This is the skeleton of Napoleon Bonaparte's favourite steed, "Marengo". The George Washington's 2008 arrival in Yokosuka was preceded several months by more than 240 Navy families. Filmmaker Alan Snitow stands in front of an audience after a screening of the film Town Destroyer at the Little Roxie Theater in San Francisco Calif., on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022. During the Revolutionary War, Washington, known to the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations) as Handaga:yas, or Town Destroyer, ordered a brutal campaign against them in which his generals devastated some 60 villages, and hundreds of prosperous houses, farms, and orchards. In a letter written by tribal leaders in 1790, Washington is described as an unjust killer and referred to as the "Town Destroyer." Crops such as corn, beans, potatoes, pumpkins, squash, cucumbers, and melons grew in an abundance that astonished the invading soldiers. . When the Ronald Reagan arrived to replace the George Washington in 2015 . An Arab stallion with a light grey . To the great Councillor of the thirteen fires. After some days he proposed to run a line at a small distance Eastward of our western boundary which we also refused to agree to. It dates back to as early as 1776, inspired by his roles in the Revolutionary War and Constitutional Convention. They were men and when at peace had a right to live on the Earth. SFist spoke to the duo . remains uncertain. by watchingGood Night Oppy, and this movies spoonful-of-sugar emotional appeal was really tailored for them. We were deceived but your people in teaching us to confide in that King, had helped to deceve us and wnow appeale to your hearts. Beyond Canal Street: Gentrification in Chinatown, Rediscovering Moki and Don Cherrys Utopian Visions. As the first president of the United States, he established America's nation-to-nation relationship with its Indigenous people. In August and September, the Sullivan campaign resumed with multiple attacks against the Cayuga and Seneca Nations with the army again killing Haudenosaunee people and destroying their villages. He was likewise unsuccessful in obtaining a settlement from the U.S. government on his own. After all, the issue goes back to 1779 when Washington ordered the destruction of the Iroquois villages. Cynthia LowensBattlegroundoffers some insight on that score. The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca. He demanded it: He insisted on his demand and declared that he would have it all. Note: The annotations to this document, and any other It is quite an image, and one difficult to reconcile with the man known by many Indians as the "Town Destroyer," a name originally claimed by his great-grandfather for the fighting he did along the Potomac frontier in the 1670s, and which our Washington appears to have appropriated and used when it served his purposes. Nonetheless, the murals stirred little debate until the 1960s, when some Black students protested aspects they deemed offensive. 'Town Destroyer' Versus the Iroquois Indians Forty Indian villagesand a powerful indigenous nationwere razed on the orders of George Washington By Johannah Cornblatt | June 27, 2008, at. California Indian Artist Judith Lowry describes the Gold Rush as ground zero for Native Americans and a time when they experienced searing losses.She adds that Arnautoff aimed to subvert the dominant narrative about Indians, pioneers and settlers. And at this moment his wife and children are lying on the Ground in want of food. But no doubt more than a few young people will get turned on to robotics, space exploration, et al. They called us brothers and invited us to his protection. On this edition of Your Call, we rebroadcast our discussion about Town Destroyer, a documentary that focuses on murals at San Francisco's George Washington High School, which praise Washington and critically depict him overseeing his slaves and directing the bloody seizure of Native lands. During the American Revolution, some Mohawks led by Joseph Brant chose to fight with the British and to defend the Proclamation Line. Why does Cornplanter bring this up? In recent times, probably no San Francisco news story has traveled as far or as wide as the story about Victor Arnautoffs murals which subvert the myths and depict the life of George Washington as a foe of the Iroquois and an owner of Black slaves. Town Destroyer contextualizes this fight within a landscape where similar battles are occurring (like over Confederate monuments), though often for different reasons. As GW explained in an undated memorandum on David Humphreys draft biography of GW: It was on this occasion he was named by the half-King (as he was called) and the tribes of Nations with whom he treatedCaunotaucarius (in English) the Town taker; which name being