What historical grudges do Indians have with the United States?

Neighborhood relations within the United States of America are anything but harmonious.

As the original inhabitants, the Indians once had good intentions and offered help to the European interlopers. However, when they discovered that these strange visitors were coming to compete with them for food, and the number of them was increasing, they You can only use the sharp tip of a knife to "entertain" it.

On December 20, 2007, some Indian tribal leaders gathered in a church in Washington and announced that they would tear up all treaties signed with the United States 150 years ago and withdraw from the United States of America.

The famous Indian fighter Russell Mings claimed to the audience: "We are no longer citizens of the United States of America. All people living in the five states surrounding our country can join us and will give New passports and driver's licenses will be issued to all those willing to renounce their American citizenship."

At a time when many people around the world are dreaming of the "American Dream", Indians living in the United States. , but said "no" to the United States. Of course, there are reasons.

Tragic Aboriginal people

The "our country" Russell Mings refers to refers to the Dakota country that the Indians are planning to establish, including Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. , Montana, and parts of Wyoming.

Since 1974, the Dakota Indians have been fighting for independence and passed a Declaration of Independence similar to the one in which the United States declared its independence from Britain.

In order to achieve independence, they also visited the embassies of Bolivia, Chile, South Africa and Venezuela to seek sympathy and help overseas for the Indian independence cause.

The historical grievances between Indians and the United States of America are too numerous to describe. A large part of the "History of the Development of North America" ??in American textbooks is also a history of blood and tears of Indians.

After the United States became a Confederate country in the 1880s, an important challenge it faced came from Indians who had not yet integrated into the United States.

When the British colonists came to North America in the early 17th century, the Indians were still "foreign people" in the stage of tribal society. They had no idea what a "nation" or "country" was, so they were not like Europeans. The English, Scots, Irish, Germans, Italians, etc. who came here, regardless of their origins or backgrounds, all "found their organization" in North America and gradually integrated into the big family of "Americans".

Indians are a kind of people other than "Americans", but they live under the same sky as "Americans" and are veritable "neighbors".

However, the relationship between neighbors within the United States of America is not harmonious at all.

As the original inhabitants, the Indians once had good intentions and offered help to the European interlopers. However, when they discovered that these strange visitors were coming to compete with them for food, and the number of them was increasing, they You can only use the sharp tip of a knife to "entertain" it.

From the time when the first Englishmen set foot in America until the second half of the 19th century, European immigrants in North America and their descendants were in a state of war with the Indians.

Unlike the French and Dutch, who preferred the fur trade and were committed to establishing friendly and cooperative relations with Indian tribes, the British colonists believed that coming to North America for fishing and farming was God's favor to the Puritans. Therefore, they were more interested in controlling and plundering the Indians.

In the "King Philip's War" that took place in 1675, the angry Wampanoag Indians set fire to the entire Massachusetts colony, causing huge casualties to the colonists, who immediately retaliated violently. , completely destroying New England’s Native American culture.

After the Indian tribe leader Philip (also known as Mitalimu) was captured and killed, the colonists hung his head on the top of a bamboo pole and hung it in Plymouth for 20 years.

Pro-British Confederate Army

In the North American War of Independence, the Indians remained neutral for a time.

But the British cunningly took advantage of their dependence on gunpowder and their resentment of the colonists' encroachment on North American land to win over most of the Indian tribes to their side.

Pro-British elements and Indians joined forces many times to attack colonial strongholds, causing many bloody incidents and bringing great difficulties to the independence movement.

The Indians repeatedly gave Washington a headache, not only because they were brave and good at fighting, but also because from time to time there appeared among them "big brothers" who were both wise and brave.

The Mohawk leader Joseph Brant was the most outstanding one. He had been educated in England. After "returning from overseas", he was unwilling to endure the encroachment of the Indians' territory by the North American rebels and united the Other tribes formed the "Iroquois Confederacy" and joined the pro-British elements to assist the British army against the North American rebels.

