Letter on massacres continues to stir debate

Monday, May 21, 2007  

A letter about Indian massacres continued to draw comments on The Billings Gazette website.

On May 16, Ron Garritson said it was inaccurate to call the shootings at Virginia Tech as the worst mass killing in U.S. history. He cited the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864, when at least 160 Cheyenne and Arapaho children, women and elders were killed.

"But as usual Indians don't count, right?" Garritson wrote.

As of this morning, more than 180 people commented on the letter, by far the most any story on the website has received. "You are so right!" one person says while another says "the indians wernt the first here as history tells and they were concored so anything they get is more than they deserve so get over it and stop crying."

The paper's stories about Indian issues typically draw the most comments.

Get the Story:
Ron Garritson: Massacres of Indians worse than Va Tech (The Billings Gazette 5/16)

Letter: Paper's stories generate negative comments (12/12)
Jodi Rave: Burns and Tester seek Indian vote (10/23)
Letter on reservation poverty draws most comments (10/17)
Story on church vandalism draws most comments
(5/23)
Story on Crow Tribe and gangs draws most comments (5/19)