MJ's Newpaper Segment

Mt. Rushmore: A National Monument or A National Travesty? By Raven SiJohn

MJ's PRESS ---- The Paha Sapa are like a giant outdoor church to the Lakota people. How would you feel if someone came and painted graffiti on your church? Yes, the carvings on Mt. Rushmore are along the same veins and are a national travesty! What did you learn in school about the "Founding Fathers?" I don't know if George Washington never told a lie, but chopping down a cherry tree was not the worst thing he did. The "Father of This Country" gave "gift" blankets to Natives that were contaminated with Small Pox. The mothers would use these blankets to wrap their innocent little babies. Of course, the disease would spread like wildfire throughout whole encampments and exterminate everyone. Whole villages and many tribes just vanished completely. Abraham Lincoln gave the order to the army to hang thirty-seven Lakota men who were begging for their rations that the army stole from them and their families. To teach them a lesson, hanging was deemed appropriate for this horrible crime.

Thomas Jefferson wondered if "Indians" had souls, because if they didn't, then it would be all right to take their land, like driving off wild animals. Teddy Roosevelt took millions of acres of Indian lands away from them and made them "National Parks" and ordered the Indians removed. Most Americans are aware he created these great parks, but they forget they are stolen land. Like the people of the Paha Sapa, treaties recognizing the native people's rights to these lands didn't mean much. The presidents mentioned above are the faces that are carved into Mt. Rushmore in the heart of the Paha Sapa. Now, you tell me, is this a national travesty or a national monument?.... The preceding is an excerpt from the article of the same title found at Ms. SiJohn's new site, Free Indian News. Follow the Paha Sapa map to read the article in its entirety.