A Tribute to Native Americans

Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children..

Indian Vision Chirapaq Native American Powerful Pride Sacred Medicine Art..enjoy





One of the saddest episodes of our brief history, men, women, and children were taken from their land, herded into makeshift forts with minimal facilities and food, then forced to march a thousand miles(Some made part of the trip by boat in equally horrible conditions).

Under the generally indifferent army commanders, human losses for the first groups of Cherokee removed were extremely high. John Ross made an urgent appeal to Scott, requesting that the general let his people lead the tribe west. General Scott agreed. Ross organized the Cherokee into smaller groups and let them move separately through the wilderness so they could forage for food.

The Trail of Tears or the "Walk of Shame" is a name given to the forced relocation and movement of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The removal included many members of the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations, among others in the United States, from their homelands to Indian Territory (eastern sections of the present-day state of Oklahoma).

The phrase originated from a description of the removal of the Choctaw Nation in 1831.[1] Many Native Americans suffered from exposure, disease and starvation en route to their destinations. Many died, including 4,000 of the 15,000 relocated Cherokee."The Trail Where They Cried" ("Nunna daul Tsuny").

Trail of Tears Documentary..This is a long video but a good one..





The Tragedy of Wounded Knee

The Wounded Knee Massacre occurred on the banks of Wounded Knee Creek about twenty five miles west of current day town of Martin, South Dakota on December 29, 1890 ..(The Ghost Dance)

Almost immediately most of the Sioux Indian men were killed..Some mustered enough strength barehanded to kill 29 soldiers and wound 39 more.

Unarmed Sioux Indian Women and children were Mercilessly Massacred. A few ran as far as three miles only to be chased by the long knives of the Cavalry and put to death..

Of the original 350 Indians one estimate stated that only 50 survived. Almost all historical statistics report over 200 Indians being killed on that day but government figures only reported the Indian dead as 64 men, 44 women and girls, and 18 babies. All of the bodies were buried in one communal grave
Gone was the Indian dream, pride and spirit)
(The Ghost Dance)





Custer's Last Stand

Custer's Last Stand was a battle that occurred in the Montana Territory on June 25th, 1876. Lieutenant George Armstrong Custer commanding approximately 10 companies of infantry and cavalry faced off against a combined Indian force of roughly 1800 Lakota and Cheyenne braves..

The battle lasted less than 30 minutes from start to finish. Custer, having split his forces prior to the confrontation was only commanding 208 cavalry and a few Indian scouts. Not realizing he was facing almost 10:1 odds Custer directed his Cavalry into the Medicine Tail Coulee which put his mounted troops at an extreme disadvantage to the massed Indian braves surrounding the valley..

Custer reached the northern edge of the camp, was clearly overwhelmed by the Indians, and he retreated across the river, losing his strategic edge. He was joined by Benteen’s fresh troops, and the combined forces dug in and continued to fight. At Reno’s retreat, however, the major force of Indians, by then alerted to Custer’s presence, rode to the attack and completely vanquished Custer and his men within an hour, leaving more than 200 dead.

The basic fundamentals of all human beings can and are found in the theories and teachings of our Grandfathers and Grandmothers. You heard no blame offered up in his words,Onley the spirt to surivive and fully with liberty..








Now im going to leave you with a beautiful (Cherokee Morning Song )I also want to thank my 2 native american friends with there knowledge to help me write this thread..
peace and love,sugarcookie1

Singing it like it is
Buffy Sainte Marie - "Soldier Blue"

www.youtube.com...

Originally posted by artistpoet
Singing it like it is
Buffy Sainte Marie - "Soldier Blue"

www.youtube.com...

artistpoet
Thanks for the video and all your input..peace,sugarcookie1

from one ndn to you, thx

it's good to know not everyone thinks of us as casinos operator's or drunks.

reply to post by Plugin


Plugin
Thank you for the video Ive seen this one before and it is a good one..peace,sugarcookie1

Originally posted by LittleBlackEagle
from one ndn to you, thx

it's good to know not everyone thinks of us as casinos operator's or drunks.

LittleBlackEagle
Thank you for posting..Ive always admired the The Native Americans

reply to post by sugarcookie1


The same thing happened in South Africa. Over there they called it "Apartheid"

overcomingapartheid.msu.edu...