Throughout the Revolutionary War, the Iroquois Confederacy under Brant launched many attacks against the Continental Army and its supporters.

One of the more brutal battles took place from the summer of 1778 to the autumn of 1779. First, the Iroquois Union armed forces massacred hundreds of militiamen around Pennsylvania, and then General John Sullivan was ordered by Washington to , led an expeditionary force of 4,000 people to fight back in the New York area.

The Continental Army adopted a "scorched earth" policy and implemented "three lights" in the areas it passed, burning nearly 40 villages of the Seneca and Cayo people (both Indian tribes), completely destroying their Manor, a fatal blow to the Iroquois Confederacy in New York.

In the war with the Indians, the Continental Army also paid a heavy price.

In June 1782, Colonel William Crawford, Washington's "close comrade in arms" and a good son of the North American people, was killed in an ambush jointly carried out by pro-British elements and Indians.

The Indians were full of hatred towards him because some of Crawford's soldiers had participated in the massacre of Indians at Gnaden Hutton a few months earlier.

Another kind of civil war

After Britain decided to accept the reality of the failure of the North American War and the United States was officially recognized as an independent country by the European powers, the North American Confederacy*** remained in power for a long time. The country is still beset by internal and external difficulties, and its continued hostile relations with Indian tribes constantly endanger the country's tranquility.

To some extent, the Indians were the biggest losers in the North American War of Independence.

During the war, the British, French, Spanish and North American colonists all wooed the Indian tribes for their own needs. Different tribes of the Indians also formed alliances with the opposing sides for their own survival. .

However, whether they were part of the pro-British Allied Forces or joined the anti-British alliance, the Indians were regarded as "cannon fodder" by the white Europeans. The so-called allies often saw the Indians fighting alone and did not comply with the agreement. Watching and helping each other caused the Indians to suffer heavy losses during the war, their population was greatly reduced, and their territory was severely compressed.

To make matters worse, during the peace talks on the status of North America held in Paris from 1782 to 1783, the Indians who had fought side by side with the British army and made great sacrifices were not invited to participate in the negotiations.

The Indians were betrayed by the British "allies". The British generously allocated the territory that belonged to the latter to the United States without even thinking of consulting the Indians. The peace treaty signed by Britain and the United States did not No mention was made of protecting Indian rights.

The war between North America and Britain was over, but the Indians and the North American Confederate countries were actually still at war.

However, just as Plato said in "The Republic", civilization discriminates against the weak and "justice is the interest of the strong." After the War of Independence, the Indians still could not get rid of the situation of being exploited. destiny.

The European powers temporarily stopped taking action, but they never stopped causing trouble behind the scenes.

Along the Great Lakes, Britain has been providing weapons to local Indian tribes and encouraging them to resist the American invasion.

Between 1784 and 1790, more than 1,500 white colonists were massacred or captured in Kentucky alone.

The southern Indian tribes of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole opposed the new masters of North America, and Spain provided them with weapons.

These riots once caused frequent tensions on the southwestern border of the United States, so much so that during the Confederation period, the United States always felt that "the most direct threat was attacks from Indians."

White immigrants were originally an external trouble for the North American Indians, but after an independent war, the Indians became an internal trouble for the new white country in North America.

Nearly a century later, in 1876, the legendary George Armstrong Custer (known as the "Son of the Morning Star"), who was favored by President Lincoln for his bravery and fighting skills during the Civil War, was in the Little Horn Valley. During the battle, he led the 7th Cavalry Regiment in a narrow encounter with the Indians, but was completely wiped out.

It was not until 1924 that the U.S. government recognized Indians as U.S. citizens.

But their real civil rights have obviously not been fully implemented. Otherwise, there would not be the story of the Dakota Indians rising up 50 years later, nor would there be the independence fighter Russell in the 21st century. Ermings also staged an open challenge to the United States of America.