A RETROSPECTIVE, PUBLISHED BY YOURS TRULY ON DECEMBER 1ST, 2009 ON FACEBOOK. I NEVER DID IMPORT IT TO BULLETHOLES. HERE IT IS FOR YOU RED...
Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce
I can imagine him saying this trying to avoid fighting with the United States Calvary.
In 1877, 700 of his Nez Perce (mostly women and children) led the U.S. Army on a 1,400-mile, 4 month long running battle, hoping to escape to Canada to continue their way of life, only to be caught 40 miles from the Canadian border.
General Sherman said of Josephs attempt to escpape to freedom "one of the most remarkable feats in military history". It was there that Chief Joseph gave this fairly famous speech:
“I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are dead. Looking Glass is dead. Toohoolzote is dead. The old men are dead. It is young men who say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are…perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how many I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired, my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”
They were marched to a Reservation in Oklahoma, where Joseph died years later. His doctor said he died of “a broken heart”.
Somewhere on that Reservation there is a grave that contains the half-Indian Grandson of Merriweather Lewis, whom the Nez Perce had befriended in 1805 when the explorer reached Oregon on his famous expedition.
Anyway, its this kind of thing I think about when I think about what Obama will be having to do tonight in his speech, after having campaigned on stopping the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and also shutting down the US torture chamber at Gitmo.
In 1877, 700 of his Nez Perce (mostly women and children) led the U.S. Army on a 1,400-mile, 4 month long running battle, hoping to escape to Canada to continue their way of life, only to be caught 40 miles from the Canadian border.
General Sherman said of Josephs attempt to escpape to freedom "one of the most remarkable feats in military history". It was there that Chief Joseph gave this fairly famous speech:
“I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are dead. Looking Glass is dead. Toohoolzote is dead. The old men are dead. It is young men who say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are…perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how many I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired, my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”
They were marched to a Reservation in Oklahoma, where Joseph died years later. His doctor said he died of “a broken heart”.
Somewhere on that Reservation there is a grave that contains the half-Indian Grandson of Merriweather Lewis, whom the Nez Perce had befriended in 1805 when the explorer reached Oregon on his famous expedition.
Anyway, its this kind of thing I think about when I think about what Obama will be having to do tonight in his speech, after having campaigned on stopping the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and also shutting down the US torture chamber at Gitmo.
“It is easy to pick up the rifle, it is much harder to put it down.”
Indeed.
Indeed.
Chief Joseph ~ Hien~mot~Too~ya~la~kekt (Thunder Rolling from the Mountain)
3 comments:
Too often history is full of shame and sadness.
The worst thing is not learning from it.
Thanks for reposting this here. I don't think I knew you back in 2009, so I missed it on Facebook. Now that I'm working in Killeen, I'm learning much more about troops pulling out of Afghanistan and the impact the wars have had on soldiers and their families. So convoluted and sad.
It's all about nothing but money and the desire of old White Men to continue to treat the earth and all who live on it as slaves.
Culture is the pack of lies we are talked into and taught to pretend are truths. Happiness IS NOT cultural... it is biological. Get out of the trap if you still can. The only thing of value is your time. If you don't control what you do with time... you are a slave.
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