February 2005 Part 1 Newsletter from
"This Day in North American Indian History"
by Phil Konstantin
Copyright © Phil Konstantin (1996-2007)
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Start of Phil Konstantin’s February 2005 Newsletter – part 1
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Greetings,
Just a few days ago, I finished the 4 day history course
offered by the Cherokee Nation. It was an excellent course
and I really enjoyed the experience. Principal Chief Chad "Corntassel"
Smith was there for the last day. He
helped to teach part of the class. When asked what Cherokees
in San Diego could do to help the Cherokee Nation, he told
us several things. We can support the efforts of the nation
through our local congressional representatives. This would
easily apply to many of you who are members of other nations.
He suggested that if we were involved in any business ventues,
to consider bringing some of those jobs to the people in the
area around the tribal headquarters in Oklahoma. He also
suggested that we promote the concept of the tribe and to
mentor our younger tribal members. He quoted the phrase: "the
bigotry of low expectations." He suggested that he continue
to help the younger generation set goals for excellence. For
those of you who are Cherokee, I again recommend taking
this course.
A few days ago, I finally decided it was time to retire
from the California Highway Patrol. May 1, 2005 will be
my last day in uniform. I have worked for the CHP for
almost 20 years. It has been an interesting and exciting
experience; but, it is time to move on. So, now I have to
consider what it is I will do from now on. I would like to
stay in San Diego. If I do stay here, I will need to get
another job. I am looking for something in the local media
market. I have also considered moving to Oklahoma to see
how I could use my skills and experience to help the
Cherokee Nation. I'll keep you posted.
Phil
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Link of the Month for February:
The "Link of the Month" for February is 1st-hand-history.org .
This website specializes in copies of original, historical
documents. While it has material on many subject matters,
it has a great deal of documents relating to American Indians. The
"TOPICAL ARCHIVES INDEX" contains copies of the Dictionary
of the Chinook Jargon, "History of Southern Oregon," The Life
and Times of General Joseph Lane, and Marcus and Narcissa
Whitman - missionaries to the Cayuse tribe.
The "LIBRARY Index" has copies of some of the Annual Reports
of the U.S. Bureau of Ethnology from 1884 through 1905; The
Cheyenne Indians, Their History and Ways of Life, by George
Bird Grinnell, published 1923; the Autobiography of Black
Hawk; an Index of some of the U.S. Congressional and
Executive Documents from 1835 through 1897; and the 1883
Indian Tribes of the United States, by Henry Rowe
Schoolcraft, just to name a few.
This website is an excellent example of one of the way the
internet can educate and inform the public. Through its use
of original documents, we can see unsanitized versions of
the documents, and attitudes which have shaped the United
States. I highly recommend this website. I have visited it
myself many times.
http://www.1st-hand-history.org/index.htm
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The "Treaty of the Month" is the TREATY WITH THE POTAWATOMI,
1837. The treaty covers such issues as: Former treaties
sanctioned, Land ceded to the United States, Indians to
remove within two years, Payment by the United States,
United States to convey certain territory to Indians, and
United States to purchase certain reserved land. You can
see a transcript of the treaty at this website:
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/pot0488.htm
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Random Historical Events:
February 1, 1917: By executive order, the Papago Indian
Reservation was established in Sells, Arizona. The act
was amended on February 21, 1931, and on October 28, 1932.
February 2, 1945: In 1905, the Shoshone and Arapaho Tribes
of the Wind River Reservation ceded a large part of their
reservation to the United States. According to Federal
Register No. 10FR02254, they got a small part of that
land back.
February 3, 1838: The Oneida signed a treaty (7 Stat. 566) in
Washington, D.C. It ceded some of their land.
February 4, 1861: John Ward’s stepson, Feliz Tellez, was
kidnapped by Indians from his ranch on Sonoita Creek in
Arizona. Ward complained to the army, and it sent Second
Lieutenant George Bascom and fifty-four soldiers to find
him. Today, Chiricahua Apache Chief Cochise was invited
to talk with Bascom in Apache Pass in southwestern Arizona.
Cochise brought some family with him to the parlay in
Bascom’s tent. Cochise was shocked when Bascom accused
him of kidnapping the boy. Cochise denied his involvement,
but Bascom did not believe him. Bascom then told Cochise
he was under arrest. Cochise cut a hole in the tent and
escaped. Bascom kept Cochise’s relatives as hostages.
Cochise quickly seized several whites as hostages as well.
February 5, 1802: Orono was a Penobscot chief. During
his life, he was converted to Catholicism. He fought
in the French and Indian War against the British
settlements in New England. He fought on the American
side during the Revolutionary War, and he was believed
to have been 108 years old when he died.
