American Indians expect to be belittled and dehumanized at every turn. We expect to attend schools where the mascot is an Indian named Savage. We expect cutting cultural appropriation by wannabe Indians. But what I, a Lakota, couldn’t have anticipated was the ignorance and naivete of President Barack Obama, his administration and the U.S. military.
CNN this week revealed that the military code name for Osama bin Laden was Geronimo, a highly revered historical figure in the American Indian community.
“We’ve ID’d Geronimo,” said a Navy SEAL. A short time later, President Obama and his cohorts nestled in the situation room received confirmation that “Geronimo” was, in fact, dead.
Take a look, folks. This is the face of ignorance.
“This is blatant racism,” said Ray Ramirez of the Native American Rights Fund in Boulder. Ramirez added that although the connection made between bin Laden and the honored Apache warrior is brazen, it’s nothing new.
“When insurgents leave an area, [the military] will say ‘He’s gone off the reservation,’ ” he said. “I really don’t know what it’s going to take to change things.”
What other races of people would sit idly by as such an audacious affront debased one of their honored and respected ancestors? Would the black community have objected if Osama’s code name were “Malcolm X”? Would the Hispanic community have taken to the streets if bin Laden was called “Caesar Chavez”? Would whites have protested had Thomas Jefferson been the code name for bin Laden?
I suppose, though, since American Indians make up only 1 percent of the population, there was no real concern that we’d revolt. We’re too busy with our casinos anyway, right? (Lord, I hope that’s not what people really think.)
“This is hurtful,” said Tessa McLean, a University of Colorado Denver political science student and member of the Anishinaabe Nation. “So now we’re not only mascots, we’re likened to terrorists, too?”
McLean said she was disappointed that such a progressive-appearing president like Obama would be so inconsiderate and ignorant to the feelings of Indian people. “It’s one thing for someone like Rush Limbaugh to say something like this, but for President Obama to approve of the use of Geronimo’s name in this context is outrageous,” she said.
Robert Chanate of Lakewood, a member of the Kiowa Nation, agreed that the use of Geronimo’s name was outrageous, and added that the link between the two is largely erroneous.
“I think the comparison is inaccurate,” he said, “because in the case of Geronimo, he was fighting against the invasion of his home, his people and his land, as opposed to bin Laden, who was raging a religious war against the United States.”
And so continues the battle for our dignity. We’re not a people only of the past, regardless what Hollywood or museums would say on the matter. We’re a people still living, even if we’re not entirely kicking.
First Nation leaders and American Indian councils across the country have been firing off press releases to Washington condemning the use of an honored Indian warrior’s name whose only crime was protecting his people and way of life from an unrelenting U.S. government.
So I pose the question: Would you tolerate such an offense were it your people’s iconic figure used to label such a vile person like Osama bin Laden? Something tells me you wouldn’t.
Simon Moya-Smith is a reporter/blogger who writes for .