The National Party of The Afrikans was condemned for it's actions by the civilised world (including The US who was acting hypoctrically on this matter)

Thank you for this post. My 3rd Great Grandmother and Grandfather were on the Trail Of Tears and actually survived. They lost 3 of their children and countless other's in their group but they themselves made it to Oklahoma. It is so interesting digging into my ancestors lives because of the rich Native American background we have in my bloodline. I'm always fascinated with Native American artwork, religious beliefs and language. They lived here so long in harmony with our beautiful countryside. It is so sad that in less than 200 years we moved all the 'savages' out so we could rape and abuse THEIR land. Again, thanks for this post.

Originally posted by alldaylong
reply to post by sugarcookie1

 

The same thing happened in South Africa. Over there they called it "Apartheid"

overcomingapartheid.msu.edu...

The National Party of The Afrikans was condemned for it's actions by the civilised world (including The US who was acting hypoctrically on this matter)

alldaylong
I went to the link and read up on it..And your right..But this thread is about The Native American Indians..Thank you for posting..peace,sugarcookie1

reply to post by sugarcookie1


Our treatment of the peoples of North America prior to the arrival of the Europeans (sorry, there are no true Native Americans) is a shame and blemish on our history. Our only excuse is that - in those days when our forefathers offended and ran roughshod over those peoples - our culture was far more primitive and our leadership far less receptive to concepts we know today.

NOTE: This is in NO WAY an excuse to dismiss their actions... but we must take history in context to itself.

If I had my way, I would return as much land as I could... without causing more distress and division between all our peoples today. beyond that, I think we should take a step beyond and allow the nation tribes membership in the UN...

Originally posted by lindsay1984
Thank you for this post. My 3rd Great Grandmother and Grandfather were on the Trail Of Tears and actually survived. They lost 3 of their children and countless other's in their group but they themselves made it to Oklahoma. It is so interesting digging into my ancestors lives because of the rich Native American background we have in my bloodline. I'm always fascinated with Native American artwork, religious beliefs and language. They lived here so long in harmony with our beautiful countryside. It is so sad that in less than 200 years we moved all the 'savages' out so we could rape and abuse THEIR land. Again, thanks for this post.

lindsay1984
I'm glad you enjoyed the thread..
It was a terrible piece of Native American history and many people died in the journey.I'm glad your Great Grandmother and Grandfather were survivors ..
Ive also have been fascinated with there culture for many years ..cherish your bloodline..peace,sugarcookie1

cool thread
I like all the links found on the main video page...

reply to post by sugarcookie1

Thank you, sugarcookie, a big heartfelt than thank you. My wife is part Cherokee, I am part Montauk Tribe. (Montaukett, Metoac)
I would love to see the Natives get back the land that was taken from them. May the Great Spirit bless you for this one.

Originally posted by redoubt
reply to post by sugarcookie1

 

Our treatment of the peoples of North America prior to the arrival of the Europeans (sorry, there are no true Native Americans) is a shame and blemish on our history. Our only excuse is that - in those days when our forefathers offended and ran roughshod over those peoples - our culture was far more primitive and our leadership far less receptive to concepts we know today.

NOTE: This is in NO WAY an excuse to dismiss their actions... but we must take history in context to itself.

If I had my way, I would return as much land as I could... without causing more distress and division between all our peoples today. beyond that, I think we should take a step beyond and allow the nation tribes membership in the UN...

redoubt
I've seen photographs that showed descendants of some of these people living in the most ramshackle houses you can imagine.
If we could undo history, I wonder if we'd chose to change how the new people treated the old people of the land. It certainly was a trail of tears.
If it was up to me all there land would be returned ..I don't have any Native American blood in me but it was shameful and cruel the way the American Indians were treated by the early White Man ..peace,sugarcookie1

Originally posted by GBP/JPY
cool thread
I like all the links found on the main video page...

