The Wizard of Oz

The first color movie that captivated thousands of children's hearts in the depths of the Great Depression was The Wizard of Oz; written by L.Frank Baum, a  metaphorical mistive that was a social commentary with biting satire and wit.

And written by whom?  An unknown journalist of the late 19th century.

The movie was an immediate hit, though the author was probably long gone.

But the author had another side.  He was a commentator about the fate of the few remaining tribes of Native Americans post-wounded knee.

His commentary reflected the conventional wisdom of genocide at the time:

"The nobility of the Redskin is extinguished, and what few are left are a pack of whining curs who lick the hand that smites them. The Whites, by law of conquest, by justice of civilization, are masters of the American continent, and the best safety of the frontier settlements will be secured by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indians. Why not annihilation? Their glory has fled, their spirit broken, their manhood effaced; better that they should die. "

Stannard, David E. (1993-09-11). American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World (p. 126). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition. 

Better they should die:  and die they did.  They died by the millions from the tip of South America to the frozen wastes of Alaska.  Whole cultures were deliberately killed, fed poison, given smallpox filled blankets, so that "nits  could not make lice".

Civil War generals, who had mastered the art of modern killing warfare, were unleashed on the Plains Indians after the Civil War, and in 30 years had basically extinguished them.

The Trail of Tears, that had occurred in the late 1830s, looked like humanitarianism, compared to the wholesale slaughter at Wounded Knee, Sand Creek, and numerous killing fields.

Women and children were targeted, with the logic that killing the babies and baby makers would eliminate the tribe quicker .

And this was not gentle euthenasia either.  Babies were smashed, children were shot with high caliber weapons, torture and sexual disfigurement were practiced openly.  Genitals were removed and used as  trinkets of conquest.  Postcards were sold showing "redskins" dead and rotting in the sun.

And of course, the Buffalo were exterminated to the point of near extinction to remove the food supply.

And hardly anyone said a thing.  Manifest Destiny had to be fed.  And natural resource were production resources, old grow forests were clear cut, watershed was destroyed in the mad quest for gold, pollution was everywhere, fouling the water and killing even more.

And the gun tamed the west, leaving a gun culture that today makes America the most dangerous place to live on earth.  And who is killed the most by modern gun violence: people of color of course.

And, the Redskins are a football team, its owner tone deaf to what using a Native American term of racism really means vis a vis "American Holocaust".

But there is a reckoning.  Chief Joseph, Sitting Bull, and other predicted that the Great Spirit was very angry with the slaughter and the degradation of nature.

The Dust Bowl was a warning.  Pollution disasters was a warning.  The Ozone Layer Depletion was a warning.  And today, the warming of the globe is a warning, that a reckoning is coming.

It is not fun rooting for the destruction of my culture; but we have it coming.

We must reconcile, even if all it does is finally says we are sorry to the earth and its people. For in the end, and it will be the end...there will be a reckoning.  God save us all!