyes of a Native American living in the 1890s. Your land was stolen by foreigner "settlers." Troops, who looked down at you, forcibly removed you from your home and sent you to a barren land, where you were given the bare necessities to live on.
(Note: Many Native Americans suffered, during the 1890s and afterward, on reservations which did not have good land for growing crops.)
You are impoverished and your way of life has completely changed. You feel defeated, hopeless, and sad. Foreigners, who entered your land, treat you as if you were "inferior" to them. They make racist jokes about you, and many of their descendants will justify what their ancestors did to your people. The foreigners and their descendants justify to themselves that they "rightfully" took your people's land, which your people lived on for thousands of years.
But, someone loves you very dearly, and He is calling out to you, and desiring you to know true friendship love. His name is Jesus Christ. And, He offers you eternal life by just receiving Him as your personal Savior and Lord. He is not a creed, or a religion, or a system. He is a loving, wonderful person, and He is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity of God. If you seek Him, you will find Him.
➠ If you would like to know Abba God the Father and Jesus Christ (God the Son), and be saved from sin, click here to read more.
Conclusion
Now, getting back to our main topic, we will recap what we have been discussing in this article. Native Americans have suffered from racism just as much as African Americans and Jewish people did. During the 1800s, their land was stolen from them and given to European-Americans. And, sadly, to this day, Native Americans are marginalized, ridiculed, and ignored. These are signs that America's heart has been cold for a long time. But, it is only getting colder as violent crimes increase in frequency and as sinful activities are glorified.
Such a country cannot escape God's judgment if it will not listen to His call to repent and turn back to Him. For America to be a great nation again, it has to turn back to God, who its founding fathers claimed to serve. Americans need to know Jesus Christ personally as their own Savior and Lord. There can be no true repentance if we trust in our own works to save us.
Doing charitable deeds is good, but trusting only in Jesus Christ is the only way we can have eternal life and can know God deeply as our Abba Father and best Friend. Rejecting God's offer of eternal life (through Jesus Christ's shed blood) is shutting the door to Heaven. If one rejects Jesus Christ, there is no way of escaping the eternal fires of Hell. Friend, I strongly urge you to seek God and read the Gospel of John. God will reveal the truth about Jesus Christ and Himself to you if you seek Him.
➠ If you would like to know Abba God the Father and Jesus Christ (God the Son), and be saved from sin, click here to read more.
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For Native Americans:
If you are Native American, please accept my humble apologies for the sins of my ancestors and for the sins of this country. We have done wrong by your people and stolen your land. If you have any bitterness, it is understandable, but please forgive those who have wronged your people.
I want you to know that Jesus never approved of what happened to your people. He is grieved to see the suffering you and your people have gone through. He is seeking to heal your heart, and save you, and give you eternal life. Will you receive Him as your personal Savior and Lord? He is called the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), and He will give you true joy, hope, love, and peace if you turn to Him. He is not a creed or a religion. He is the loving God, who truly cares for you, and He wants to be your best Friend. That is why He created us in the first place.
May God bless you as you seek Him.
Sincerely,
Justin Brown* (*a pen name)
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WORKS CITED
"An Indian's Perspective, Chief Joseph." wwnorton.com. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
{The quotes from Chief Joseph originally were referenced as: "An American Indian's View of Indian Affairs," North American Review 128 (April 1879): 412-433.}
("Racism Against...") Giago, Tim. "Racism Against Native Americans Must Be Addressed." huffingtonpost.com.
(Red Cloud.) "Red Cloud's Speech After Wounded Knee." commonlit.org. CommonLit.
Huff-Hannon, Joseph. "No Medals for Massacre: Close the Open Wound of Wounded Knee." huffingtonpost.com.
Pierpoint, Mary. "Was Frank Baum a racist or just the creator of Oz?" indiancountrymedianetwork.com. Indian Country Today Media Network.
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