another perspective from a Lakota friend

A Native Perspective on Virginia Tech Headlines*

>Thursday, April 19, 2007**
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>By Kat Teraji=20

Bury my heart at Wounded Knee, Deep in the Earth, Cover me with pretty =

lies - bury my heart at Wounded Knee. Didn't we learn to crawl, and =
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>still our history gets written in a liar's scrawl. They tell 'ya "Honey, =
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>you can still be an Indian d-d-down at the 'Y' on Saturday nights." - =
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>lyrics to "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," written by Buffy St. Marie
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>"The worst shooting rampage in American history." "Massacre and =
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>Mourning, 33 die in worst shooting in U.S. History," and "Rampage called =
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>worst mass shooting in U.S. history." "What first appeared to be a =
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>single shooting death unfolded into the worst gun massacre in the =
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>nation's history." You've
>seen and heard these headlines and reports all =
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>week as the media provided non-stop coverage of the tragic shooting of =
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>33 people at Virginia Tech University on Monday.
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>"The worst in U.S. history." Really? It is certainly the worst shooting =
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>on a college campus in modern U.S. history. But if we think it is the =
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>worst shooting rampage in U.S. history, then we are a singularly =
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>uneducated nation.
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>"I can't take one more of these headlines," said Joan Redfern, a member =
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>of the Lakota Sioux tribe who lives in Hollister. We met at First Street =
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>Coffee to talk while we scanned Internet stories. "Haven't any of these =
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>people ever heard of the Massacre at Sand Creek in Colorado, where =
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>Methodist minister Col. Chivington massacred between 200 and 400 =
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>Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians, most of
>them women, children, and elderly =
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>men?"
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>Chivington specifically ordered the killing of children, and when he was =
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>asked why, he said, "Kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make =
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>lice."
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>At Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota, the U.S. 7th Cavalry attacked 350 =
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>unarmed Lakota Sioux on December 29, 1890. While engaged in a spiritual =
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>practice known as the "Ghost Dance," approximately 90 warriors and 200 =
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>women and children were killed. Although the attack was officially =
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>reported as an "unjustifiable massacre" by Field Commander General =
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>Nelson A. Miles, 23 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for the =
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>slaughter. The unarmed Lakota men fought back with bare hands. The =
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>elderly men and women stood and sang their death songs while falling =
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>under the hail of bullets.
>Soldiers stripped the bodies of the dead =
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>Lakota, keeping their ceremonial religious clothing as souvenirs.
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>To say the Virginia shooting is the worst in all of U.S. history is to =
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>pour salt on old wounds-it means erasing and forgetting all of our =
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>ancestors who were killed in the past," Redfern said.
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>"The use of hyperbole and lack of historical perspective seems all too =
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>ubiquitous in much of the current mainstream media," Redfern said. "My =
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>intention is not to downplay the horror of what has happened this week =
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>in any way. But we have a 500-year history of mass shootings on American =
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>soil, and let's not forget it."
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>This is only the most recent mass shooting massacre in a long history of =
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>mass shootings in a country engaged in a long love affair with firearms =
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>and very
>little interest in gun control.
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>Let's not forget our history and the richness of our Native roots. While =
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>spending time on the 1.5 million acre Hopi Reservation in Arizona, I met =
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>families living in homes they have occupied for over 900 years. On the =
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>surface, it looks like a third world country: you will observe many =
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>homes without running water, travel unpaved roads, and notice that there =
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>are no building codes. But sitting in a Hopi home being served a =
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>delicious lunch cooked by a proud Hopi working mother, I experienced so =
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>much more: the continuity of a long and deep heritage, a sense of the =
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>sacred, an artistic expertise, and wisdom about many things that remain =
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>a mystery to my culture.
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>Most of all, may we never forget all those innocent civilian men, women, =
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>and children
>who lost their lives simply for being in the wrong place at =
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>the wrong time, just as the students happened to be this week in =
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>Virginia.=20
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>May we always remember the precious humanity of these students, but may =
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>we also never forget the humanity of those who lost their lives simply =
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>for being born people Native to this country.=20
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