This is not about the Native Americans, but about how ruthlessly, how violent, a group of invaders calling themselves "christian" were in their extermination of those natives. These humans, who call their god "love", dehumanized an entire continent of fellow humans and hunted them down like vermin.

One person here aped; "But they were violent." Damn right they were! They were fighting for their lives, their women and children, their way of life. Wouldn't you defend yourself from invaders?

This isn't all in the distant pass either. It wasn't until the 1960's did they stop FORCEFULLY removing the children from their families and putting them in re-education centers where they were beaten for speaking their own language.

Yeah, nice christian nation spreading the love of jesus.

What I was thinking about was the routine taking of children from intact families. Didn't that stop with the Navaho's in the mid 60's? Or am I mistaken/confused again?

For some reason they actually believed it was better to raised by strangers and be all messed up but christian.

And they call their god "love."

By the time whites were fighting Native Americans on the plains, the issue had been decided, I think.  By that time, Native Americans had no options left.

There were, perhaps, two turning points.

The first was the War of 1812, where Native Americans organized by Tecumseh aided the British; not that they were motivated by altruism, but the British at the time wanted a Native American buffer state in the area around Illinois. Had the British won the war, Native Americans might have gotten a reasonably viable piece of land, which, backed by England, might have had a chance at survival.

The second was the Trail of Tears, where tribes which had originally been persuaded to adopt western ways (including , BTW, slaveholding) in exchange for land alongside settlers found out what such promises were worth in the face of greed for land. 

Jun 19, 2012 -- 12:20AM, loveontheair wrote:

Hello,

Every Tribe was different. Omaha, Pawnee, the Ho-Chunk tribe of the Winnebago and some smaller bands were much different. They were more interested in joining the Gov't than fighting the Sioux, as the Sioux was there enemy. Many Indians served as guides. Not all Indians were bad.

love

Not all Whites were out to exterminate the Natives either. Many were appalled by the way they saw the Indians being treated. 

History is complex -- right down to the individual. For example, William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody started out fighting Indians. But later in life, became a strong advocate for the dignity and respect of Native peoples.