‘Superior’ Christians wiping out ‘inferior’ cultures

Continued from ‘White man, ‘yellow pumpkin’, Christianized Indians‘, and continues to ‘Cerita koboi dan Indian di Jelapang‘.

When the most ‘righteous’ people exalt their idea of nation under God, this is what happens to “low class” tribes.

The video scenes depict the massacre of the Sioux at Wounded Knee Creek on 29 Dec 1890 by 500 white soldiers. Chief Sitting Bull had been killed a little while before that at a nearby location.

Excerpts below from an article written by Charles Phillips for the December 2005 issue of American History magazine (source: http://www.historynet.com)

Louise Weasel Bear said: “We tried to run, but they shot us like we were buffalo.”

Yellow Bird’s son, just 4 years old at the time, saw his father shot through the head: “My father ran and fell down and the blood came out of his mouth. Those who fled the camp were chased down by soldiers.”

Rough Feathers’ wife remembered:

“I saw some of the other Indians running up the coulee so I ran with them, but the soldiers kept shooting at us and the bullets flew all around us. My father, my grandfather, my older brother and my younger brother were all killed. My son who was two years old was shot in the mouth that later caused his death.”

Black Elk added: “Dead and wounded women and children and little babies were scattered all along there where they had been trying to run away.”

Self-righteous and having scant respect for others

“Hundreds upon hundreds of native tribes with unique languages, learning, customs, and cultures had simply been erased from the face of the earth, most often without even the pretense of justice or law.” — Peter Montague (credited here)

European extermination of natives started with Christopher Columbus’ arrival in San Salvador in 1492. — Bruce A. Robinson

San Salvador in English is ‘Holy Saviour’ and the place name was Christened by Columbus. It lies in Central America on the isthmus between Mexico and South America.

Columbus was an imperialist who spearheaded the process of Spanish colonization.

“Colonization and Christian evangelization were openly included this time in the plans”;

“In the letter that prefaces his journal of the first voyage, [Columbus] vividly evokes his own hopes and binds them all together with the conquest of the infidel, the victory of Christianity, and the westward route to discovery and Christian alliance”. — source: Britannica

Columbus conquered the Americas in the name of God and the Catholic monarchs — king Ferdinand and queen Isabella of Spain who were victorious over the Muslims in the reconquest of Granada referred to as the ‘reconquista‘.

The Spanish word ‘conquistador’ means conqueror. The conquistadors destroyed the Aztecs, the Incans and other natives of Hispanic America.

Ferdinand and Isabella are remembered in history for the terrors of the Spanish Inquisition by the church, which has a long and bloody history.

This YouTube is a live performance that includes a special appearance by John Two-Hawks playing native American flutes and singing in Lakotan (4:00). “Our spirit was here long before you” — The lyrics “trail of tears” refer to the forced relocation in 1838 of the Cherokee to the ‘Indian’ reservation in Oklahoma.

Other Nightwish postings:

Antara pemain drum terhebat dunia

Storytime 2012