Indian Wars Were Really American Invasions
* What: The systematic conquest and removal of Native tribal nations, and theft and cheating of Native lands.
* The Body Count: Genocide against Natives in all of the Americas killed between 75 million to 112 million American Indians out of a total population of 125 to 140 million in 1492.
* Within what is now the US, the Native population dropped from 12 to 18 million in 1492 to 200,000 in 1900. After 1900 the Native population began to recover. Today the Native population in the US is between 4 to 7 million.
* Who Also Gets the Blame:
* The biggest form of genocide denial is to blame disease, as though all deaths from disease spread to Native peoples were purely accidental. In some cases, diseases were deliberately spread. Cortez used biological warfare against the Aztecs, throwing diseased bodies into the capital's water supply. British General Lord Jeffrey Amherst gave out smallpox infected blankets. American fur traders also gave infected blankets that nearly wiped out the Mandan tribe.
* But though many claim that Europeans and Anglo-Americans did not spread disease on purpose, this is not accurate. These invaders knew diseases’ effects. Though they did not yet understand germ theory, they could see and did know the obvious: When whites came into an area with Natives, Natives died from disease in huge numbers, at a 90-98% death rate. Thus by choosing to come into contact with Natives, Europeans and Anglo-Americans were guilty of knowingly spreading disease, much like an AIDS infected patient knowingly having unprotected sex.
* Another form of genocide denial is to claim that Natives were more vulnerable to disease because of isolation from the rest of the world prior to Columbus's invasion. In fact, there were other peoples who came to the Americas before 1492. Polynesians, Vikings, and Australian Aboriginals are all proven to have been in the Americas well before Columbus. There is also evidence that other groups possibly came to the Americas, though not enough proof to be definitive. None of these groups brought epidemics, including the European Vikings. (See more discussion of this in Notes.)
* What made Natives vulnerable to epidemics was the deliberate starvation tactics used by Europeans and then Anglo-Americans. Starvation weakens the body, making diseases far more deadly. In the US case, the government hired hunters to kill off the buffalo herds, driving their numbers down from hundreds of millions to less than 1,000 by 1900. Using starvation and disease as a weapon of war is, by definition, a part of genocide. (See Section One.) Without these starvation tactics, the death rate would have been far lower.
* Most deaths east of the Mississippi River were during English colonial times. Where French and Spaniards mixed freely with Natives and intermarried, English racism believed in cultural and later racial segregation. Thus many English colonists practiced extermination more freely.
* These were the atrocities in US history that were not combat, but attempts to exterminate Native tribes by outright massacres:*
* Thirty Iroquois towns destroyed during the American Revolution by Washington's troops.
* The Gnadenhutten Massacre of Delawares in 1782.
* The Hillabee and Autosee Massacres of Creeks in 1813-14.*
* The Fall Creek Massacre of Senecas in 1822.
* The Dressing Point Massacre of Karankawas in 1826.*
* The Battle Axe Massacre of the Sac and Fox in 1832.
* The Johnson Massacre of Apaches in 1837.
* The Council House and Colorado River Massacres of Comanches in 1840.
* The Clear Lake Massacre of Pomos and Wyos in 1840.
* The Sacramento River Massacre of Yanas in 1846.
* The Taos Pueblo Massacre in 1847.
* The Brazos River Massacre of Caddos and Wichitas in 1848.
* The Bloody Island Massacre of Pomos in 1850. *
* The Kaibai Creek Massacre of Wintus in 1854.
* The Harney Massacre of Lakota in 1855.
* The Lupton Massacre of Takelma in 1855.
* The Little Butte Creek Massacre of Tulutni and Takelma in 1855.
* The Grande Ronde Massacre in 1856.
* The Shingletown, Big Antelope Creek, Cottonwood, Oak Run, and Three Knolls Massacres of Yanas in 1856, 1862, 1864, 1864, and 1866.*
* The Pit River Massacre of Achomawi in 1859.
* The Chico Creek Massacre of Maidu in 1859.
* The Bloody Rock Massacre of Yuki in 1860.