registered in their Manner & communicated to other Nations of Indians, has been remembered by them ever since in all their transactions with him during the late war (Comments on David Humphreys Biography of George Washington, 178788, in Papers, Confederation Series description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. Graham with his Compy. that assembled at them told us you were all brothers, the children of one great Father who regarded also the red people as his children. This battle isnt over yet, but no one will blame you for feeling combat fatigue. But the issue was more complex than that, with painfully strong feelings on all sides, many of whose participants more typically found themselves on thesameside. It is interesting to see close-up the strategizing of such groups, including their straight-up asking citizens to be single-issue voters, even if they have to hold their noses in pulling the lever for last-minute ally Trump. Town Destroyer is playing as part of the Mill Valley Film Festival with a screening Saturday afternoon at The Roxie (and with an extended run at the Roxie November 4-10). Chief Cornplanter, who headed the Seneca tribe of the Iroquois, stressed "And to this day when that name is heard, our women look behind them and turn pale, If you thought you could now talk calmly about Victor Arnautoff and his art, Americans Indians and George Washington, think again. Lowry offers the somber notion that well have to have this debate for another couple of decades before the issue is resolved. Maybe so. It may be very small in your ears, & we therefore entreat you to hearken with attention. Pennsylvania Archives. For this Land Phelps agreed to pay us Ten thousand dollars in hand and one thousand dollars a year for ever. He had risen quickly through the militia ranks by butchering Indian communities and burning their homes. Its minders at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena demonstrate a very paternal mindset, saying things like Theres energy in its veins, it needs to be given love, and otherwise viewing Oppy more like a genius dog than a technological tool. Derryveagh Evictions, and Nov. 10thBenefit forThe Living New Deal Q & A with filmmakers + speakers. The last reason he assigned for continuing to refuse paying us was, that the King had ceded the lands to the thirteen fires and that he had bought them from you and paid you for them. All the Lands we have been speaking of belonged to the Six Nations: no part of it ever belonged to the King of England, and he could not give it to you. must know from you, whether you mean to leave us, and our children, any land to till. Well, OK, a few personalities here do seem driven by things other than (or in addition to) moral uprightness, such as the founder of an SF-based group who says Im perfectly aligned with mainstream feminism aside from the abortion issue. Still, she grew up in a religious cult and seems to have some, er, issueslike the kind of inordinate fondness for picking verbal fights with total strangers that can lead to fanaticism, and/or Fox News punditry. We hearkened to them and were deceived until your army approached our towns. Washington Square Park Arc, 2020. The spring of 1780 saw the surviving Haudenosaunee forced to rebuild their lives with broken families and destroyed villages. this morning set of about Day Break on the same line of march and went about 6 Miles when we halted, Capt. But before we speak to you of this, we Full schedule and info here. To some, the brouhaha confirmed a stereotype of SF as the kingdom of liberal snowflakes who experience a meltdown at anything potentially troubling. "Town Destroyer" sheds new light on our first president. Non Military History of the War of the Rebellion. When a circus tent gets erected in his Oakland neighborhood, it causes him to muse on the legacy of the freak show, and how his own status as a differently-abled person echoes both the conspicuousness and invisibility of those whose physicality makes them societal outliers. Dennis Harvey. (The Iroquois dubbed him "Town Destroyer.") January 31, 2023. The first screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers and special guests to be announced. Once slated to be painted over, they are still on the walls and still controversial. In April 1754, en route to the Forks of the Ohio, Lieutenant George Washington sent a request for aid and counsel to Tanaghrison, an Ohio Iroquois leader who acted as an intermediary between Virginians and Ohio Indians. But most of the pro-lifers here seem to sincerely concur with such concepts as having a baby is more of a way to empower women. (Like every other abortion critic, however, these nice people never, ever mention mens responsibility in the matter.). 