Crimes Against Humanity

Mille Lacs Lake

On December 10, 2014, the Mille Lacs Messenger, a Minnesota county newspaper, published a letter that I wrote and submitted. The newspaper designated it as the "letter of the week". It is presented below. It is also displayed on the Mille Lacs Messenger's website.

A Thanksgiving Day global research article by Dr. Gary G. Kohls, titled, " Why First Nations People Regard Thanksgiving Day as a National Day of Mourning" presents both, excepts (six paragraphs) from an article of mine and a linked reference statement that reads: - Thomas Dahlheimer from his long essay, entitled, " A History Of The Dakota People In The Mille Lacs Area."

The "six paragraphs" read: "As Europeans settled the East coast, they displaced eastern tribes who then migrated to get away from the White civilization, and they, in their turn, displaced weaker local tribes they encountered, and pushed many of those tribes farther from their homelands, as they took over their homelands."

"Westward moving Europeans would give the displaced eastern tribes guns and gun powder and they would then instigate fights between the newly arrived tribes and the long established tribes in order to force the long established tribes from their homelands; and in doing so, extinguish the long established tribes' ancestral ties that they had with the land, their ancestors and the spirit world. Evidence of this practice has shown itself time and time again throughout the Americas."

"Around 1750, a displaced East coast band of Ojibwe were pushed into the Dakota's homeland and they then used French guns and gun powder to force the Dakota from their Mille Lacs Lake homeland."

The European colonists used the Dakota's weakness to abuse alcohol to lure many of them from their Mille Lacs Lake homeland to distant trading posts. "This was the strategy the European colonists used to greatly diminish the number of Dakota in their Mille Lacs homeland, which encouraged and made it possible for a French weapons armed, alcohol manipulated band of Ojibwe to violently force the Dakota from their Mille Lacs homeland."

"Grieved by the loss of their lands, dissatisfied with reservation (aka, concentration camp) life, and ultimately brought to a condition of near starvation, the Dakota people appealed to US Indian agencies (involving ex-Minnesota governors Sibley and Ramsey) without success. The murder of five whites by four young Dakota Indians ignited a bloody uprising in which more than 300 whites and an unknown number of Indians were killed. In the aftermath, 38 Dakota captives were hanged in Mankato (the day after Christmas Day 1862) for 'voluntary participation in murders and massacres,' and the Dakota remaining in Minnesota were removed to reservations in Nebraska [and South Dakota]. Meanwhile, the Ojibwa were relegated to reservations on remnants of their former lands." [Originally, this excerpt/paragraph came from a Minnesota - history article]

"What happened to the Dakota in 1862 and afterward was a grievous crime against humanity. If it had occurred in this present day and age the United Nations and the international community would condemn it and declare it to be ethnocide and genocide. A United Nations world court indictment would be issued and the perpetrators of this ethnocide and genocide would be rounded up, tried, convicted and punished for crimes against humanity."

Thomas Ivan Dahlheimer
Wahkon

 

This well written stuff and of course very true and very tragic. This is what happens when empires are built, and this is what what happens when empires fall. It's sad that human nature has such a dark side. I'm certain that most of the people who committed these crime were good people with familys and dogs and even kittens. It's something that I fear any of us may do in the same in similar circumstances. They had a mandate from the US government in "Manifest Destiny", and believed God had wanted this. In many ways they acted as isis and other terror centric movements are today. I'm not justifying any of it. I cannot be justified becouse it is not just. I'm just tying to understand it.

 

Why should we care?

 

I care because I am born of the same land , and I can know the spirit of
all who have been here as my own . Voices endure . The wind delivers the
feather . To then hold it - the One shall speak with peace .

 

i like crimes of the century
I.m not against humanity

 

On July 26, 1764 ,four Native American Delaware Lenape warriors stormed a schoolhouse..Killing the school master, and nine children..The first school massacre in the history of the states.
Governor John Penn /son of William Penn,) within the assembly set a bounty for the scalp of adult(combative) Native Americans .. However it is not known how many children and womens scalps retrieved bounties by the settlers.
Tribal leaders called the acts of the warriors cowedly however the American Indian wars were in much progress by this time. Fort Pitt was attacked in June of 1763, primarily by Delawares. Too strong to be taken by force, the fort was kept under siege throughout July.( you can learn about this at the Fort Pitt museum) Meanwhile, Delaware and Shawnee parties raided deep into Pennsylvania, taking captives and killing unknown numbers of settlers in scattered farms..
I am small % Lenape I used to attend circle but its to much for me to drive there .. last my ex and I attended pow wow, but that was about 8/9yrs ago..

