Utah's Black Hawk War legacy Of Shame
The writer is Indigenous Day Award recipient Phillip B Gottfredson, the author of My Journey to Understand Black Hawk's Mission of Peace.
Utah's Black Hawk War legacy is an example of God, gold, and glory, Brigham Young's extermination of the Timpanogos Nation, forced removal from their land, and subjugation. Mormon colonization caused severe loss of lives, loss of resources, religion, language, and freedom. The Extermination Order imposed upon the Timpanogos Nation by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1849 was never rescinded, further complicating the issue. The ongoing implications of this history demand our urgent attention.
Latter-Day Saints make the absurd claim: "We have given the Indians every chance to succeed, yet they choose to live off the government and live in poverty." They are Ignoring the facts that reveal settler colonialism has systematically stripped Native Americans of their freedom and made them Wards of government. But why? What did they do?
"We took from them almost all their land—the reservations are just a tiny remnant of traditional tribal homelands. We tried to take from them their hunting rights, their fishing rights, the timber on their land. We tried to take from them their water rights. We tried to take from them their culture, their religion, their identity, and perhaps most importantly, we tried to take from them their freedom." -Professor Dr. Daniel McCool University of Utah.
A group called "The Other 49ers" put it nicely, "The Mormons brought with them a moral code, a new technology, and an economic system. Mormon's inability or refusal to accept Indian culture on its own terms is a conflict repeated countless times throughout the west. Coexistence, with each culture intact, was impossible; compromise seemed unattainable, for the cherished ideals of one culture were the unpardonable sins of the other. Mormons brought the ways of civilization with them, in their minds. Contrary to their desire for an enlightened sacred way of life, the world followed, and they gave into the kind of discrimination that they ran from."
It should be deeply troubling to everyone that discrimination has become institutionalized; it has become the norm to trivialize, mock, and downplay the history of Native American people in Utah and across America.
"We want our children to have a good life. We don’t want them to live in fear, hating each other. We want them to respect our ancient ways, and pass on our sacred teachings to their children. We want them to be proud of our ancestors, Wakara, Black Hawk, Arapeen, Tabby, and understand that they died for us. They lived for us. We are still here because of their love," said Perry Murdock Council memeber of the Timpanogos Nation.
As I continued to learn from the Timpanogos what it means to be a Native American in Utah, I often heard them speak of the discrimination they face daily. Initially, my response was to say that they have the same opportunities for a decent life as anyone living in America. Unfortunately, saying that drew some angry responses. And the more time I spent with them, the more I realized how ignorant I was about their lives.
They are entangled in a mess of "Indian Laws", Congressional Acts that Native Americans were not given any say in the laws that govern them. See Congessional Acts
The 10th District Court ruled 2015 that the Uintah Reservation is a Sovereign Nation and that the State of Utah has no legal jurisdiction. "They don't listen." Tribal members of the Timpanogos told me, "they continue to arrest our people. They take children, property, whatever they want."
From my own experience, I have found these atrocities to be factual. And the shocking reality is that we never hear about this off the reservation. I lived with the Indigenous people on the Uintah Valley reservation for many years. I became fully aware of the corruption on the reservation. I'm referring to the State of Utah, the Division of Indian Affairs, the BIA, and the Ute Indian Tribe. The Uintah Ouray Reservation does nothing; why? Follow the gold. Over 35 million barrels of oil come off the reservation each month. Do people know this? Not many, but all you need to do is ask the Department of Energy. And who gets the money? The oil companies, the Utes, and the State of Utah. One thing is for sure the Timpanogos Nation, who are indigenous to Utah, get zero, nothing, not a damn red cent.
Scholars of 'Indian law', say The Doctrine of Discovery is at the heart of all laws that the Federal Government uses to have continued dominion and subjugation over First Nations.
The erasure, sanitization, and Christianization of Native American history in Utah's school curriculum have left a devastating mark, distorting Indigenous culture, history, and lifeways, all for the cause of colonialism. Consequently, many of Utah's Native communities grapple with a profound disconnection from their ancestral heritage. Their factual history is reduced to insignificance within Utah and even in the broader scope of American history. This is what Settler Colonialism looks like. This is what genocide looks like.
Compounding the injustice of authentic Native American history left out of the school curriculum sends a clear message to our children that genocide is justified when under the guise of religion—an utterly outrageous notion! Despite claims to the contrary, prejudice and discrimination persist in our society. Settler Colonialism introduced Racism long ago and has now become deeply entwined within the fabric of our Nation and communities; much like a noxious weed, it has crept into the institutionalized structures of power, rendering it natural within our social landscape.
It is our government that needs to stop holding the indigenous people hostage and making them tenants on their own land.
It is we who need to stop blaming them for the actions of our ancestors.
It is we who need to respect their sovereignty.
It was our ancestors who invaded their country and wrecked their lives.
It was our government and our ancestors who made treaties with Indian Nations and broke every one of them.
It was our ancestors who stole their children, and placed them in boarding house schools with graveyards, then punished them for speaking their own language, physically abused them, and forbid them from practicing their religious beliefs. Carlisle’s founder, Capt. Richard C. Pratt, championed a disastrous approach to educating Native Native Americans that aimed to “kill the Indian, and save the man.”
It was President Lincoln who set aside 5.6 million acres of land for the Timpanogos, known as the Uintah Valley Reservation, and it was the State of Utah who took back 4.3 million acres of that land, the best of that land, and put it in public domain, and did it without any authorization from congress or compensation, they stole it. See Misidentity of Timpanogos & Ute Tribes
It is we, not Native Americans, who have dug up the graves of their ancestors, and sold the contents for profit, and put their bones on public display as a mere public curiosity. See The Robbery of Black Hawk's Grave
And it is we who have looked the other way and said nothing and remained silent saying, "it's not my problem."
And in the end it is we who are ignorant and say "we have given the Indian people every opportunity to succeed, yet they choose to live in poverty, and live off the government..." and indifferently state: "it's their own damn fault...?"
Both Indian and non-Indian who do not recognize the names Black Hawk, Walkara, Arapeen, Kanosh, Sanpitch, Tabby, and events such as the Black Hawk War, Fort Utah battle, Circleville Massacre, or the Bear River Massacre, and what they represent; have no sense of true history or the reality of settler colonialism in Utah.
I am often asked, "What can we do to help Native Americans and bring about healing?" The answer is simple:
1. Teach true and honest Native American history in our schools. Break the cycle of misinformation and disinformation.
2. Demand that our government honor the treaties made with First Nations. Over 365 treaties were signed with Native Americans and not one has ever been honored.
3. Help build that bridge between our cultures and tear down the wall of lies that separate us. Be the change you want to see in the world. I truly believe that we all can do better than we are now.
See The Doctrine of Discovery