In 1889, a Paiute Indian named Jack Wilson decided he was the Messiah and created a new movement called the Ghost Dance Religion. It was based on hating the White Man.** Several of the early converts were from the Sioux Nation. While Sitting Bull, leader of the Sioux, was not one of the Ghost Dancers, he nevertheless tolerated their wacky religion.

This turn of events made the US government nervous, and so some federal agents tried to bring in Sitting Bull on December 15, 1890; a gun battle ensued, and Sitting Bull was killed. The new leader of the Sioux and his followers met up with the 7th Cavalry in Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Apparently, both sides were trying to make peace, and so the Sioux all but surrendered to the Army.

On the morning of Dec. 29, 1890, while the US Army was attempting to disarm the Sioux, a gun evidently went off, chaos ensued, 153 Indians and 25 Cavalrymen were killed. And so it has been called the Battle of Wounded Knee.

Insane Progressives — but I repeat myself — however, apparently can’t view historical events such as this merely as what happened before, and see America for what she is today. Instead, these Progs have to continually dredge up whatever past so-called injustices they can find and beat everyone about the head with them. Mark Anthony Rolo, writing in the Anniston (Alabama) Star, is one such lunatic lefty:

For American Indians, however, that snowy South Dakota morning proved to be one of the most significant days in their history. The deadly events at Wounded Knee brought to an end what was once known as the Indian Wars Period, in which Indian tribes resisted efforts by the U.S. military to force their people into prison-like land parcels in order to clear the way for white settlers.

Today, the massacre at Wounded Knee is mythologized and memorialized as just one of a number of tragic, ugly stories of how this country was formed. But for generations of American Indians, Wounded Knee has meant more than mere history. The massacre has passed down scars of suspicion and badges of bitterness toward the white man.

Question: Why are Progressives so obsessed with race?

Cross-posted at Cardinal Martini (my home blog)

This post has been linked at Diggers Realm’s “Around the Blogosphere #31″.

** In the comments, Clark Smith makes me think I should clarify something. In its original conception, the Ghost Dance Religion may have focused on the glory of Indian culture, rather than solely on “hating the white man”. (Although I have my doubts that it was truly about “pining for their own culture as preceded the arrival of the white man” considering the Ghost Dance doctrine contains a lot of Christian symbolism and themes — most notably that there is only one true God.) So, perhaps I was unfair in suggesting Jack Wilson himself created it merely with the intention of formalizing a hatred of the white man. Nevertheless, it is clear to me based upon what I know of the pertinent events that the Sioux who joined the Religion, and eventually were “massacred” by the Army, did so because they hated whites and believed the Religion accurately predicted a coming destruction of the whites.

There’ll probably be light posting today and tomorrow on account of my planning on getting drunk.

Tonight, as I’m sipping rumnog and violently shaking the unopened boxes stationed under the Christmas Tree, wondering what exactly is rattling inside of them, I’ll be thinking about our good friend Xrlq and his happy clan. Hopefully they have arrived safely in the Bahamas, where tomorrow’s high is 82 degrees. (Of course the high here in Los Angeles will be 83 degrees, but I digress.)

And now, as my Christmas present to Xrlq’s readers, I have prepared a lesson in some multiculti diversimication for all you “Merry Christmas” wishing, closed-minded, Lord worshipers in a little blogpost I like to call,

• Kwanzaa, sometimes referred to as Kwanzicaa or “the week between Christmas and New Years”, is an ancient celebration dating back to the old times — around 1966, when one Dr. Maulana Karenga came up with it.
• Dr. Maulana Karenga, also known by his birthname, “Ron”, is a convicted felon and avowed communist. (Unfortunately he is also a graduate of the University of Southern California.) YOUR God may be GOD; Karenga’s god is Karl Marx (who, like Jesus, is white.).
• Kwanzicaa is only for displaced Africans, the white man need not apply.
• Kwanzicaa coincidentally begins the day after Christmas, and coincidentally ends on New Years day.
• An important Kwanzicaa symbol is a candle-holder, which is called a Kinara. This instrument is totally different than the Jews’ Menorah, which is also coincidentally a candle-holder. **
• Kwanzicaa’s official colors are red, green, and black, which only appear similar to Christmas’ colors, which are red and green.
• Kwanzicaa celebrations require that an ear of corn be procured for each child in the family. But, do not — NOT! — place said ears of corn in a cornucopia, because cornucopias are for whitey. Instead they should be placed on a straw mat, preferably bearing an African print of some sort. Also, if your household does not have any children, you should get an ear of corn anyway, because corn tastes really good.

For more information about Kwanzicaa, visit your local library! (or go here)

** FYI: The Menorah holds nine candles. (Thanks Steve!)

No one knows for sure whether Hitler owned the Krieghoff Drilling shotgun/rifle engraved with the initials «A.H.,» which will be sold at www.gunbroker.com in an auction hosted by Midwest Exchange, a Bloomington pawn shop

Randall Gibson, author of «The Krieghoff Parabellum,» a reference book on the gun maker, said the gun is likely authentic. The company gave engraved guns to Hitler and other high-ranking German officials as it sought military contracts before World War II.

The gun’s owner for many years kept it under his mattress and used it for hunting. The current owners say they will donate the net proceeds of the auction, which will begin on January 30, to the Anti-Defamation League. It will likely fetch tens of thousands of dollars.

I don’t know what I think about this exactly. On one hand since Hitler’s gun is certainly of immense historical value I might bid on it if I had the chance. But on the other hand, Hitler’s gun is really creepy.

Last year, when Michelle Malkin was out promoting In Defense of Internment, she engaged just about anyone who was willing to debate the issue. One such person was Eric Muller, an individual who, for reasons known only to the Volokhs, has been occasionally invited to post at the Volokh Conspiracy. Muller’s argument typically consisted of one part argument, three parts ad hominem/feminem, with frequent analogies to Holocaust deniers. It was worse than reading Andrew Sullivan, honestly.

Needless to say, Muller’s scream therapy didn’t win too many converts, so last month he resorted to Plan B. Can’t win a debate? Then get the other guy’s book pulled off the shelf so there can’t be a debate at all! Is That Legal^TM? Sure, but it’s also scummy as hell. Fortunately, it didn’t work. Tonight I received an email from Alisa Lynch of the Manzanar National Historic Site informing me that Mazanar had decided not to drop the book, for exactly the right reasons. I’ve requested her permission to reprint the message in full. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: As I suspected, the same message has already been sent far and wide, and now appears on Malkin’s site (hat tip: me). I’ve reproduced it in the entended area below. Also see Joel B.’s comment; apparently this is not the first time Muller has tried to get a book banned.

(more…)

The Angry Clam has a nice summary of some of the highlights of the Reagan Administration. Nice photos, too.

Rachel Lucas has embarked in a project to interview living World War II vets and tell their stories on a forthcoming web site. You can read all about it here, or just click here for the latest update. There are also Amazon and Paypal links if you are inclined to contribute to this endeavor.