New Category Proposal: American Indian Wars

[+NW_history_buff]

As I've traveled across Northwestern Oregon and California, I've come across a good number of historical markers that cover various conflicts between Native American peoples and either white settlers or the U.S. Government. I then did some research online about other conflicts between natives and settlers/U.S. Government and discovered there were quite a large number that existed all across the United States, some lasting many decades. I would not hesitate to guess there are hundreds of historical markers that highlight these various conflicts over the years. There is also no category that exists for Waymarking conflicts between native peoples and American settlers or the U.S. Government.

 

I have established a new group titled American Indian Wars and is open for membership. I would welcome any interested waymarkers to this group for support and potential officership in this category.

 

Although this category is limited to only historical conflicts within the United States, I don't feel this reason alone should minimize its potential and historical value for other waymarkers. There are many current categories within Waymarking.com that are centralized to one area of the world and yet they provide value and merit in their own right.

 

Please click the following link to Wikipedia's American Indian Wars page and you will notice that there are plenty of conflicts covering much history of America. They include:

Colonial Period

East of the Mississippi (1775–1842)

American Revolutionary War 1775–1783

Chickamauga Wars (1776-1794)

Northwest Indian War

Tecumseh, the Creek War, and the War of 1812

Removal era wars

Second Seminole War

West of the Mississippi (1811–1923)

Texas–Indian Wars

Pacific Northwest (Cayuse War, Yakima War, Puget Sound War, Rogue River Wars, Spokane – Coeur d'Alene – Paloos War, Snake War, Nez Perce War, Bannock War, and Sheepeater Indian War)

Southwest ( Navajo Wars, Yuma War, Mohave War, Apache wars, and Black Hawk War (1865–1872))

California (Mariposa War, Klamath and Salmon River War, Tule River War, Bald Hills War, Pitt River Expedition, Mendocino War, Owens Valley Indian War, Snake War, and Modoc War)

Great Basin (Walker War, Paiute War, Bear River Massacre, Goshute War, Snake War, Black Hawk War (Utah), Eastern Nevada Expedition, Bannock War, White River War, and Ute Indian Campaign)

Great Plains (Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851), Treaty of Fort Wise, Dakota War of 1862, Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado War, Powder River Expedition (1865), Red Cloud's War, Great Sioux War of 1876–77, Battle of the Little Bighorn, and Wounded Knee Massacre)

Dakota War of 1862

Colorado War, Sand Creek Massacre and the Sioux War of 1865

Red Cloud's War and Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868)

Black Hills War

Custer and Bloody Knife (kneeling left), Custer's favorite scout.

In 1875, the Great Sioux War of 1876–77

 

An amazing reference on this Wikipedia page: 'Some time in 1924 both the Renegade Period and the Apache Wars ended which had begun decades earlier and brought the American Indian Wars to a close 302 years after the Jamestown Massacre of 1622.'

 

Keep in mind that any and all conflicts from the above list could potentially equate to HUNDREDS if not THOUSANDS of waymarks!

 

If, after reading this, you still don't think a category for American Indian Wars is justified, then I hope you have a pretty darned good reason why!

 

Happy Waymarking,

 

thebeav69

[+fi67]

There's the Specific Wars Monuments and Memorials category. It already covers them all.

[+Max and 99]

There's the Specific Wars Monuments and Memorials category. It already covers them all.

 

I can't find it. Is that the actual name of the category?

 

Don't even think about asking me to join this new category-history is not my strong point! However, I am very interested in hearing more about the category proposal. Is it your intent to only accept war memorials, not including headstones of those who fought in those wars? Just wondering.

 

Thanks for bringing this to the forums for discussion.

[+BruceS]

Here is a link to the category Specific Wars Monuments and Memorials

[+Max and 99]

No wonder I'm confused. All the other war memorials are listed under Monuments, but the specific war memorials are listed under History. Thanks for the link.

