As I write this, the US president has accused Venezuela of stealing "our oil" and "Our land". If he knew anything at all about the history of this hemispheree, he would know that said oil and land is Spanish, by application of the Doctrine of Discovery. This evil-hearted, pernicious doctrine was originally promulgated via some Papal Bulls, but was included in US law by way of the US Supreme Court case of Johnson v. McIntosh in 1823. The court ruled that European discovery conferred exclusive title to lands to the discoverers and made the Indians mere occupants. This egregious piece of racist, Papist-Christian lunacy brings us to the Treaty of New Echoa.

New Echota was the capitol of the Cherokee nation. This nation was a sovereign state with a constitution and a moderately democratic government. The Cherokee wre a largely agrarian society dwelling in established villages. The US government recognized the Cherokee as a sovereign nation through both treaties and a Supreme Court Decision. Their territory was largely in Georgia and the people of Georgia wanted their land and the Government of Georgia enacted state laws "nullifying" the Federal law. And then along came Andy Jackson. The newly lected President alwo wanted the Cherokee out of Georgia, This was probably not out of ravenous all consuming greed, like the Georgia populace, but simply out of pure raist assholery, as ws his wont.

Under Jackson, the US pulled off what might have been its ffirst successful color revolution. They found a dissident minority faction of the Cherokee would be willing to sign away their birthright and got them to do so. The actual treaty was completed on December 29, 1835 and became known as the Treaty of New Echota, which was then presented to the US Senate. The US senate amended it to be more to the Senate's liking and ratified it, even though it had not been approved by the actual Cherokee government or signed by their Principal Chief, who instead presented a petition with over 15,000 signatures demanding that the treaty be voided, which was, of course, ignored. This instrument was then used as the basis for rounding up all the Cherokee and marching them off to "Indian Territory" in what is now Oklahoma along the infamous Trail of Tears."

This is sometimes referred as the Removal of the Indians to Oklahoma or Indian Territory, but that is not remotely correct. Those doing the removing didn't give a shit if any of them got safely to the destination. It was simply a Rmoval of the Indians from their homes and lands. Their escorts' dustie were siply to ensure that none escaped to go back home or to settle along the way. This was not a journey, but a Death March, during which at least 15,000 died.

The US 7th Cavalry had been working on refining their preferred tactic since the Washita Massacre of 1868, misnamed The Battle of the Washita by many official sources.. There, Custer had his forces surround a sleeping Cheyenne village at night and attack from all sides at daybreak, indiscriminately slaughtering men, women, and children, and destroying everything they chose not to steal. On Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. They surrounded the village as they liked to do, and at dawn openly went in to seize the few remaining guns that the Lakota had not already handed over. A scuffle broke out between one deaf Lakota and 2 soldiers whereupon the soldiers attacked everyone, hunting down and killing those who tried to run away regardless of age or gender. Meanwhile the Hotchkiss armed artillery battery began firing on the tipi camp full of women and children. Even though all but a small handful of the Lakota were unarmed, most were women and chilren, and many were shot while running away, this is officially called "The Battle of Wounded Knee". It was not even remotely a battle, but a massacre.

On this day in history:

1170 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was assassinated

1607 – According to John Smith, Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan leader Wahunsenacawh, successfully pleaded for his life after tribal leaders attempted to execute him.

1778 – British forces captured the port city of Savannah, Georgia.

1812 – USS Constitution captured HMS Java off the coast of Brazil

1835 – The Treaty of New Echota was signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States.

1845 – The United States annexed the Republic of Texas and admitted it as the 28th state.

1860 – The launch of HMS Warrior, with a screw propeller, iron hull and iron armor, rendered all previous warships obsolete.

1876 – The Ashtabula River railroad disaster occurred

1890 – Wounded Knee Massacre - 300 peaceful Lakota were slaughtered by the US 7th Cavalry

1911 – Mongolia gained independence from the Qing dynasty

1930 – Sir Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduced the two-nation theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.

1934 – Japan renounced the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930

1937 – The Irish Free State was replaced by a new state called Ireland

1989 – Czech writer, philosopher and dissident Václav Havel was elected the first post-communist President of Czechoslovakia.

1992 – Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, resigned amidst corruption charges, but was then impeached anyway

1996 – Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity signed a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war

2003 – The last known speaker of Akkala Sami died

2023 – South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice

Some people who were born on this day:

If it squirms, it's biology. If it stinks, it's chemistry. If it doesn't work, it's physics. And if you can't understand it, it's mathamatics.

