"We, in this country, have a history of killing for selfish and misguided reasons. A few days ago in heated conversation about the Iraqi prisoner abuses, I couldn't help but drift to an image of the massacre at Sand Creek on Nov. 29, 1864. Five hundred to 600 Cheyenne and Arapaho were killed by U.S. soldiers. Many of the victims were children or women. The soldiers scalped some of the victims. The men knocked the brains out of babies, and many women were cut into pieces and their bodies mutilated.

Correspondence from the massacre report that women's private parts were taken from dead bodies and carried into Denver for a gory "show and tell." The trophies were greeted with cheers and praise by the community."

Get the Story:
DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Abuses of the present recall atrocities of the past (The Grand Forks Herald 5/11)

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