"Authorities in Minnesota asked"
Lincoln to order the immediate execution of all 303 Indian males found guilty.
Lincoln was concerned with how this would play with the Europeans, whom he was
afraid were about to enter the war on the side of the South. He offered the
following compromise to the politicians of Minnesota: They would pare the list
of those to be [executed] down to 39. In return, Lincoln promised to kill or
remove every Indian from the state and provide Minnesota with 2 million dollars
in federal funds. Remember, he only owed the Sioux 1.4 million for the land.
"So, on December 26, 1862, the
Great Emancipator ordered the largest mass execution in American History, where
the guilt of those to be executed was entirely in doubt. Regardless of how
Lincoln defenders seek to play this, it was nothing more than murder to obtain
the land of the Santee Sioux and to appease his political cronies in
Minnesota."
JS: I have studied and written an article
on Sitting Bull which I posted to my website. I lived with relatives of Sitting
Bull!
GC: I just checked out your
website. I think it's incredible! " and
your story needs to be told and more people should be aware of it. Do you think we've done enough to
de-mythologize Lincoln?
JS: Maybe for now, we have. "
GC: I just wish people would
use the "power of the purse" to boycott crapola like Spielberg's "Lincoln,"
Afleck's "Argo," "Zero Dark Thirty," etc.
It's absurd to pay money and get infected with lies. " It's absurd to
pay for the kind of junk we get on cable TV, too!
JS: There's so much more we
need to talk about! Walt Whitman helped
mythologize Lincoln. We need to talk
about Lincoln as a Railroad lawyer! The
Homestead Act! The Morrill Act, the 14 th
Amendment. All of these and more were
elements of the Civil War and all figure into this horrible Empire we've
become!
GC: We can't cover it all in
one article! Maybe another. " I would
ask one thing, though, for finalizing this piece. Can you re-produce some info from your blog
here?
Can you tell us a little more
about who you are? Maybe provide a link
to your painting? I think that would be instructive. I think it ends
properly--in your voice, with your story. The implicit question from the
beginning is, HOW does one occupy the media? I think the answer is
two-fold: We boycott and expose the lies, refuse to take part in the
perpetuation of the insidious myths of the Infotainment Industry; and, WE BECOME the media--our message, our lives,
become the focus of attention!
A
day later. "
JS: HOME FOR ARTISTS, INDIANS, AND OTHER SOCIAL OUTCASTS
As an artist living among the
Oglala on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, I stubled across the nightmare,
Kafkaesque world that Native Americans have been thrust into.
After my son, Damon, was killed by a
self-styled Rambo, my life was changed forever.
Just seventeen, Damon was lured to have a rink with some older
kids. They got into a political argument
over "freedom fighters" in Central America.
Damon said that America had no right to kill Indians for their land and
Ollie North was no hero. That's when the
self-styled Rambo stabbed my son to death.
This all happened in a small town near Minot, North Dakota, close to
where I was born and raised. I lived
close to a reservation, but I never knew any Indians. I believe I was drawn to live with the
Indians in ways I do not have the words to tell you. After nine years of living in" Denver", I
moved to the Pine Ridge, and have made it my home for the past 15 years.
Everyone goes to Pine Ridge, to
Wounded Knee. Tourists come from all
over the world. " Everyone is looking for the "real" Indian. Like my friend, the late, great Tony Black Feather,
said: "Where are the real Indians? " You'll find them in the back alleys of
Pine Ridge, and staggering in the streets of White Clay." The Indian is largely invisible to Americans
because if they became something more than the Hollywood Indian, Americans
would be forced to confront their abiding racism.
Sitting Bull warned his warriors and
people not to strip the white soldiers after the battle with Custer. He warned if they took the white man's possessions,
the people would lust after white-man things, lose their culture, lose their
identity" their way of life--become weak and helpless.
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