[+NW_history_buff]

OK, I see that this War-Specific category is pretty new (created in July) and I also couldn't find it, like Max and 99 (I'm thinking there aren't enough 'keywords' typed in the category description to helps narrow down the search).

 

With that said, I'm still wondering if a category devoted to American Indian Wars would be a nice category addition, much like the U.S. Revolutionary War, American Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, and Persian Gulf War categories that currently exist. Naysayers may say, "Why do we need yet another war category?" I would respond that a category devoted to all the native conflicts with American settlers and the U.S. Government would house them in an entity of their own and make waymark submissions to these historic conflicts much easier for others. If you read my first post, I mentioned that the Native conflicts with American settlers lasted over 300 years! That is MORE history of these conflicts than ALL the other American wars COMBINED!

 

I've already come across a good dozen historical monuments dedicated to just a couple of native conflicts/wars in my neck of the woods alone. This category could conceivably host hundreds and possibly thousands of waymarks across the country. Currently, the American Indian Wars waymark submissions (there are only three submitted from the U.S. to date, and two of them are monuments from America's conflicts with the Mexicans) get lost in the mix of many European wars/conflicts that make up the majority of submissions. I would love to be able to waymark American Indian Wars historical markers to its OWN category. I hope many of you agree.

[+BruceS]

No wonder I'm confused. All the other war memorials are listed under Monuments, but the specific war memorials are listed under History. Thanks for the link.

 

The reason you did not find it is because like all last 10-15 categories that will not come up in searches due to a bug in the "indexing" system. The only way to find them "easily" is to go to the newest category list.

 

This has nothing to do with key words included, selecting the correct words... it is purely a bug. If you put the exact title in it will not be returned by the search.

Edited November 24, 2012 by BruceS

[+BruceS]

OK, I see that this War-Specific category is pretty new (created in July) and I also couldn't find it, like Max and 99 (I'm thinking there aren't enough 'keywords' typed in the category description to helps narrow down the search).

 

With that said, I'm still wondering if a category devoted to American Indian Wars would be a nice category addition, much like the U.S. Revolutionary War, American Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, and Persian Gulf War categories that currently exist. Naysayers may say, "Why do we need yet another war category?" I would respond that a category devoted to all the native conflicts with American settlers and the U.S. Government would house them in an entity of their own and make waymark submissions to these historic conflicts much easier for others. If you read my first post, I mentioned that the Native conflicts with American settlers lasted over 300 years! That is MORE history of these conflicts than ALL the other American wars COMBINED!

 

I've already come across a good dozen historical monuments dedicated to just a couple of native conflicts/wars in my neck of the woods alone. This category could conceivably host hundreds and possibly thousands of waymarks across the country. Currently, the American Indian Wars waymark submissions (there are only three submitted from the U.S. to date, and two of them are monuments from America's conflicts with the Mexicans) get lost in the mix of many European wars/conflicts that make up the majority of submissions. I would love to be able to waymark American Indian Wars historical markers to its OWN category. I hope many of you agree.

 

Even though these wars/conflicts took place over 300 years in general you will not find many monuments to them except in the western US. Not saying you will not find occasional markers for Indian Wars in the eastern US but they are not common. Thus this category would fail on two of the four criteria and may be weak in a third. They are not global and the category would be a duplicate of other categories already in existence. The prevalence may be weak, in some areas there may be many but in many there would be none. The category would be interesting but I don't think that would be enough to carry it through especially when all the waymarks could be submitted in one or more categories already.

 

Your comment about there being really only one waymark in the Specific Wars Monuments and Memorials for Indian Wars seems to support that they may not be that prevalent... if they were they would not be drowned out by those from other parts of the world.

