Are Elementary Schools Teaching The Truth or Fantasy?

Few people discuss the lies told to children about history and in chapter four of "An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States," the author Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz gives an account of the bloody history of the Native Americans. The author attempts to bring these hidden truths to light by discussing when the United States targeted Osama Bin Laden and how they used code names to refer to different individuals that were being targeted. Few know that the code name “Geronimo” was used when referring to Osama Bin Laden in 2011. Geronimo was a prominent Indian leader and medical practitioner in the Apache community during the 1800s. It is surprising that the U.S. military used the name of a respected and friendly Native American man as the code name for an international terrorist. Much to one's surprise, this was not the only time that the military used Indian names. The military referred to enemy territory as "Indian Country” and named arms such as the UH-1B/C Iroquois and AH-64 Apache after Native American tribes. Even during the war in the Persian Gulf, fifteen thousand Natives served as combat troops. Another insult is that U.S. Special Operations were first used against Indigenous communities in Virginia and Massachusetts.

The Dunbar-Ortiz Textbook

May people see Andrew Jackson as a hero in American history but very few people know about his treacherous acts aginst Natives. During Jackson's presidency “Indian Country” was subject to the jurisdiction of United States colonial laws. This led to the destruction of Indigenous fields and the slaughter of military and non-military natives. The irregular warfare against the Indigenous peoples in the 1800s led to the Ohio and Mississippi Valley conquest. People sought the annihilation of the Indigenous tribes and the militaries use of unlimited warfare fueled racism against the tribes. This allowed Jackson to turn Indian wars into race wars. Jefferson from boyhood was curious about Native American but once he became president he viewed the Natives as either enemies or peaceful partners. When Jefferson grew up in Virginia, the native population was sparse due to recent wars and disease. During his presidency, Jefferson claimed that the Indigenous tribes were inferior to any and all Europeans and referred to them as “savages.” Jackson may be seen as a founding father but people rarely talk about his cruel opinions toward America’s Indigenous people.

Andrew Jackson

Children grow up believing the fantasy that the Natives developed a peaceful and loving connection between the colonist and the Natives as portrayed in Pocahontas and a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Children should learn about the real history, not the fairy tales they are taught in school and through movies and TV shows. If they learn the truth about history then they will spread the information to their friends and family so the issues are widely discussed and can be understood by society. When the Mayflower settlers came to the Americas they brought a disease unfamiliar to the Indigenous, smallpox. The disease killed large numbers of the Indigenous people in communities around the Americas. In 1636 many of the Indigenous tribes recovered from the epidemics. Before Jackson's time, Jamestown settlers were unable to grow crops or hunt and forced the Powhatan Confederacy to provide them with food and clothing. John Smith threatened to kill all Powhatan women and children if they did not procure the much-needed food and clothes for the settlers at Jamestown. This lead to the first Jamestown Powhatan war that broke out in 1609 and lasted for over a year. It ended after governor Thomas Gage ordered the slaughter of the Powhatan tribes' children. Reports at the time indicate governor Gage relished in the gruesome details of the reports of the slaughter. The Powhatan could not force settlers to retreat into their fortress and could not protect their grain storage. This caused them to fall back to organize a stronger confederacy. In 1622, they attacked the settlers and killed a third of their population. The settlers retaliated by destroying all of the Powhatan’s agricultural resources. This led to the Tidewater War that lasted from 1644 to 1646. The settlers continuously raided villages to starve the people out of the area. The Indigenous families that stayed in Virginia were completely controlled by the English. Since they drove away all Indigenous resources colonist were desperate for help and brought in Africans and European servants and slaves to take their place as workers. In hopes of gaining additional land, the settlers spread over the Susquehannock land resulting in another war. In 1676, the Virginia House of Burgesses and one hundred and twenty-five men attacked the Susquehannock tribe. Later during the Pequot, War the Narragansett joined colonist in hopes of getting captives, resources, and glory. In an attempt to fight back, Native Americans burned settlements and captured settlers. Many people are surprised to hear the gruesome history between the Natives and the Mayflower settlers. After hearing the truth of the Mayflowers early history in the Americas, are you surprised that they do not teacher children this in school or relived that they are being spared the truth?

The Mayflower

One of the darkest and cruelest moments in American history has been deeply covered and is rarely talked about. In the 1670s, scalp hunters began to hunt and scalp Indigenous people and sympathizers for bounties. They later started selling Indigenous children into slavery. The bounties were still given even when the war was not present creating a black market. The French used scalps to trade or purchase captives from the Indigenous. The English paid generously for scalps until they realized that many of the scalps they bought were in fact horsehide. After they realized the forgery, they began to check the product more carefully.

The origin of the term "Redskins" started around this time and was defined as the mutilated and/or bloody corpses left by settlers when scalp hurting. This allowed Rangers to become the forefront of ethnic cleansing in Georgia. Rangers sacked, looted, burned, pillaged, and scalped Spanish-allied Indigenous. The Highlanders were the elite and known as brutal killers. During this time disease and alcoholism spread rapidly among the Indigenous peoples by traders bringing smallpox and rum to the Cherokees.

The French & Indian War (1774-1783) also known as the “Seven Years’ War” brought rifles to the conflict between the settlers and the Native Americans. King George III issued a proclamation that prohibited British settlement West of the Appalachian mountains but was not effectively enforced which encouraged many to settle beyond the boundary. Once the war ended it was seen as productive in many people eyes. Although scalping it illegal today it is crazy to think that almost four hundred years ago people who now are seen murders were praised as folk heroes and seen as prominent figures in society.

A Native being shot by an American

Selling Native scalpes

Sources

"An Indigenous People's' History of the United States." Beacon Press: An Indigenous People's' History of the United States. Accessed April 01, 2019. http://www.beacon.org/An-Indigenous-Peoples-History-of-the-United-States-P1164.aspx.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Geronimo." Encyclopædia Britannica. February 13, 2019. Accessed April 01, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Geronimo.

"Chasing the Mayflower." Shifting the Balance. May 09, 2013. Accessed April 03, 2019. https://shiftingthebalance.com/2012/01/28/chasing-the-mayflower/.

Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne. An Indigenous Peoples' History Of the United States.

E.L.Tondu, Gerard. "1637 - The Pequot War." 1637 - The Pequot War. January 01, 1970. Accessed April 02, 2019. http://gerard-tondu.blogspot.com/2015/03/1637-pequot-war.html.

Ellis, Joseph J. "Thomas Jefferson." Encyclopædia Britannica. January 15, 2019. Accessed April 02, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Jefferson.

"Jefferson and American Indians." Monticello. Accessed April 02, 2019. https://www.monticello.org/thomas-jefferson/louisiana-lewis-clark/origins-of-the-expedition/jefferson-and-american-indians/.

"Rewards for Indian Scalps." Hands on Heritage with Robin Van Auken. November 29, 2016. Accessed April 01, 2019. https://handsonheritage.com/reward-offered-for-indian-scalps/.

"Top 10 Horrific Facts About Scalping On The American Frontier." Listverse. October 12, 2018. Accessed April 01, 2019. http://listverse.com/2017/07/16/top-10-horrific-facts-about-scalping-on-the-american-frontier/.

"Top 10 Horrific Facts About Scalping On The American Frontier." Listverse. October 12, 2018. Accessed April 02, 2019. http://listverse.com/2017/07/16/top-10-horrific-facts-about-scalping-on-the-american-frontier/.