February 6, 1793: After William Blount gained the promise
of Chickamauga chiefs to stop their raids and murdering
of European settlers on May 29, 1792, the rampages
continued. Blount returned to the Chickamauga at Coyatee
with the same request and an offer for the principal
chiefs to visit the "great white father" at Philadelphia.
The chiefs considered the offer, but within the next few
months the village was attacked by Europeans. This
hardened the hearts of the Chickamauga and some of their
Cherokee neighbors. The attack continued.
February 7, 1861: Convinced that they would get better
treatment from a southern government than from the one
in Washington, D.C., the Choctaw announce their support
of the Confederacy.
February 8, 1887: The Dawes Severalty Act (24 Stat. 388–389) regarding
land allotments took effect. Its official title
was "An Act to Provide for the Allotment of Lands in
Severalty to Indians on the Various Reservations, and
to Extend the Protection of the Laws of the United States
and the Territories over the Indians, and for Other Purposes."
February 9, 1690: Some 300 Indians and French sneaked
into the stockade at Schenectady, New York, during a
snowstorm. After posting warriors at each building, a
signal was given, and the primarily Dutch occupants were
attacked. Sixty settlers were killed, and twenty-seven
were captured. Mohawk Indians attempted to rescue some
of the captives as they were marched off to Canada,
with little success.
February 10, 1834: The Western Cherokees did not wish
to share their current holdings in the Indian Territory
(present-day Oklahoma) with the Cherokees remaining in the
east if they decided to emigrate. Western Chiefs Black Coat,
John Jolly, and Walter Webber signed a treaty with Indian
Agent George Vashon that gave them more land, and larger
annual payments, if the Eastern Cherokees did move to the
Indian Territory. Federal authorities in the Indian
Territory did not pass the treaty along to Washington, D.C.
February 11, 1837: The Potawatomi signed a treaty (7 Stat. 532)
in Washington, D.C. The treaty agreed to give "to the
Pottawatomies of Indiana a tract of country on the Osage
River, southwest of the Missouri River, sufficient in extent
and adapted to their habits and wanted."
February 12, 1599: Of the seventy Acoma tried for battling
with Spaniards on December 4, 1598, all seventy were found
guilty. Today, Juan de Ońate ordered their punishment. All
men over twenty-five years old had one foot cut off and
served as slaves for twenty years. Everyone from twelve to
twenty-five only had a foot cut off.
February 13, 1864: A Civil War battle took place at Middle
Boggy Depot in Indian Territory (modern Atoka County,
Oklahoma). Union forces under Major Charles Willette
surprised Confederate forces under Lieutenant Colonel John
Jumper. Jumper commanded members of the Seminole Battalion,
Company A, First Choctaw and Chickasaw Cavalry Regiment,
and a detachment of the Twentieth Texas Regiment. The
bluecoats won the fight.
February 14, 1931: Congress passed an act (Public Law
No. 667, 71st Congress) that authorized the president
to establish the Canyon de Chelly National Monument in
the Navajo Indian Reservation in northeastern Arizona.
Another act (46 Stat. 1106) was also passed. Its purpose
was to "enable the Secretary to accept donations of funds
or other property for the advancement of the Indian race.
An annual report will be made to Congress on donations
received and allocations made from such donations."
February 15, 1866: Elements of the Second Cavalry
engaged Indians near Guano Valley, Nevada. One soldier
was killed, and seven were wounded. Ninety-six Indians
were killed, fifteen were wounded, and nineteen were
captured, according to army records.
February 16, 1863: An act (12 Stat. l652) stated that
all treaties between the United States and the "Sisseton,
Wahpaton, Medawakanton, and Wahpakoota Bands of Sioux
of Dakota are aborgated and annulled" as far as occupancy
or obligations in Minnesota were concerned. This act took
away their lands in Minnesota because of the Santee Sioux
Uprising.
February 17, 1690: While traveling through the area,
French explorer Henri de Tonti visited the Natchitoches
Confederation (near modern Natchitoches, Louisiana).
February 18, 1837: General Ellis Wool had been assigned
the task of preventing the Cherokees from revolting after
the passage of the New Echota Treaty on December 29, 1835.
General Wool tried to get the Cherokees to acquiesce to
the treaty, but to no avail. He reported opposition to
the treaty was so prevalent that starving Cherokees would
not take help from the government for fear that it might
imply their consent to the treaty.
February 19, 1778: Virginia Governor Patrick Henry was
upset by the actions of several white "frontiersmen"
against the Indians. They had killed Shawnee Chief
Cornstalk and four other Shawnees who had lived in peace
with their neighbors. Today Governor Henry wrote a letter
to Colonel William Fleming suggesting that perhaps the
murderers were British agents trying to instigate a fight
with the Indians to divert troops away from the
Revolutionary War.
