The chronicle of a dark and dangerous journey through a world gone mad.

Monday, January 14, 2013

The Lesson of Wounded Knee

The following article is circulating widely on the internet. However, it is next to impossible to trace to its original source. Is it historically accurate? It appears to be. No one argues that the U.S. govt was sent to disarm The Wounded Knee band of Sioux Indians. No one argues that that government troops then used state of the art machine guns against mostly disarmed and helpless men, women and children. So, at least that part of the article is accurate. The opinions are just that ... opinions. But based on the history of the US government in dealing with people it finds troublesome such as the pacified and peaceful most Christian Cheyenne killed at the Black Kettle Massacre, the civilized tribes who were decimated to seize their lands in the Southeast and even the Mormons who were forced to literally build their own country in the middle of the desert, the opinions are well founded as well.

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Lesson to be Learned on the Anniversary of Wounded Knee 


December 29, 2012 marks the 122nd Anniversary of the murder of 297 Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Federal agents and members of the 7th Cavalry who had come to confiscate their firearms “for their own safety and protection”murdered these 297 people, in their winter camp. The slaughter began AFTER the majority of the Sioux had peacefully turned in their firearms. When the final round had flown, of the 297 dead or dying, two thirds (200) were women and children.Around 40 members of the 7th Cavalry were killed, over half cut down by friendly fire from the Hotchkiss guns of their overzealous comrades-in-arms. Twenty members of the 7th Cavalry were deemed "National Heroes" and awarded the Medal of Honor for their acts of cowardice.

We do not hear of Wounded Knee today. It is not mentioned in our history classes or books. What little does exist about Wounded Knee is normally the sanitized "Official Government Explanation" or the historically and factually inaccurate depictions of the events leading up to the massacre on the movie screen.Wounded Knee was among the first federally backed gun confiscation attempts in United States history. It ended in the senseless murder of 297 people.
Before you jump on the emotionally charged bandwagon for gun-control, take a moment to reflect on the real purpose of the Second Amendment- The right of the people to take up arms in defense of themselves, their families, and property in the face of invading armies or an oppressive government.

The argument that the Second Amendment only applies to hunting and target shooting is asinine. When the United States Constitution was drafted "hunting" was an everyday chore carried out by men and women to put meat on the table each night, and "target shooting" was an unheard of concept, musket balls were a precious commodity in the wilds of early America, and were certainly not wasted "target shooting".

Wounded Knee is the prime example of why the Second Amendment exists, and why we shouldn't be in such a hurry to surrender our Right to Bear Arms. Without the Second Amendment we have no right to defend our families and ourselves.The Second Amendment was written by people who fled oppressive and tyrannical regimes in Europe, and it refers to the right of American citizens to be armed for defense purposes should such tyranny rise in the United States.

As time goes on the average citizen in the United States continues to lose personal freedom or "liberty". Far too many times unjust bills are passed and signed into law under the guise of "for your safety" or "for protection". The Patriot Act signed into law by G.W. Bush, then expanded and continued by Barack Obama is just one of many examples of American citizens being stripped of their rights and privacy for "safety". Now, the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is on the table, and will, most likely be taken away for "our safety".

Before any American citizen blindly accepts whatever new firearms legislation is about to be doled out, they should stop and think about something for just one minute- Evil does exist in our world. It always has and always will. Throughout history evil people have committed evil acts. In the Bible one of the first stories is that of Cain killing Abel.

We cannot legislate "evil" into extinction. Good people will abide by the law; defective people will always find a way around it. And another thought Evil exists all around us, but looking back at the historical record of the past 200 years across the globe, where is "evil" and "malevolence" most often found? Evil exists in the hands of those with the power- governments. The greatest human tragedies on record and the largest loss of innocent human life can be attributed to governments.

Who do governments target? "Scapegoats" and "enemies" within their own borders...but only after they have been disarmed to the point where they are no longer a threat. Ask any Native American, and they will tell you it was inferior technology and lack of arms that contributed to their demise. Ask any Armenian why it was so easy for the Turks to exterminate millions of them, and they will answer "We were disarmed before it happened". Ask any Jew what Hitler's first step prior to the mass murders of the Holocaust was- it was confiscation of firearms from them.

Wounded Knee is the prime example of why the Second Amendment exists, and why we shouldn't be in such a hurry to surrender our Right to Bear Arms. Without the Second Amendment we have no right to defend our families and ourselves and our people.