I love it, I hate it, it disrupts the mundane yet essential pursuits of a balanced life, my friends tell me I should stop, and I tell them I can stop anytime I want, but I know that I won’t, because I can’t imagine existence without it, and in the back of my mind I get angry and I curse and I say my friends don’t understand me, no one understands me, and I listen to myself and I take a long listen to what I am saying, and I think, no, no, no, this is not healthy, this will never do, you have got to stop it, and maybe for awhile I do, maybe I do stop it, but then, oh, oh, it’s killing me to stop it, and I’d rather die than live like this, and every day my fingers itch a little more, and then my hands are shaking and my arms are twitching, and I can’t do anything but want it back, and even if I go back to it, how will I write with shaking hands and twitching arms, how will I write when I have already been ruined by the loss of it.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Excerpts from "The Ghost-Dance Religion and Wounded Knee"
The following is an excerpt regarding efforts to coerce Native Americans already settled on reservations (near the Columbia River, present day Oregon/Washington I believe) to relocate to new reservations on lands less coveted by settlers.
"In 1871 a commission was sent to Umatilla and other reservations which gave the Indians a chance to speak for themselves. The Cayuse chief, described as a Catholic Indian, in dress, personal appearance, and bearing superior to the average American farmer, said:
'This reservation is marked out for us. We see it with our eyes and our hearts. We hold it with our bodies and our souls. Right out here are my father and my mother, and brothers and sisters and children, all buried. I am guarding their graves. My friend, this reservation, this small piece of land, we look upon it as our mother, as if she were raising us. You come to ask me for my land. It is like as if we who are Indians were to be sent away and get lost. ... What is the reason you white men who live near the reservation like my land and want to get it? You must not think so. My friends, you must not talk too strong about getting my land. I like my land and will not let it go.'
The Wallawalla chief said:
'I have tied all the reservation in my heart and it can not be loosened. It is dear as our bodies to us.'
The Umatilla chief said:
'Our red people were brought up here. ... When my father and mother died, I was left here. They gave me rules and gave me their land to live upon. They left me to take care of them after they were buried. I was to watch over their graves. I do not wish to part with my land. I have felt tired working on my land, so tired that the sweat dropped off me on the ground. Where is all that Governor Stevens or General Palmer said [i.e., that it was to be a reservation for the Indians forever]? I am very fond of this land that is marked out for me. ... Should I take only a small piece of ground and a white man sit down beside me, I fear there would be trouble all the time.'
An old man said:
'I am getting old now, and I want to die where my father and mother and children have died. I do not wish to leave this land and go off to some other land. ... I see where I have sweat and worked in trying to get food. I love my church, my mills, my farm, the graves of my parents and children. I do not wish to leave my land. That is all my heart, and I show it to you.'
A young chief said:
'I have only one heart, one tongue. Although you say, Go to another country, my heart is not that way. I do not wish for money for my land. I am here, and here is where I am going to be. ... I will not part with lands, and if you come again I will say the same thing. I will not part with my lands.'" [pgs 709-710]
Another excerpt, this one relating to the Nez Perce:
"One of Joseph's band had been murdered by whites some time before, but the Indians had remained quiet. Now, while the Nez Perces were gathering up their stock to remove to the reservation selected, a band of white robbers attacked them, ran off the cattle, and killed one of the party in charge. Joseph could no longer restrain his warriors, and on June 13, 1877--one day before the date that had been appointed for going on the reservation--the enraged Nez Perces attacked the neighboring settlement on White Bird creek, Idaho, and killed 21 persons. The war was begun. The troops under [General] Howard were ordered out. The first fight occurred on June 17 at Hangman's creek and resulted in the loss of 34 soldiers. Then came another on July 4 with a loss of 13 more. Then on July 12 another encounter by troops under General Howard himself, in which 11 soldiers were killed and 26 wounded.
Then began one of the most remarkable exhibitions of generalship in the history of our Indian wars, a retreat worthy to be remembered with that of the storied ten thousand. With hardly a hundred warriors, and impeded by more than 350 helpless women and children--with General Howard behind, with Colonel (General) Miles in front, and with Colonel Sturgis and the Crow scouts coming down upon his flank--Chief Joseph led his little band up the Clearwater and across the mountains into Montana, turning at Big Hole pass long enough to beat back his pursuers with a loss of 60 men; then on by devious mountain trails southeast into Yellowstone park, where he again turned on Howard and drove him back with additional loss of men and horses; then out of Wyoming and north into Montana again, hoping to find safety on Canadian soil, until intercepted in the neighborhood of Yellowstone by Colonel Sturgis in front with fresh troops and a detachment of Crow scouts, with whom they sustained two more encounters, this time with heavy loss of men and horses to themselves; then again eluding their pursuers, this handful of starving and worn-out warriors, now reduced to scarcely fifty able men, carrying their wounded and their helpless families, crossed the Missouri and entered the Bearpaw mountains. But new enemies were on their trail, and at last, when within 50 miles of the land of refuge, Miles, with a fresh army, cut off their retreat by a decisive blow, capturing more than half their horses, killing a number of the band, including Joseph's brother and the noted chief Looking Glass, and wounding 40 others. ...
