Comment by liftbigweights | Hacker News Reader

Comment by liftbigweights | Hacker News Reader

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> "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. It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more."

There is far worse if you dig further into the history of george washington and his father/grandfather in regards to the native americans.

> This is part of the scorched earth tactics that resulted in not only the death of millions of natives but the almost extinction of the American Bison, an importance source of food and clothing for many tribes.

"Kill Every Buffalo You Can! Every Buffalo Dead Is an Indian Gone"

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2016/05/the-buf...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bison_skull_pile_edit.jpg

It is no secret that the architects of nazi germany admired the genocide of the native americans and modeled themselves after the US. And yet, we are in such denial about our role in the death of natives. ( It was "smallpox" ).

"termed a "war of extermination" by Governor Peter Burnett who declared warfare would not cease with Native Americans "until the Indian race becomes extinct""

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Hardeman_Burnett

> And yet, we are in such denial about our role in the death of natives. ( It was "smallpox" )

You make a good point but you're also wrong.

The way the colonies (and later United States) treated the natives was absolutely deplorable and immoral. The US (from the founding fathers until very recent times) is as guilty as you say.

HOWEVER... it cannot be denied that the accidental spread of European diseases wiped out over 50% of all natives before the era of colonization even began. Even today if contact is made with isolated peoples great care must be taken and medical services kept on stand-by. A disease ravaging the isolated group is a very, very real possibility.

It also means if humanity does every colonize another planet (even in our own solar system), if the flow of people ever stops we may not be able to re-establish it due to disease risk.

It’s also fun to think about the scenario where the Americans practiced husbandry when contact was made, we could have had a two way “genocide”!

For that you would need an animal that breeds in captivity, reaches maturity quickly, eats inexpensive food (not meat), with good temperament, and that can be handled in a farming environment (not as agile as deer or as strong as a bison).

In the Americas, the only animal that responds to that description are llamas, guinea pigs, capybaras, etc. None of them found in North America.

Yes, I’ve read 1491 as well :)

And I assume 1491 was not all original research :)

> It is no secret that the architects of nazi germany admired the genocide of the native americans

Nazi Germany borrowed tactics from American ethnic cleansing initiatives, but simultaneously they entertained the idea of having Native Americans as allies in the event of an American invasion.

The German film "Der Kaiser von Kalifornien" portrayed Native Americans in a positive light.

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