I just saw the incident taking place in Washington, DC in which a demonstration between the white Make America Great Again (MAGA) representatives and a Native Elder singing a religious song took a horrendous turn. There were threats and insults by the young punk wearing the red M.A.G.A. hat while an Elder, who happens to be my long time AIM friend and comrade Nate Philipps, was singing a religious song. Now, I see the media and folks changing it around like it was the Natives Elder fault.
Let me explain to you what the song’s history is.
The Northern Cheyenne People gave this song to the American Indian Movement for an honor song in 1972 after the 71-day occupation of the Wounded Knee massacre grave site, which is now a memorial site, owned by a white person… can you believe that? Wounded Knee is a sacred area for the LAKOTA peoples, where over 350 Elders, men, children, and women with unborn babies still inside of their bodies were slaughtered. There are documented accounts of soldiers who opposed the killing of babies, however there were Calvary soldiers riding their horses around the massacre grounds waving their swords with dead babies on them. The Lakota who had disarmed themselves, given up their weapons of stone tomahawks, bows and arrows and hand thrown spears to the 7th Calvary and raised the white peace- and American flag, after an agreed truce between them.
The leader of the Lakota Band of Native’s was a peace Chief named Bigfoot. The Calvary was heavily armed with portable cannons, rifles, steel bayonets and knives and pistols. The 7th Calvary soldiers were under orders of their commanding officers. After the captives had been fed and convinced they were safe, and the babies began to quiet down, and sleep under their now warm robes, did not see or hear what was about to happen. The Cavalry like thieves AND RAPIST in the DARK of night, surrounding them with those DEADLY Weapons. Early that next morning on Dec, 25th (Isn’t that their Christens God Jesus Birthday?) after feeding the Natives their last breakfast meal they began to slaughter them, killing all who could not somehow escape.
A couple decades earlier this same Army of rapist of girls and boys, and murders of defenseless peoples surrounded a band of peaceful Northern Cheyenne’s at Sand Creek and committed the very the SAME MURDEROUS ACT, AFTER FIRST APPROACHING THEM UNDER BOTH FLAGS ‘the AMERICAN and WHITE FLAG’!!! When the Natives were given the flags, they were given a promise that if they exposed and flew these flags the Army would never attack them. Yet over a dozen soldiers were GIVEN MEDALS OF THE HIGHEST HONORS awards THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT has to BESTOW. Their soldiers and civilians received these awards for this act of genocide, and called it a great victory of war. Today they call it “Make America Great Again”!
So, a decade or so later, BELIEVING IN THEIR OWN B.S. PROPAGANDA THAT THESE WERE VICTORIOUS BATTLES, these same murders with dozens of their traitors again attacked the Crow scouts during a religious ceremony the Sundance, at the Little Big Horn or Greasy Grass Creek. this was what we Natives named it. Only this time Crazy Horse and many other young powerful war leaders (we call SHIRT WEARERS of the Lakota Nations) and their allies the Cheyenne’s were at the camp guarding the people, armed only with stone tomahawks bows and arrows against superior weaponry. They defended and wiped out Custer AND his band Of MURDERS and PAPIST OF CHILDREN AND HELPLESS ELDERS AND WOMEN AND BABIES.
On their way back to camp the young heroic Cheyenne warriors made up the song now known as the AIM song and rode into camp singing it, and the women and men joined in and the whole camp began to sing it.
The songs says Thank you to the great Spirit for allowing our young men to be brave AND courageous to FIGHT OFF AND TO PROTECT the young children THE WOMEN, UNBORN BABIES, THE ELDERLY WOMEN and MEN, AND OUR LEADERS. Singing THANK YOU Great Spirit for giving us the strength to SAVE OUR Children WITH THE BRAVERY YOU GAVE US. Thank you for showing us your Love for our Peoples. We pray you give us peace with these people who only want war and to kill our Nations/Peoples. This is the meanings behind the words of the Aim song.
So, this young man stood there acting like he was making fun of our religious leader, and smirking like he was superior to him. Someone should have been there to remind him about the over twenty-five children in the Catholic School on the Navajo Nations fifteen or so years ago. Not too mentioning the high numbers of evil crimes done to us in the past hundred years! Hundreds of Native Children had been raped and the priest responsible received as punishment a transfer to another church. Most of the Indian Boarding schools even had THEIR OWN GRAVE YARDS. Some with as high as 200 unmarked graves! This is what those kids were demanding, to return to those days when to them America was great.
In the spirit of Crazy Horse.
Doksha,
Leonard Peltier