NATIVE AMERICANS
GHOSTS FROM THE PAST...
Ishi apparently wasn't the last Yahi - NEWS RELEASE, 2/5/96, by Gretchen Kell.
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 - The Trail of Tears
Note: The Indian Removal Act empowered by president Andrew Jackson allowed the U.S. Government to move eastern Indians west
of the Mississippi, mainly Cherokees. The purpose was to put pressure off arising conflicts since the flawed thinking was that
the white settlements would never penetrate that part of the continent. The project was ill-conceived and culturally chauvinistic. Even
the staunchest defenders of this act were admitting defeat at the time. In the spring and summer of 1838, more than 15,000 Cherokee were removed by the U.S. Army from their ancestral homelands in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. They were held in concentration camps through the summer and fall then forced to travel nearly 1,000 miles during an extremely harsh winter to Indian Territory in Oklahoma.
It is estimated that almost 4,000 died of hunger, dysentery, exposure and other causes during the trek. Members of the tribe call the forced evacuation of their homelands and the horrendous journey "Nunahi-Duna-Dlo-Hilu-I", which translates to "Trail Where They Cried". The infamous removal concept was later refined into the reservation idea.
1. The Trail of Tears, by Joan Gilbert
2. Removal of the Cherokees, by John G. Burnett
Wounded Knee (1890)
Note: Wounded Knee Creek, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota December 29, 1890.
For the Plains Indians this was the last act of defiance ending in a massacre carried out by Colonel James Forsyth's Seventh Cavalry.
There would be no more battles but this 100+ years old memory is still a wound in many hearts. Perhaps the most famous Indian-fighting general in the U.S. Army at the time,
General Nelson A. Miles, accused Forsyth of "blind stupidity or criminal
indifference" and relieved him of command. General Miles called this "a useless slaughter of Indian women and children". But the war department, determined to portray this final
confrontation of the Indian wars in a heroic light, stopped any further investigation of the incident.
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BIA's Missing Funds (On-Going)
Note: During the past 20-25 years the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) have lost track of $2.4 billion (who knows the exact amount?) most likely due to
mismanagement over a long period of time. The money was appropriated by the U.S. Government for Indian Affairs causes. Investigations are under way and...rest assured...this web-site
will be on top of this story and we will post updates as soon as we receive
them. Please submit information to this site on anything new on this topic. For now, we can just express a desire that in the age of super-computers one could expect the implementation of a fool proof computer system once this web of
discrepancies has been sorted out.
1. A Report by the General Accounting Office
2. General Accounting Offices FraudNET Report FORM for Governmental Fraud & Mismanagement
3. Dave Henry's Sign Petition Form
4. A Seattle Post Report submitted by Ron Petersen
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Other Matters
A newsreport December 1996: The Seattle Times reported that they had examined $3 billion in HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) spending since regulations were eased under former HUD Secretary Jack Kemp in 1992, a move expanded by his successor, Henry Cisneros. It turns out that a federal Indian housing program, called "Mutual Help",
has produced mansions for tribal leaders and their friends and relatives. Meanwhile, low-income reservation residents who were supposed to benefit from this program, face years on waiting lists. About 100,000 Indian families nationwide live in shabby, often overcrowded quarters, some without plumbing or electricity.
The Mutual Help program provides federal funds to tribal authorities to finance residential construction. The program is kept going by monthly payments from residents, typically 15% of household income; more than 50,000 houses were built through Mutual Help in the last three decades. But HUD adopted a "new flexibility" four years ago, eliminating the strict standards and cloe scrutiny once applied to the homes.
On the Tulip reservation north of Seattle, it took $2.5 million to build 18 houses. One 5,296-square-foot building was owned by Patty Gobin, executive director of the tribal housing authority, and her husband, Michael Alva, the agency's contracting officer. The couple's combined annual income is $92,319 - five times the average for program participants.
At the Pleasant Point reservation near Perry, Maine, a HUD-subsidized 3,000-square-foot mansion with an ocean view is shared by tribal housing head Pamela Francis and her husband, who supervised housing agency cosnstruction crews. They earn a combined $75,000. More than 100 other Passamaquoddy tribal members are on waiting list for subsidized homes.
In Red Rock, Oklahoma, Ote-Missouria families who had been promised 20 HUD-financed houses learned that the brick ranch homes would go instead to tribal housing officials and their friends and relatives. One family has sued.
The Mashantucket Pequot tribe, which has no low-income families and operates a casino that reportedly clears $1 million a day, is completing work on the last of 15 large homes under a $1.5 million grant at Ledyard, Conn.
As Henry Cisneros was informed about the findings before publication, he ordered an investigation. We will keep you posted.
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"GHOSTS FROM THE PAST", OTHER LINKS...
1. Tom Custer Died Alongside Brother George
Link to The History Net, original article appeared in Wild West Magazine, June 96 issue.
2. George Armstrong Custer's Final Resting Place
3. Biography George Armstrong Custer (1839 - 1876) by THE WEST TV Series
4. Biography George Crook (1828 - 1890) by THE WEST TV Series
The Army's greatest Indian fighter, but he may have contributed to Custer's defeat at Little Bighorn. However, during his last years he campaigned vigorously on behalf of the Lakota Indians. Cheif Red Cloud once said: "Crook never lied to us. His words gave people hope".
5. Biography Marcus A. Reno (1834 - 1889) by THE WEST TV Series
Officer in charge of the only unit to survive the battle of the Little Bighorn.
6. Biography John Gibbon (1827 - 1896) by THE WEST TV Series
Infantry Commander with General Custer at the battle of Little Bighorn and commander at other battles.
7. Biography of Alfred H. Terry (1827 - 1890) by THE WEST TV Series
A military commander under general Custer.
8. Biography Philip Sheridan (1831 - 1888) by THE WEST TV Series
A ruthless general during the wars against the plains Indians, with no concern for casualties among innocent non-warriors.
9. Little Bighorn Coverup
Link to The History Net, original article appeared in Wild West Magazine, June 96 issue.
10. Lakota "High Noon" 1876
Link to The History Net, original article appeared in Wild West Magazine, June 1996 issue.
11. An Ungrateful Nation - Navajo Natives Suffering
February 1997 - American History Feature. Link to The History Net.
12. Native American Support Group
Support Group for Native Americans of New York City re: current land issues, intrusion to Indian lands, etc.
13. Biography of John M. Chivington (1821 - 1894) by THE WEST TV Series
The Butcher of Sand Creek...and he was a minister!
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