In July 2020, Americans are once again divided, gathering in the streets and tearing down statues. We could bear this confusion no longer, & determined to press thro every difficulty, and lift up our voice that you might hear us, and to claim that security in the possession of our lands which your commissioners so solemly promised us, and we now entreat you to enquire into our complaints and redress our wrongs. Cart, Become a Member When I was a child, I was told that George Washington was our first president and that he had . (The Iroquois dubbed him "Town Destroyer.") Why does Cornplanter bring this up? AI Chatbots are Even Scarier Than You Think, DeSantiss Educational Policies Come Right Out of the Fascist Playbook, Erase the Memory to Erase a People? When he met with Washington 11 years after the devastating campaign, Chief Cornplanter, who headed the Seneca tribe of the Iroquois, stressed the durability of "Town Destroyer" as the commander in chief's nickname. JavaScript is disabled. And it is not the Six nations only, that reproach those Chiefs, with having given up that Country; the Chipaways and all the nations who lived on those lands westward, call to us & ask us brothers of 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.). And at this moment his wife and children are lying on the Ground in want of food. "It actually crushed their military power." LS (signed with mark), DLC: Thomas Jefferson Papers; Cynthia LowensBattlegroundoffers some insight on that score. These are to us very great things. But the Iroquois Indians of the time bestowed on Washington another, not-so-flattering epithet: Conotocarious, or "Town Destroyer. The George Washington's 2008 arrival in Yokosuka was preceded several months by more than 240 Navy families. "It was disastrous to the Iroquois," says Barbara Graymont, author of The Iroquois in the American Revolution. "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," Cornplanter said. . White supremacy, grounded in the Doctrine of Discovery the absurd claim by European Christians and their American descendants that they were more entitled to our lands than we were was the rationale for dispossession. Ryan Whites documentary about the data-gathering land rover that was only expected to function on Mars surface for about 90 days, yet wound up lasting a remarkable 15 years. In the summer of 1788 Livingston accompanied Phelps to a meeting with the Seneca chiefs at Buffalo Creek, and on 8 July Phelps concluded an agreement to purchase the Indian rights to the eastern third of the area purchased from Massachusetts (Livermore, Early American Land Companies, description begins Shaw Livermore. Conotocaurius ( Town Destroyer) was a nickname given to George Washington by Iroquois peoples in 1753. The name in its original language(s) has been The following year, he received a letter. (The Iroquois dubbed him "Town Destroyer.") Larger questions arose: Is arts purpose to provoke, or placate? How did we get here after 50 years, during which span a majority of Americans came to support abortion access? What the Senecca Nation promise they faithfully perform; and when you refused obedience to that King he ordered us to assist his beloved men in making you sober. (Being an Appendix to Report of the Minister of Agriculture. 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. Often it took the army days to completely destroy all of the longhouses, fields, orchards and food stores. Hear our case, many nations inhabited this Country, but they had no wisdom, and therefore they warred, together. The Onondaga and the Haudenosaunee saw the colonists growing and uniting to become a new government called the United States of America. We know that you are strong and we have heard that you are wise; and we wait to hear your answer to what we have said that we may know that you are just. Town Destroyer opens Fri/4 at the Roxie, with the filmmakers and special guests present at all shows. You then told us we were in your hand & that by closing it you could crush us to nothing; and you demanded of us a great Country as the price of that peace you had offered us; as if our want of strength had destroyed our rights. Like the statue of Christopher Columbus targeted in Boston last month, it was beheaded and the crown finials of its surrounding fence sawn off. '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. 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. Conotocaurius (Town Destroyer) was a nickname given to George Washington by Iroquois peoples in 1753. CODE OF CONDUCT, Workshop: In Our Own Words: Poetry on Film. Would doing so be a redaction of history, identity politics gone off the railsor a justified blow to a lingering American colonized mentality as well as ongoing traumatization of young minds? On July 9, 1776, General George Washington amassed his soldiers in New York City. 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). Years later when George Washington was elected President of the newly formed United States, Seneca Chief Corn Planter addressed President Washington in 1790. 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. 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. Washington received his commission on October 31, 1753 and set out immediately. Pennsylvania Archives. 6.In addition to other alleged unpunished murders, this is undoubtedly a reference to the recent acquittal of Samuel Doyle by a Pennsylvania court for his reported role in the murder of a Seneca man (see Timothy Pickering to GW, 4 Dec. 1790, n.6). 