 

I wonder what would have happened if the majority of the native population hadn't already been decimated by the diseases brought by Columbus's first expedition...

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/international-archives-60/320-1491-the-truth-about-the-americas-before-columbus
It is estimated that when the first Europeans arrived in 1492 there were 15 to 20 million Native Americans living in the land.
When the first European explorers passed over the Mississippi they saw millions of bison and other animals. This was not because indigenous people didn't hunt them. In fact, these animal populations were large because their predators, the indigenous people, had been killed off by European sicknesses. Similarly, the death from these sicknesses allowed ecosystems to thrive without the impact of humans until the European colonies expanded. What Europeans actually saw when they fully explored and settled in "wilder" regions was the death of the landscape shaped by indigenous cultures.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/12/111205-native-americans-europeans-population-dna-genetics-science/
The number of Native Americans quickly shrank by roughly half following European contact about 500 years ago, according to a new genetic study.

 

It was an unfair fight not a superior culture. Their advantage was resources in terms of domestic animals and metals and germs.

 

No argument there. Steel swords and armor, horses and dogs...

Though, natives initial friendliness not withstanding, Europeans weapons would not have been so formidable against what would have been such a large population, had they rallied the necessary troops.

 

Exactly. So the lopsided carnage is not an effect of a particularly barbaric people. Europe had the advantage of endemic animals suitable for domestication which in turn put the population in close contact with the animals which transferred infectious diseases to the people who became immune over time. Domestication frees up time to create industries i.e, metal war tools and durable instruments of all kinds. So when I said earlier that I like crimes of the century not crimes against humanity, I was concerned for our common situation which is the seasonal or regional distribution of goods that are in demand.

 

People looking for villains to explain tragedy in our lives have villainous thoughts

 

Currently, as a historic marker consistent with the past, the resource most commonly sought in our relatively free time, is our common ideals. If takes thriving communities to make mass war.

 

To put it in plain terms, the first Europeans didn't exactly arrive with the enlightened good intentions of an advanced culture. After the natives freely gave all the gold in thier possession, that wasn't enough. They enslaved the people and demanded from every man woman and child, a 'hawks bell' of gold dust every 3 months, which had to laboriously wash from the river gravel. Or in lieu of gold, 25 lbs of spun or woven cotton... on penalty of death.

 

Not sure what you are implying what those plain terms should mean. Yep they were after resources not about spreading good cheer. Slaves are a resource to the slave maker. The same is true of native peoples in conflict with other native groups which was common in certain regions. Mans barbarity to man is not reserved for any culture and native peoples are no different.The only thing that stops the barbarity is the concern not to be so. That concern is not met by lamenting, it just maintains memory of a wound and upholds the cause of barbarity. You stole my resources. not saying that I would rest anyone's sorrow from them if that is what they want to maintain, that is the sorry state of our regard for our common situation of having our milk spilled.

 

Sure, but thats a big jump for a lot of people. Fact remains we aren't honoring treatise with the natives to this day.

People need an awareness beyond, "the pilgrims came to the New world because of religious persecution"

 

I wish I could help ease the minds. They already died once. The reason I jumped off the political band wagon is I just got sick of the perpetual meanness. The way we conduct ourselves by way of rule of law though is a different issue and it doesn't work for non-natives either. It works by greasing the skids..

 

Hippies are supposed to avoid holding grudges in regards to atrocities against their grandparents generation. Admitted its tough to waive it off, but it makes for a better world to just let it go.

 

I think you are a few generations off with the grandparents thing, lol

 

OP mentioned the UN holding trials. The UN doesn't exactly have a good record of stepping in to stop human rights abuses or acts of genocide. More often than not they just put up a show of feigned anger or pass strongly worded toothless resolutions.

Ironically it usually only happens when the U.S. drags them kicking and screaming but even that doesn't always work. Rwanda is a perfect example - we openly labeled it "genocide" to pressure the UN to act, but they did nothing.

I wouldn't count on the UN to help the tribes.

 

The "tribes" don't deserve help.