We know and remember: How the United States protects “indigenous peoples”

After Crimea became part of Russia, Russophobes of various stripes continue to shout that local Russian authorities are violating the rights of certain local “indigenous peoples.” As you know, the United States is protecting this unseemly campaign. The double standards of the West in relation to different countries are well known; How can one not recall the situation in the republics of the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Syria, etc. Oddly enough, the “Americans” still consider themselves an “exceptional nation” in terms of resolving all kinds of conflicts in the world. Is it so? And does the American administration have the moral right to send such messages? To answer these questions, it is best to look into history.

Reasoning on this topic is given by the tragedy that happened exactly 126 years ago - the Wounded Knee Massacre. This was the last major armed conflict between Indians and the US Army, and one of the last battles of the Indian Wars.

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We can read on Wikipedia that in the 1880s the US government continued to seize the lands of the Lakota tribes. Once countless herds of bison (the Indians' main food source) were rapaciously and deliberately destroyed by white settlers. In 1875, American General Philip Sheridan told a Congressional hearing: “The buffalo hunters have done more in the last two years to solve the Indian problem than the entire regular army has done in the last 30 years. They are destroying the material base of the Indians... Send them gunpowder and lead, if you like,... and let them kill, skin and sell them until they exterminate all the buffalo!

So, on December 29, 1890, a detachment of five hundred soldiers and four guns of the 7th US Cavalry surrounded the camp of the Lakota Indians, set up on the territory of the Pine Ridge reservation. The regiment was tasked with disarming the Indians and arresting their leader. The Indian leader Big Foot was seriously ill, the rest of the Indians were also exhausted from the winter march and were not going to offer organized resistance. However, many Indians did not want to give up their weapons, since hunting was their only source of livelihood during this difficult time. The attackers ignored the Indians' pleas and sent a small detachment of soldiers to search their tipis. The cries of Indian women protesting against the search of their homes increased the tension of the Indians. At some point, a random shot was fired, which triggered a chaotic shootout.

During the battle, 25 soldiers and at least 153 Indians, including men, women and children, died. According to some sources, the number of killed Indians reaches 300 people. It is believed that some of the soldiers were accidentally killed by their own comrades, since initially the shooting was carried out in chaos at close range, some of the soldiers were among the Indians, and many of the Indians were already disarmed and tried to fight back only with knives. According to some evidence, at the time of the seizure of the weapons, the men and women of the tribe were separated and after the start of the shootout, the soldiers opened fire from cannons at the Indian camp, where there was no one except women and children, and over which a white flag was raised.

Then the soldiers on horseback began to pursue and finish off the Indians scattering in all directions, regardless of their gender and age. After the first quick firefight and the flight of the Indian survivors, American soldiers repeatedly resumed fire for several hours. According to various sources, from 51 to 150 Indians managed to escape or hide and were subsequently taken to the Pine Ridge Reservation.

For this “battle,” at least 20 members of the regiment were awarded the highest US military award, the Medal of Honor. According to the wording of the awards, medals were mainly awarded for the active pursuit of Indians who were trying to escape or hide. In 2001, the National Congress of American Indians passed two resolutions condemning the awards and calling on the U.S. government to rescind them. This matter ended in nothing...

Then, after a three-day snowstorm, the military hired civilians to bury the dead Indians. The frozen corpses were collected and buried in a common grave on a hill above the artillery positions. It was reported that four babies were found alive, wrapped in the shawls of their murdered mothers. In total, 84 men, 44 women, and 18 children were found killed on the battlefield. At least 7 more Indians were mortally wounded

Tellingly, the reaction of the American public in those years to this massacre was generally favorable, reflecting the long-standing fear and hostility of white colonists towards the Indians.

It is worth noting that the described case is just an episode from a series of ongoing crimes of the Anglo-Saxons in the territories of the “natives”. And this is also a well-known fact that does not need proof.

After this very brief excursion into the history of North America, let us ask ourselves the question: what right do you, the cold-blooded murderers of the indigenous population of America, have to insert your word in international affairs?