3.By the terms of the Second Treaty of Fort Stanwix, completed in October 1784, the Six Nations agreed to relinquish a small tract of land in western New York and all that part of Pennsylvania north and west of the Indian boundary established by the First Treaty of Fort Stanwix of 1768, an area including all of the land in Pennsylvania west of the Allegheny River. We have found no proof the great grandfather ever got that nickname. In his general perspective and frequent logistical frustrations, his movie provides a challenge to the complacency of the able-bodied, and a chance to experience a very different relationship towards the external world. On 1 April 1788 that state sold the preemptive rights to these six million acres to Nathaniel Gorham and Oliver Phelps. The nickname, Conotocaurius means Destroyer of Towns. They then left us to consider the bargain till the next day. The Seneca address was transmitted to Henry Knox for report; Knox replied on 27 Dec. 1790 with a report on the Seneca address and a draft of GWs reply (see Knox to GW, 27 Dec. 1790). In fact, it dates back at least to 9 July 1776 when, after a public reading of the Declaration of Independence, a group of Continental soldiers and New Yorkers, calling themselves the Sons of Freedom, pulled down the equestrian statue of King George III on Bowling Green. Report on Canadian Archives . History of Relations with our Brothers: 1613 to Today, Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), MAGAZINE OF SMITHSONIANS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN. Plus: 'I Didn't See You There' on disability, 'Battleground' on abortion, and 'Good Night Oppy' on cute little Mars rovers. Its like a midpoint betweenWall-Eand those old Disney True-Life Adventures, which manipulated nature footage into sentimental narrative shapes. George Washington, also known as Enthroned Washington, is a large marble sculpture by Horatio Greenough commissioned by the United States Congress on July 14, 1832 for the centennial of U.S. President George Washington's birth on February 22, 1732. When your army entered the country of the Six Nations, we called you Hanadagyas (Town Destroyer): and to this day when that name is heard our women look behind them and turn pale, and our children cling close to the necks of their mothers. The board rescinded its decision, perhaps because it was embarrassed by the national publicity that depicted its decision as a form of censorship. When that great Country was given up, there were but few Chiefs present, and they were compelled to give it up. Hes known as the Father of the Country and as the man who couldnt and wouldnt lie about chopping down a cherry tree. It opens with audio from a closed-door meeting Trump, Steve Bannon and others held with leaders of the religious right forty days before the 2016 election. After suffering for nearly two years from Iroquois raids on the Colonies' northern frontier, Washington and Congress decided to strike back. Street presented a document listing the grievances of the Five Nations to Jeremiah Wadsworth, with the request that Wadsworth put it into GWs hands (Street to Wadsworth, 5 Aug. 1790, NNGL: Knox Papers). Art can make viewers uncomfortable. The immediate objects are the total destruction and devastation of their settlements, and the capture of as many prisoners of every age and sex as possible. These are to us very great things. The Haudenosaunee pledged neutrality with this statement, We see this as a fight between father and son. Courtesy: the artist and Peabody Essex Museum, In 1779, Washington launched a full-scale invasion of Iroquoia, our extensive homelands. should Doyle be convicted, there was little doubt of his being capitally punished (Pa. Archives, description begins Samuel Hazard et al., eds. When Seymour Hersh Strained to Keep Up With CounterPunch, Nichole Stephens, Administrative Assistant. Near the end of the documentary, Jessica Young, a Native American at the New College of Florida, says shes unsure which side shes on. Washington referred to himself as "Conotocaurious" in a letter he wrote to Andrew Montour dated October 10, 1755, in which he tried to manipulate the Oneida to resettle on the Potomac: In 1779 during the American Revolutionary War, the Sullivan Expedition, under Washington's orders,[6] destroyed over 40 Iroquois villages in New York, partially in response to Iroquois participation in attacks on the Wyoming Valley in July 1778 and Cherry Valley in November 1778. They would soon face one of the largest amphibious invasions yet seen. to GW, 15 Aug. 1789, note 1. Thus he claimed the whole country North of Pensylvania and west of the Lands belonging to the Cayugas. First came genocide, than came cultural plunder or maybe it was the other way around. Before you determine on a measure so unjust, look up to the God who made us, as well as you, we hope he will not permit you to