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. After all, the issue goes back to 1779 when Washington ordered the destruction of the Iroquois villages. Town Destroyer, also translated as Town Taker, Burner of Towns, or Devourer of Villages, was a nickname given to George Washington by Iroquois Indians. THANK YOU TO OUR COMMUNITY PARTNER JEWISH FILM INSTITUTE, The California Film Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. (The Iroquois dubbed him "Town Destroyer.") But some present-day students, parents, and observers found those depictions . JOURNAL OF LIEUT. On 1 April 1788 that state sold the preemptive rights to these six million acres to Nathaniel Gorham and Oliver Phelps. Town Destroyer is a 2022 documentary that discusses the art, history, struggle, and politics around the Victor Arnautoff murals at George Washington High School. Note: The annotations to this document, and any other 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. After all, the issues go back to 1779 when George Washington ordered the destruction of the Iroquois villages. "I am well persuaded," John Sullivan, the leader of the venture, bragged to Congress afterward, "that, except one town situated near the Allegana, about 50 miles from the Chinessee, there is not a single town left in the country of the Five nations." They then left us to consider the bargain till the next day. Town Destroyer contextualizes this fight within a landscape where similar battles are occurring (like over Confederate monuments), though often for different reasons. The name in its original language(s) has been given variously as Caunotaucarius, Conotocarious, Hanodaganears, and Hanadahguyus. Both Washington and Jefferson enslaved and waged war against Indigenous nations to dispossess them of their homelands. Streets mission to New York probably contributed to GWs decision to send Timothy Pickering on a special mission to pacify the Seneca a few weeks later. According to its production company: "TOWN DESTROYER explores how to look at art and history at a time of polarized national debate over the power of images, racism, trauma, and what . The chiefs remained in Philadelphia until GW arrived in Philadelphia and Congress reconvened. Courtesy: the artist and Peabody Essex Museum, In 1779, Washington launched a full-scale invasion of Iroquoia, our extensive homelands. You must log in or register to reply here. . In the American Revolutionary War, General Washington led Patriot forces to victory over the British and their allies. Conotocaurious(Town Destroyer) was a nicknamegiven to George Washingtonby IroquoisNative Americansin 1753. Records Commission (NHPRC) is part of the National https://www.usnews.com/news/national/articles/2008/06/27/town-destroyer-versus-the-iroquois-indians, Massacre & Retribution: The 1779-80 Sullivan Expedition, How a Native American Prophecy Over George Washington Affected the Country. N MA F AU -K O N S g or W TI n. O a T C I fm SN ODU w-kau o PR nit. As a Mohawk citizen of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy the oldest living democracy in the Western Hemisphere when I see statues of Washington, like the towering equestrian monument at the Virginia Capitol in Richmond, or the colossus in front of Federal Hall in New York, I see not only a founding father, but also a genocidal one. Beyond Canal Street: Gentrification in Chinatown, Rediscovering Moki and Don Cherrys Utopian Visions. A dispute erupts at a San Francisco high school over Depression-era murals about the life of George Washington: slaveowner, military leader, land speculator, President, and a man Native leaders. 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. The father of his country massacred men, women and children. OK, Ill admit it: I am a wee bit allergic to just this sort of Science made cute exercise, in which actual Mars discoveries take a backseat to contrived, very human dramatics. It opens in area theaters Fri/4, then begins streaming on Amazon Prime Nov. 23. The men who claimed this promise said that you were children and had no Guns that when they had shaken you, you would submit. After fighting with the Haudenosaunee in the French and Indian War, the colonists called upon the Haudenosaunee to a meeting at Ft. Pitt in 1775 to ask in their aide in the upcoming revolution against the British. David Humphreys Life of General Washington with George Washingtons Remarks. Athens, Ga., 1991. description ends 10). 1788-89 United States presidential election [ edit] Washington is inaugurated as president of the United States in 1789. The artist, Victor Arnautoff, was a Russian emigre whod studied under Diego Rivera, and whose work reflected both that masters visual style and leftist politics. The Speech of the Corn-planter, Half-town and the Great-Tree chiefs of the Senecca Nation. When your army entered the Country of the Six Nations, we called you the 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 neck of their mothers.1Our Councillors and warriors are men, and can not be afraid; but their hearts are grieved with the fears of our women 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. Philadelphia and Harrisburg, 18521949. It also opens Fri/4 at the Roxie, with some screenings attended by Davenport and producer Keith Wilson. Staked Plains. 6 vols. Lowry offers the somber notion that well have to have this debate for another couple of decades before the issue is resolved. Maybe so. What they agreed to has bound our nation. What is role of the artist in reflecting America to itself? You have compelled us to do that which has made us ashamed. It might also illuminate Arnautoffs murals that roiled The City and the nation. Jonah Raskin is the author of Beat Blues, San Francisco, 1955. It has also been translated as 'Town Taker', 'Burner of Towns', 'Devourer of Villages', or 'he destroys the town'. Sign up to receive the latest updates from U.S News & World Report and our trusted partners and sponsors. We have nothing to answer to the children of the brothers of our fathers. When your army entered the Country of the Six Nations, we called you the 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 neck of their mothers.1 Our Councillors and warriors are men, and can not be afraid; but their hearts are grieved with the fears of our women & children, and desire, that it may be buried so deep, as to be heard no more. No such document has been found, but the presence of the cover letter to Wadsworth in the Knox Papers suggests that Wadsworth gave the document to GW, who referred it to Knox. 