Tags
American History, Black Hills, Donald Trump, Gary Owen, George Armstrong Custer, History, July 4th, Music
Just a minor footnote to the story of the former guy. If you watch the footage of his July 4th celebration in the Black Hills, you may notice a catchy little tune that accompanies the first few moments of the fireworks (they begin at @around 4:52:45 on this video).
Some of you may find that tine to be a little bit familiar.
Wondering where you might have heard it before?
Don’t worry!
It’s not a coincidence.
The tune is called Gary Owen. It was the marching tune for Custer’s 7th cavalry. His band really did play this song as he attacked Black Kettle’s village on the Washita River.
I guess someone in the Trump camp must have thought to include that as a little extra message for the Native American community, and most especially for the protesters who thought Trump never should have brought his celebration there out to the Black Hills.
It’s actually kind of an apt metaphor for the Trump administration An invitation for all of us to wave flags and celebrate our national heritage.
…Even as they stick it to someone in that very same message.
Because, nothing at all is really any fun someone gets hurt
northierthanthou 
I heard that and had to fight off the rage for two weeks. To me, June 25 is a holiday.
I know that rage. It’s not going away any time soon.
Oh, and that rage is still not completely gone.
Very interesting.
And, played again at Wounded Knee 1890.
Such a vile and violent action.
That reminds me of the too-short time I spent working amongst the Sioux as a doctor in 1980. In a discussion with some locals, I suggested the following, “The Black hills is mostly federal land anyway. Why doesn’t the government just give it back to you?” I found general assent, and greatly increased status among the locals immediately afterwards.
I seem to recall a legislator was trying to work something out to that effect several decades back. It would probably fall short of what the tribe wishes, but it was a lot more than they ended up getting.
Forgot to say that the rage will never go away until there is a a really substantive Federal effort at reparations. The elevation of Deb holland to her present post is a start. By the way, I heard that she suffered a minor fracture last week at the age of 61 to one of her fibulae (plural of fibula, the smaller lower leg bone) while hiking. I hope she enjoyed the hike anyway, and I expect a rapid recovery if they didn’t take her to an Indian Health Service hospital (they are funded at a rate of 20% per capita compared to Washichu (“white eye”, a derogatory epithet in Lakota sioux) hospitals in this country. Even if, it will probably heal spontaneously anyway.