destroy the whole of our nation. The Presidency of George Washington spanned the period in United States history that encompasses the events of the New Nation. The 77-minute film is entirely shot from his POV as a person navigating everyday life from a motorized wheelchair. | Benjamin Fanjoy/The Standard The issues reached a tipping point not long ago when the members of the San Francisco Board of Education listened to impassioned testimony and voted to cover up the murals. es. Battlegroundhas already had a brief run in theaters, but now is available for streaming on digital platforms including iTunes. Through its grants program, the NHPRC supports a wide range of activities to 2.At this point the copyist inadvertently repeated the words and so long.. Would You Pay to Live in Facebooks Metaverse? Astonished at what we heard from every quarter, with hearts akeing with compassion for our women and children, we were thus compelled to give up all our Country North of the line of Pensylvania, and East of the Chenesco river up to the forks, and East of a South line drawn from that fork to the Pensylvania line. It opens in area theaters Fri/4, then begins streaming on Amazon Prime Nov. 23. Few visitors to the museum had ever heard of the Sullivan Campaign, or knew that most of New York state was our original homeland. Degrowth or Debunk: Do Degrowth proponents have a strategy? Several years after the Revolutionary War, Seneca chiefs told Washington, "When your army entered the country of the Six Nations, we called you Town Destroyer; and to this day when the name is heard, our women look behind them and turn pale and our children cling to the necks of their mothers." When the Sun goes down, he opens his heart before God, and earlier than that Sun appears again upon the Hills, he gives thanks for his protection during the night, for he feels, that among men become desperate by their danger, it is God only that can preserve him. But your anger against us must by this time be cooled, and altho our Strength has not encreased nor your power become less we ask you to consider calmly were the terms dictated to us reasonable and just? When last Spring they called on us to go to war to secure them a bed to lie upon, The Seneccas entreated them to be quiet until we had spoken to you: but on our way down we heard, your army had gone to the Country which those nations inhabit: and if they meet together the best blood on both sides will stain the ground. Best of the Bay The brutal 1778 Cherry Valley Massacre prompted a wide-ranging punitive expedition that broke Iroquois power. What distinguishes her documentary is that she offers considerable insight into grassroots activism on both sides of the fence. Tags: George Washington, Revolutionary War, history. facts, description ends Colonial ser., 16:5018), as well as other grievances. Pawpaws. When you gave us peace we called you father, because you promised to secure us in the possession of our Land. Archives. JavaScript is disabled. Listen 52:10 On this edition of Your Call, we're discussing Town Destroyer, a new documentary that focuses on murals at San Francisco's George Washington High School, which praise Washington and critically depict him overseeing his slaves and directing the bloody seizure of Native lands. American soldiers burned forty villages to the ground, and displaced thousands of Indians. our fathers where is the place which you have reserved for us to lie down on. George Washington is a polarizing character in American Indian history. Washington was elected with 69 of the 69 first-round votes cast in the United States Electoral College. While individual Iroquois tribes continued to launch raids over the next few years, the Revolutionary War broke the power of the Iroquois as a political unit. copy, DNA: RG 233, First Congress, 17891791, Records of the Office of the Clerk, Records of Reports from Executive Departments (War Department), Confidential Reports; To the Irouqois, General George Washington was Ha-no-da-ga-nears, which means Town Destroyer, and this remained the name they gave to all Presidents of the United States. Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. This address was signed by the Allegheny Seneca chief, Cornplanter (for an identification, see GW to Timothy Pickering, 4 Sept. 1790), and the minor chiefs Half Town (Gahgeote, Achiout) and Great Tree (Kiandoch-gowa, Big Tree, Big Log, not to be confused with a more important Seneca chief named Big Tree or Great Tree; see Henry Knox to GW, 27 Dec. 1790, n.4). Needless to say, those lamentable future occupiers of the White House are highly accommodating, providing perhaps the most egregious example of Twitlers lack of backbone on any issue save self-interesthe had always been publicly pro-choice, then began waffling, switching sides with a vengeance when it sank in that he needed the pro-life voters to win. Thurs. The name in its original language (s) has been given variously as Conotocarius, Conotocaurious, Caunotaucarius, Conotocarious, Hanodaganears, and Hanadahguyus. In sentence 4 Cornplanter's reference to Washington as "the Town-destroyer" recalls a time during the American Revolution (1779) when he ordered the burning of Seneca villages. 