America, in all the grandeur of its history – its fireworks, music and patriotic pomp – has very little to be proud of. As a Lakota, when I hear “home of the brave,” I think of the Massacre at Wounded Knee, where innocent children, women, and old men, were mercilessly slaughtered. I am also reminded of Mankato Minnesota, where Abraham Lincoln sanctioned the public hanging of 38 innocent Dakota men simultaneously, on custom gallows in the town square. I could go on and on about the numerous massacres “America” unapologetically committed upon my Native people. To these old Indian eyes, the self-celebration on the Fourth of July is absurd and incongruous, as opposed to the general assumption that this is a great country. It borders on surreal that a nation with this chronicled past would pause to immerse itself in such pride given its swept-under-the-rug history of atrocities. Atrocities aimed at one purpose: The near annihilation – and continued attempts – to commit genocide on a proud people whose only opposing cause was to protect its people and their way of life.Read More on the Story:
Sonny Skyhawk: The Fourth of July Through This Native’s Eyes (Indian Country Media Network 7/17)
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