February 20, 1893: A congressional act modified the
White Mountain–San Carlos–Camp Apache Reserve in
western Arizona Territory. It was amended further on
June 10, 1896. At its largest, it comprised 2,866
square miles and was occupied by Arivaipa, Chillion,
Chiricahua, Coyotero, Membreno, Mogollon, Mohave,
Pinal, San Carlos, Tonto, and Yuma Apache Tribes.
February 21, 1935: The Inuit of the Mackensie Delta
had decided to raise reindeer as an economic enterprise.
A herd of 2,300 reindeer, herded by Lapps and Eskimos,
arrived at the Mackensie Delta. The effort proved to
be very successful.
February 22, 1831: The state of Georgia had seized
Cherokee lands. Cherokee leaders had complained to
many federal government officials. On February 15,
the U.S. Senate officially asked President Andrew
Jackson if he was going to live up to the Indian Trade
and Intercourse Act passed in March 1802. Today,
President Jackson responded to the Senate’s inquiry.
Unequivocally, Jackson stated he sided with the state
of Georgia and he would not enforce any law giving
precedence to the Cherokees over Georgia.
February 23, 1865: Major General G. M. Dodge, in St.
Louis, sent the following message by telegram to
Colonel Ford at Fort Riley: "The military have no
authority to treat with Indians. Our duty is to make
them keep the peace by punishing them for their
hostility. Keep posted as to their location, so that
as soon as ready we can strike them. 400 horses
arrived here for you."
February 24, 1897: Api-kai-ees (Deerfoot) was a
Siksika (Blackfeet) man known for his ability as
a long-distance runner. He was well known in the
Calgary area, where a local freeway today bears
his name. He died on this day.
February 25, 1858: A group of Bannock and a few
Shoshone stole some cattle from the local Mormon
settlers near Fort Limhi, Idaho. This led to a brief
battle with a couple of settlers being killed. The
fort would be abandoned on March 27, 1858.
February 26, 1860: The Wiyot lived on the upper California
coast between the Little River and the Bear River. An
annual ceremony lasting over a week was held in the village
of Tutulwat on an island in the river in what is now
Eureka, California. By Wiyot tradition, everyone was
welcome at the ceremony, including whites. Tonight,
after the ceremonies were finished, a group of men from
Eureka sneaked into the village and attacked the
participants. Several other nearby villages were also
attacked. An estimated eighty to 100 Indians were killed
in the sneak attack. An annual vigil is now held on a
nearby island to commemorate the event.
February 27, 1803: President Thomas Jefferson wrote a
letter to William Henry Harrison. He expressed his
belief that promoting trading houses among the Indians
led to the Indians incurring greater debts. He felt
these debts could lead to the United
States acquiring more lands to pay off the debts.
February 28, 1675: The Mission Santa Cruz de Sabacola El
Menor was dedicated. The mission was for the Sawoklis
Indians on the Apalachicola River.
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That is it for now. I’ll have more later.
Stay safe,
Phil
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End of Phil Konstantin’s February 2005 Newsletter – part 1
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Start of Phil Konstantin’s February 2005 Newsletter – Part 2
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Greetings,
I know a couple of you have already passed the word along about my essay
contest. For that, I thank you. To clarify who is eligible, you just
have to be part American Indian and a student in the appropriate grade.
You do not have to be an "enrolled" or "official" member of a tribe to
be able to submit an essay. The complete rules for the contest are on my
website on this page:
http://americanindian.net/contest.html
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My son Ron sent me the follow request. If you would like to respond,
please contact him directly. I listed Ron's e-mail address three
different ways. Topica sometimes deletes parts of e-mail addresses.
Thanks,
Phil
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Hey, I was wondering if you could help me with a class project I have
for my ethics class. My assignment is to take a position defending the
ethical values of affirmative action. I go to Abilene Christian
University which is a Church of Christ ultra conservative school.
Although I am only a percentage Cherokee and not full blooded, it is the
ethnic background I am the proudest of, by far. The majority of
students in my classes, are white and in middle to upper class society.
When I brought up the limited knowledge I have of the injustices the
American Indian has faced, I was greeted with laughter, mockery, and
demeaning stereotypical comments about American Indians. I would prefer
not to make my arguements out of ignorance, so I need help. I would
appreciate subscribers writing me directly expressing their positive,
and negative views of affirmative action on their tribe. Please include
the name your tribe, the location, if you live on a reservation or not
ect... I have too great respect for the American Indian community to
speak on their behalf. I trust the honor of ones word I have seen among
all tribes I have been exposed to. I thank them in advance. I would
suggest a narrow scope that effects affirmative action in responses sent
to me. My email address is ron1-@hotmail.com
r o n 1 k o n @ h o t m a i l . c o m
ron1kon @ hotmail.com
Ron Konstantin
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That is it for now. I’ll have more later.
Stay safe,
Phil
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End of Phil Konstantin’s February 2005 Newsletter – Part 2
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