GBP/JPY
Thank you for posting and I'm glad you enjoyed the videos..peace,sugarcookie1

Originally posted by autowrench
reply to post by sugarcookie1

 

Thank you, sugarcookie, a big heartfelt than thank you. My wife is part Cherokee, I am part Montauk Tribe. (Montaukett, Metoac)
I would love to see the Natives get back the land that was taken from them. May the Great Spirit bless you for this one.

autowrench
Thank you so much for posting! This thread is something Ive wanted to do for sometime now..
I have 2 friends that are full blooded Indian and i just love talking to them about this subject..
I found it interesting in the link you sent me that Montauk Indian woman can be chiefs also i didn't know that..peace,sugarcookie1

When the English first landed at Jamestown there were over 400 different linguistic groups of indigenous Americans and tribes numbered even more than that.
We often think we owe the Native Americans little more than the land we stole from them but on the contrary many of the crops now grown for food here owe their origins to them.
Corn, potatoes, tomatoes, squash and beans including pole, kidney, snap, lima, butter, navy and frijole were all staples from the New world.
We also owe them for peppers, chocolate, sugar, maple syrup, peanuts and avocados.
Try imagining food without these items. Dinner must have been a terribly dull affair in Europe before the discovery of the Americas.

Even our Constitution is heavily influenced by the Iroquois whose ideas were taken by Benjamin Franklin who was an Indian commissioner to Philadelphia to the very beginnings of the Constitutional convention.

Food, our ideas of freedom and so much more came from the "noble savage". It's no wonder such proud, free people could not successfully be made in to slaves. Many preferred starvation to living under such conditions.

Few, if any tribes anywhere in North America still inhabit the lands they occupied when the white man first came.
That is, among the tribes who weren't driven to extinction which is most of them.

If we can ever learn their wisdom and develop the spiritual practices and attitudes of the Native Americans we may yet learn to live with the Earth instead of living off it. That may be a subtle semantic difference but a huge difference in how we live and consequently whether we survive or not.

The greatest lesson I have learned from them is to treat not only all people as my sisters and brothers but that everything in the natural world are also our relatives.
Also, any important decisions should be made considering how it would affect the Earth 7 generations from now. We don't even plan for 7 months from now, never mind 200 years!

I've rambled enough, thanks for putting up this thread SugarCookie.

Just a quick bump so this thread doesnt end up in thread heaven..Thanks to everyone thats posted i appreciate it sugarcookie1

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
When the English first landed at Jamestown there were over 400 different linguistic groups of indigenous Americans and tribes numbered even more than that.
We often think we owe the Native Americans little more than the land we stole from them but on the contrary many of the crops now grown for food here owe their origins to them.
Corn, potatoes, tomatoes, squash and beans including pole, kidney, snap, lima, butter, navy and frijole were all staples from the New world.
We also owe them for peppers, chocolate, sugar, maple syrup, peanuts and avocados.
Try imagining food without these items. Dinner must have been a terribly dull affair in Europe before the discovery of the Americas.

Even our Constitution is heavily influenced by the Iroquois whose ideas were taken by Benjamin Franklin who was an Indian commissioner to Philadelphia to the very beginnings of the Constitutional convention.

Food, our ideas of freedom and so much more came from the "noble savage". It's no wonder such proud, free people could not successfully be made in to slaves. Many preferred starvation to living under such conditions.

Few, if any tribes anywhere in North America still inhabit the lands they occupied when the white man first came.
That is, among the tribes who weren't driven to extinction which is most of them.

If we can ever learn their wisdom and develop the spiritual practices and attitudes of the Native Americans we may yet learn to live with the Earth instead of living off it. That may be a subtle semantic difference but a huge difference in how we live and consequently whether we survive or not.

The greatest lesson I have learned from them is to treat not only all people as my sisters and brothers but that everything in the natural world are also our relatives.
Also, any important decisions should be made considering how it would affect the Earth 7 generations from now. We don't even plan for 7 months from now, never mind 200 years!

I've rambled enough, thanks for putting up this thread SugarCookie.

edit on 7-5-2012 by Asktheanimals because: corrections

Asktheanimals
Thanks for posting and all the great info! Native Spirituality to me is about love,honor and respect..

I like what one elder had to say..Treat the earth and all of her aspects as your mother. Show deep respect for the mineral world, the plant world, and the animal world. Do nothing to pollute our Mother, rise up with wisdom to defend her.

Native Americans also brought us tobacco along with all that good food..peace,sugarcookie1