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Police funding, tax cuts, and spending equity will be on the table as the supes take on a brutal budget season. The long-running Mission arts venue's charms come through in diverse music, poetry, dramatic readings, and comedy shows. What they said went to the bottom of our hearts: We accepted the invitation and promised to obey him. Good luck with that: GWHS is seldom if ever open to the general public. It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.. The current dispute over monuments in the US is not new. Part of Colonial Williamsburg's "Prelude to Victory" weekend. Wanting to remain neutral but forced to choose sides, some Haudenosaunee nations fought alongside the colonists during the war. We have nothing to answer to the children of the brothers of our fathers. If you want to leave all these Earthly woes behind, there is warm, fuzzy and interplanetary comfort to be found inGood Night Oppy. The six Nations were powerful & compelled them to peace: The Lands for a great extent were given up to them, but the nations which were not destroyed, all continued on those Lands and claimed the protecti[on] of the six Nations, as the brothers of their fathers. Sign up for email updates on the latest frieze talks, fairs and events. Main Image:Washington Square Park Arc, 2020. Bob Spiegelman has been a freelance author and film producer, screenwriter, project-developer, multimedia advisor, research director and story consultant on a growing array of film, museum and multimedia projects. What Recent Independent Cinema Closures Mean for Scotland, Bjrks Fossora Guides Listeners Through Jagged Heights, the musician tackles mourning and uses memory as a way to enrich lifes soil, The National Windrush Monument Is a Bittersweet Tribute to Courage, Sonia Boyces Performances Defy Easy Categorization, WochenKlausurs Language Schools for Refugees, How Topshops Business Model Cannibalized Youth Culture, How Open-Access Resources Can Support Disabled Artists. What Colour was Napoleons horse? The Onondagas, who were honoring the neutrality agreement, were not prepared for the attack. All Events This event has passed. "[8][9], Last edited on 11 February 2023, at 23:33, George Washington: A Biographical Companion, From George Washington to Andrew Montour, 10 October 1755, From George Washington to Major General John Sullivan, 31 May 1779, "Madam Sacho: How One Iroquois Woman Survived the American Revolution", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Town_Destroyer&oldid=1138845464, This page was last edited on 11 February 2023, at 23:33. Street has been informed by General Knox, that the President cannot interfere in the business of the five nations, committed to his agency; that if they are not satisfied with the behaviour of the New York Commissioners, they must apply to the Legislature which appointed them; in consequence of this answer Mr. Street intends to return to Niagara in a fortnight, and to petition the Legislature of this State at its next meeting (Dorchester to Grenville, 25 Sept. 1790, in Brymner, Report on Canadian Archives, 1890, description begins Douglas Brymner. He wants to remind Washington that Cornplanter understands that he is a powerful warrior and has defeated the Seneca in the past. On display since San Francisco's George Washington High School opened in 1936, it offers a view of the Founding Father both celebratory and critical, referencing his involvements in slavery and Native American genocide. Ironically, his choice of words more aptly applies to the American campaigns against Indigenous nations, which erased our histories, demonized our heroes, scorned our values and acculturated our children in boarding schools. For we are about to speak of things which are to us very great. The Proposed TikTok Ban Goes Too Far. In Snitows and Kaufmans documentary some George Washington students and their parents argue that the images on the walls are a relic of the past and not history, that they instill a sense of trauma and shame and ought to be eradicated. During George Washington's presidency, Indian delegates were regular visitors to the seat of government. Conotocaurius ( Town Destroyer) was a nickname given to George Washington by Iroquois peoples in 1753. Join us for a free screening of TOWN DESTROYER - a new documentary about the furor over Victor Arnautoff's WPA murals at George Washington High School.