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. The title by which Washington was known to Native nations, Handaga:yas or Town Destroyer, was one he inherited from his great-grandfather, John Washington, a slave-owning planter and colonel in the Virginia militia who, during Bacon's Rebellion of 1676, had the chiefs of several tribes killed. 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. What Happens When Art Gets Competitive on Television? by watchingGood Night Oppy, and this movies spoonful-of-sugar emotional appeal was really tailored for them. SFist spoke to the duo . For first one, and then another, come and take it away, by order of that people, who promised to secure it to us. 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. We hearkened to them and were deceived until your army approached our towns. "Town Destroyer" will have its world premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival, Oct. 6-16, with the first of three screenings at the CinArts Sequoia Theatre in Mill Valley, Oct. 8, at 8 p.m. Its time to reckon with a US founding father who waged genocidal warfare against Indigenous nations. 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. The name in its original language (s) has been given variously as Conotocarius, Conotocaurious, Caunotaucarius, Conotocarious, Hanodaganears, and Hanadahguyus. If you thought you could now talk calmly about Victor Arnautoff and his art, Americans Indians and George Washington, think again. texts. While SFFilmsDoc Stories showcase runs through next Tues/8 (see our previewhere) , theres no lack of new documentary features concurrently finding their way to regular release. An installation of video projected onto a bust of George Washington mounted on a surveyor's tripod. Will California Save the Iconic Joshua Tree? Since that day, the Haudenosaunee have referred to all of the Presidents of the United States as Hanadagyas The Town Destroyer. Answer (1 of 4): The most famous nickname (really, more of an honorary title) associated with George Washington was The Father of His Country. The British agent George Beckwith reported to Lord Dorchester from New York on the course of Streets mission, noting that The application of Mr. Street in behalf of the Indians of the Five Nations by means of Mr. Wadsworth has drawn a declaration from the President, expressive of his intentions to pay every attention to the Indians in general, and Mr. Street is assured by General Knox, that his business will be taken into immediate consideration. Beckwith subsequently reported, however, that Mr. New York, 1970. description ends 174). 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. Records Commission. But if Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman have their way, George Washington will also be remembered as the town destroyer. Thats the title of a new documentary that they have written, directed and produced about the controversial murals in San Francisco at George Washington High School. New Anti-Colonialist Documentary Asks Big Questions, California Institute for Community, Arts & Nature, The CIAs Changing Take on the Climate Emergency, Emancipation, Hollywoods Best Civil War Film Ever. It may be very small in your ears, & we therefore entreat you to hearken with attention. The National Historical Publications and The exploration vehicle/device dubbed Opportunity was sent into space in 2003, landed on the Red Planet six months later, and sent a steady stream of photos and intel back to NASA long after. For my 2018 video installation Handaga:yas (Town Destroyer), I projected video referencing this scorched-earth campaign onto a replica portrait bust of Washington. UCLA Professor Kelley adds that its not about choosing sides and that no one person or group can tell the story.. 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. When our chiefs returned from the treaty of fort Stanwix, and laid before our Council what had been done there our Nation was surprized to hear, how great a Country you had compelled them to give up, to you, without paying us any thing for it.3 Every one said your hearts were yet swelled with resentment against us for what had happened during the war: but that one day you would reconsider it with more kindness. The 77-minute film is entirely shot from his POV as a person navigating everyday life from a motorized wheelchair. To Natives, Washington was both the "Great White Father" and "Conotocarious," which means "Town Destroyer" or "Devourer of . He then threatened us with immediate war if we did not comply. Town Destroyercontextualizes this fight within a landscape where similar battles are occurring (like over Confederate monuments), though often for different reasons. In the summer of 1790, Street was in New York to present these grievances to GW. Roxie Theater: Town Destroyer - Mission Local Gunman robs taco truck at 14th & Harrison at lunch hour Wind splits giant sequoia that may date to 1884 90-unit Irving St. housing OKed despite toxin fears Local news needs you! What they said went to the bottom of our hearts: We accepted the invitation and promised to obey him. It has also been translated as "Town Taker", "Burner of Towns", "Devourer of Villages . Kevin McCarthy is No Edward Snowden, But He Should Find the Comparison Flattering, Assessing Nicaraguas Long Haul toward Liberation and Economic Democracy, A National Divorce? The name in its original language(s) has been given variously as "Caunotaucarius", "Conotocarious", "Hanodaganears", and "Hanadahguyus." It is translated as "Town Taker", "Burner of Towns", "Devourer of Villages", or "he destroys the town". On the next day we let them know, that we were unwilling to sell all the Lands within their State, and proposed to let them have a part of it which we pointed to them in their map. Cornplanter had intended to make the trip at an earlier date but had been delayed by the alarm among the Indians caused by the murder of two Seneca men on Pine Creek (see GW to Pickering, 4 Sept. 1790).
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