In all our sad Indian history there is nothing to exceed in pathetic eloquence the surrender speech of the Nez Perce chief:
'I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Toohulhulsote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led the young men is dead. It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are--perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever'" [pgs 713-715]
A few quotes:
"'... You ask me to plow the ground. Shall I take a knife and tear my mother's bosom? You ask me to dig for stone. Shall I dig under her skin for her bones? You ask me to cut grass and make hay and sell it and be rich like white men. But how dare I cut off my mother's hair?' --Smohalla" [pg 716]
"'The sun is my father and the earth is my mother. On her bosom I will rest.'" --Tecumseh (or Tecumtha) [pg 721]
All page numbers refer to the 1973 Dover edition of "The Ghost-Dance Religion and Wounded Knee"
ISBN: 0-486-26759-8
"In 1871 a commission was sent to Umatilla and other reservations which gave the Indians a chance to speak for themselves. The Cayuse chief, described as a Catholic Indian, in dress, personal appearance, and bearing superior to the average American farmer, said:
'This reservation is marked out for us. We see it with our eyes and our hearts. We hold it with our bodies and our souls. Right out here are my father and my mother, and brothers and sisters and children, all buried. I am guarding their graves. My friend, this reservation, this small piece of land, we look upon it as our mother, as if she were raising us. You come to ask me for my land. It is like as if we who are Indians were to be sent away and get lost. ... What is the reason you white men who live near the reservation like my land and want to get it? You must not think so. My friends, you must not talk too strong about getting my land. I like my land and will not let it go.'
The Wallawalla chief said:
'I have tied all the reservation in my heart and it can not be loosened. It is dear as our bodies to us.'
The Umatilla chief said:
'Our red people were brought up here. ... When my father and mother died, I was left here. They gave me rules and gave me their land to live upon. They left me to take care of them after they were buried. I was to watch over their graves. I do not wish to part with my land. I have felt tired working on my land, so tired that the sweat dropped off me on the ground. Where is all that Governor Stevens or General Palmer said [i.e., that it was to be a reservation for the Indians forever]? I am very fond of this land that is marked out for me. ... Should I take only a small piece of ground and a white man sit down beside me, I fear there would be trouble all the time.'
An old man said:
'I am getting old now, and I want to die where my father and mother and children have died. I do not wish to leave this land and go off to some other land. ... I see where I have sweat and worked in trying to get food. I love my church, my mills, my farm, the graves of my parents and children. I do not wish to leave my land. That is all my heart, and I show it to you.'
A young chief said:
'I have only one heart, one tongue. Although you say, Go to another country, my heart is not that way. I do not wish for money for my land. I am here, and here is where I am going to be. ... I will not part with lands, and if you come again I will say the same thing. I will not part with my lands.'" [pgs 709-710]
Another excerpt, this one relating to the Nez Perce:
"One of Joseph's band had been murdered by whites some time before, but the Indians had remained quiet. Now, while the Nez Perces were gathering up their stock to remove to the reservation selected, a band of white robbers attacked them, ran off the cattle, and killed one of the party in charge. Joseph could no longer restrain his warriors, and on June 13, 1877--one day before the date that had been appointed for going on the reservation--the enraged Nez Perces attacked the neighboring settlement on White Bird creek, Idaho, and killed 21 persons. The war was begun. The troops under [General] Howard were ordered out. The first fight occurred on June 17 at Hangman's creek and resulted in the loss of 34 soldiers. Then came another on July 4 with a loss of 13 more. Then on July 12 another encounter by troops under General Howard himself, in which 11 soldiers were killed and 26 wounded.
Then began one of the most remarkable exhibitions of generalship in the history of our Indian wars, a retreat worthy to be remembered with that of the storied ten thousand. With hardly a hundred warriors, and impeded by more than 350 helpless women and children--with General Howard behind, with Colonel (General) Miles in front, and with Colonel Sturgis and the Crow scouts coming down upon his flank--Chief Joseph led his little band up the Clearwater and across the mountains into Montana, turning at Big Hole pass long enough to beat back his pursuers with a loss of 60 men; then on by devious mountain trails southeast into Yellowstone park, where he again turned on Howard and drove him back with additional loss of men and horses; then out of Wyoming and north into Montana again, hoping to find safety on Canadian soil, until intercepted in the neighborhood of Yellowstone by Colonel Sturgis in front with fresh troops and a detachment of Crow scouts, with whom they sustained two more encounters, this time with heavy loss of men and horses to themselves; then again eluding their pursuers, this handful of starving and worn-out warriors, now reduced to scarcely fifty able men, carrying their wounded and their helpless families, crossed the Missouri and entered the Bearpaw mountains. But new enemies were on their trail, and at last, when within 50 miles of the land of refuge, Miles, with a fresh army, cut off their retreat by a decisive blow, capturing more than half their horses, killing a number of the band, including Joseph's brother and the noted chief Looking Glass, and wounding 40 others. ...
In all our sad Indian history there is nothing to exceed in pathetic eloquence the surrender speech of the Nez Perce chief:
'I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Toohulhulsote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led the young men is dead. It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are--perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever'" [pgs 713-715]
A few quotes:
"'... You ask me to plow the ground. Shall I take a knife and tear my mother's bosom? You ask me to dig for stone. Shall I dig under her skin for her bones? You ask me to cut grass and make hay and sell it and be rich like white men. But how dare I cut off my mother's hair?' --Smohalla" [pg 716]
"'The sun is my father and the earth is my mother. On her bosom I will rest.'" --Tecumseh (or Tecumtha) [pg 721]
All page numbers refer to the 1973 Dover edition of "The Ghost-Dance Religion and Wounded Knee"
ISBN: 0-486-26759-8
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