* The Pease River Massacre of Comanches in 1860.*
* The Gunther Island Massacre of Wiyots in 1860.*
* The Horse Canyon and Upper Station Massacres of Wailaiki in 1861 and 1862.
* The Tonkawa Massacre in 1862.* *
* The Keyesville Massacre of Tehachapi in 1863.
* The Bear River Massacre of Shoshone in 1863.*
* The Sand Creek Massacre of Cheyenne in 1864.
* The Bloody Tanks Massacre of Apaches in 1864.
* The Skull Valley Massacre of Yavapai in 1864.
* The Mud Lake, Owens Lake, and Circleville Massacres of Paiute in 1865 and 1866. * * *
* The Campo Seco Massacre of Yahis in 1868.
* The Marias Massacre of Piegans in 1870.
* The Wounded Knee Massacre of Lakota in 1890.
* As you can see, the list of massacres is disturbingly long, and likely this list is not complete. (For anyone wondering, most “massacres” done by Natives were actually combat defeats of US troops or colonist militias.) Nearly half of those massacres were in California, which was a clear case of genocide. (See Section Two.) Besides the California Indian genocide, which three US presidents deliberately ignored, what role did US presidents play in these other massacres, as well as in biological warfare and wiping out the buffalo and other starvation tactics?
* There is no clear evidence of the US government using biological warfare against Native tribes. British General Amherst and Spanish conqueror Cortes did. The “Republic of Texas” had an official genocide policy (see Section Three) but this did not include disease. Confederate Colonel John Baylor planned to poison Native tribes during peace talks, but never carried it out. American fur trappers used contaminated blankets against the Mandans. But the US government is innocent of this when it comes to Natives.
* Did the US government, or any American president, have an official genocide policy? No, but this does not mean much. There is no piece of paper where Hitler ordered the extermination of Jews either, but he was still guilty of genocide. Was it the practice of the US government, or US presidents, to try to wipe out all Natives? When asking this question, there are often two knee jerk responses, both equally wrong. One is denial, wanting to blame most deaths on accidental disease, wanting to blame Natives themselves, assuming this was ordinary warfare, or even justifying conquest and genocide as inevitable, as best for American progress.
* The other response, by those who imagine they are properly cynical enough, is “of course.” This is equally wrong. There were US presidents like Grant who did much to halt extermination efforts. (See Section Eight.) There were some presidents like John Quincy Adams who thought Natives inferior, but still believed Native peoples should not be cheated or have force used against them. (See Section Nine.) Many presidents were indifferent, as in the California Indian genocide. But most violence against Native tribes came from white colonists, while the US Army sometimes tried to limit the violence. In some cases, US generals like Custer committed atrocities that the US government did not want. (See Section Ten.)
* Besides California genocide, these presidents had the worst record for atrocities against Natives:
* Washington as general ordered the destruction of 30 Iroquois towns. As president, he called for treaties to prevent violence between Natives and Anglo-Americans. But colonists still invaded Native lands. When Natives fought back, Washington sent armies into the Ohio Valley. Washington then signed the Treaty of Grenville, forcing all tribes out of Ohio. He also signed the Treaty of New York that somewhat protected the Creek tribe for a time.
* Jackson committed genocide by removing the Five Tribes as president. (See Section One.) As US General he waged war upon the Creek. Van Buren continued forced removal of one of the Five Tribes, the Cherokee, and war against the Seminole. Forced removal was almost all Jackson's doing. The Seminole Wars began long before Van Buren and continued long after him. His guilt is in failing to stop either. Andrew Johnson carried out most of the Long March against Navajos. (See Section Eight.)
* What about the extermination of the buffalo? This was precisely what weakened the Plains tribes and left them vulnerable to disease, and forced them onto reservations far more than battles with either colonists or the military. Most evidence points to the US Army, especially Generals William Sherman and Phillip Sheridan, as most responsible for wiping out buffalo. White colonists share the blame. Extermination began under Andrew Johnson, was somewhat halted under Grant, but then continued under Rutherford. Army generals did so on their own. Johnson and Rutherford's guilt is in failing to stop this extermination and starvation tactic.