~~ Magnus Pyke

1766 – Charles Macintosh, chemist and the inventor of waterproof fabric
1800 – Charles Goodyear, chemist and engineer
1816 – Carl Ludwig, physician and physiologist
1876 – Pablo Casals, cellist and conductor
1876 – Lionel Tertis, violist
1886 – Georg Hermann Struve, astronomer
1896 – David Alfaro Siqueiros, painter
1903 – Candido Portinari, painter
1908 – Magnus Pyke, scientist and author
1911 – Klaus Fuchs, physicist and spy
1914 – Billy Tipton, pianist and saxophonist
1914 – Albert Tucker, painter and illustrator
1919 – Roman Vlad, pianist and composer
1922 – Little Joe Cook, singer and songwriter
1922 – William Gaddis, author and academic
1923 – Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat, mathematician and physicist
1923 – Morton Estrin, pianist and educator
1929 – Matt Murphy, guitarist
1939 – Ed Bruce, country music singer and songwriter
1941 – Ray Thomas, singer, songwriter, and flute player
1943 – Molly Bang, author and illustrator
1943 – Rick Danko, singer, songwriter, bass player, and producer
1946 – Marianne Faithfull, singer, songwriter, and actress
1947 – Cozy Powell, drummer, songwriter, and producer
1951 – Yvonne Elliman, singer, songwriter, and actress
1951 – Georges Thurston, singer and songwriter
1952 – Gelsey Kirkland, ballerina and choreographer
1954 – Roger Voudouris, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1956 – Katy Munger, writer
1961 – Jim Reid, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1965 – Dexter Holland, musician, singer, songwriter, and biologist
1966 – Danilo Pérez, pianist and composer
1967 – Chris Barnes, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1970 – Glen Phillips, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1978 – LaToya London, singer and actress
1982 – Gabrielle Destroismaisons, singer
1983 – Jessica Andrews, singer and songwriter
1985 – Alexa Ray Joel, singer and songwriter
1990 – Allen Kim, singer, dancer, and actor
1995 – Rina Ikoma, singer and actress
1995 – Ross Lynch, singer and actor
1996 – Sana Minatozaki, singer
2000 – Eliot Vassamillet, singer

Some people who died on this day:

The only journey is the one within.

~~ Rainer Maria Rilke

1170 – Thomas Becket, archbishop and saint; meddlesome priest
1689 – Thomas Sydenham, physician and author
1720 – Maria Margaretha Kirch, astronomer and educator
1731 – Brook Taylor, mathematician and theorist
1737 – Joseph Saurin, minister and mathematician
1785 – Johann Heinrich Rolle, composer
1807 – Diogo de Carvalho e Sampayo, diplomat and scientist
1825 – Jacques-Louis David, painter and illustrator
1834 – Thomas Robert Malthus, economist
1890 – Spotted Elk, Miniconjou Lakota tribal leader killed at Wounded Knee
1891 – Leopold Kronecker, mathematician and academic
1897 – William James Linton, painter, author, and activist
1898 – Ilia Solomonovich Abelman, astronomer
1900 – John Henry Leech, entomologist
1919 – William Osler, physician and professor
1926 – Rainer Maria Rilke, poet and author
1929 – Wilhelm Maybach, engineer and businessman
1939 – Kelly Miller, mathematician, sociologist, essayist, newspaper columnist and author
1941 – Tullio Levi-Civita, mathematician and scholar
1943 – Art Young, cartoonist and writer
1944 – Khasan Israilov, rebel
1946 – Camillo Schumann, composer and organist
1948 – Harry Farjeon, composer and music teacher
1952 – Fletcher Henderson, pianist, composer, and bandleader
1952 – Beryl Rubinstein, pianist, composer, and teacher
1959 – Robin Milford, soldier and composer
1967 – Paul Whiteman, violinist, composer, and conductor
1975 – Euell Gibbons, author and naturalist
1980 – Tim Hardin, singer and songwriter
1984 – Leo Robin, composer, lyricist and songwriter
1995 – Hans Henkemans, pianist, composer and psychiatrist
1996 – Mireille Hartuch, singer, songwriter, and actress
2001 – Cássia Eller, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
2008 – Freddie Hubbard, trumpet player and composer
2012 – Mike Auldridge, singer and guitarist
2013 – Benjamin Curtis, guitarist, drummer, and songwriter
2019 – Neil Innes, writer, comedian and musician
2020 – Alexi Laiho, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
2021 – Peter Klatzow, composer

Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

Nothing to celebrate here

Today's Tunes

The Brits captured Savannah, GA

Treaty of New Echota

Wounded Knee Massacre

Pablo Casals

Billy Tipton

Little Joe Cook

Matt Murphy

Ed Bruce

Ray Thomas

Rick Danko

Marianne Faithfull

Thomas Robert Malthus

Fletcher Henderson

Paul Whiteman

Tim Hardin

Freddie Hubbard

Mike Auldridge

Neil Innes

Peter Klatzow

Merry xmas from Neil Innes and the Ruttles

Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. What's on your mind?

Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com

open thread, Treaty of New Echota, Wounded Knee Massacre, HMS Warrior, Pablo Casals, Billy Tipton, Matt Murphy, Marianne Faithfull,Rick Danko, Freddie Hubbard,