Edited November 24, 2012 by BruceS

[+silverquill]

It is a little strange, isn't it, that there are so few monuments to the conflicts, the wars, between our native Americans and our immigrant forebears? I think part of it is a deep, underlying prejudice and unwillingness to recognize the atrocities of the past. But, I think it is also because most of these conflicts were never classified as wars. (I think this accounts for the lack of representation in the Specific Wars category.) Where would one classify things like the Whitman Massacre? (I grew up near there.) In new England, the only references to all of the conflicts with Native Americans seem to be in connection with other historic sites, such as forts, or museums.

 

I'm not convinced that this couldn't still be a viable category, although prevalence and redundancy are issues to be addressed. It would take some very careful crafting to develop such a category so that it works. Oh, we do have some categories like Trail of Tears, and Nations within Nations that might also overlap.

[+BruceS]

I think there are couple of the other reasons that you find so few is the timing of the wars and lack of veterans organizations for these wars. In the US the placement of memorials seems to have started with the Civil War and there were large organizations for veterans of the Civil War. Most of the Indian wars were prior to this period and there were not veterans organizations for the Indian Wars. Most of the memorials for earlier wars were placed in more recent years by "Sons" and "Daughter" organizations such Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of the War of 1812, Sons of the American Revolution etc. Such organizations do not exist for veterans of the Indian wars, partially because the military involved in these wars at any one time were relatively small compared to those involved in other wars.

[+NW_history_buff]

It is a little strange, isn't it, that there are so few monuments to the conflicts, the wars, between our native Americans and our immigrant forebears? I think part of it is a deep, underlying prejudice and unwillingness to recognize the atrocities of the past. But, I think it is also because most of these conflicts were never classified as wars. (I think this accounts for the lack of representation in the Specific Wars category.) Where would one classify things like the Whitman Massacre? (I grew up near there.) In new England, the only references to all of the conflicts with Native Americans seem to be in connection with other historic sites, such as forts, or museums.

 

I'm not convinced that this couldn't still be a viable category, although prevalence and redundancy are issues to be addressed. It would take some very careful crafting to develop such a category so that it works. Oh, we do have some categories like Trail of Tears, and Nations within Nations that might also overlap.

 

Silverquill, I agree with you wholeheartedly with your "underlying prejudice and unwillingness to recognize the atrocities of the past" statement. I also wholeheartedly disagree with the assumptions of these Indian wars and conflicts not being common throughout the U.S. I STRONGLY believe if one opens their mind to many of the Indian conflicts that existed the past 300+ years, one would find MANY more locations for potential waymarks than originally imagined. Whether they be memorial monuments to both the American natives or settlers/soldiers who warred with each other or monuments to the actual conflicts themselves, I strongly feel there IS enough of these references to make a category dedicated to them viable.

 

As for a potential 'American Indian Wars Monuments and Memorials' category being global? That remark is irrelevant, especially when one considers that this 'criteria' can be applied to many of the other CURRENT categories that are only centralized within the United States and yet are STILL viable in their own right. They include categories like American Revolution Patriot Graves, American Revolutionary War Veteran Graves, American Civil War Monuments and Memorials, Civil War Discovery Trail Sites, U.S. Civil War General Statues, U.S. Civil War Sites, categories specific to historic individuals within the U.S (George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr.) and many others. Creating an 'American Indian Wars Monuments & Memorials' category could be yet another great addition to the existing U.S.-only categories and in a way, complete another chapter in American history.

 

Silverquill, you are also very correct that a potential category like this would need careful 'crafting' of words and examples to support it so that the rest of the Waymarking community realizes that this chapter in American history DESERVES its own recognition and spotlight SEPARATE from any other current category (like the Specific Wars Monuments and Memorials category). Silverquill, would you be willing to assist me in writing up a great description for this potential category?

 

I invite other waymarkers reading this post to assist me in this cause and if interested, join my newly-established group (American Indian Wars/Conflicts Historians) here.

 

Happy Waymarking!

 

thebeav69

Edited December 3, 2012 by thebeav69

[+Tuena]

Why not make it global rather than American specific. Conflicts, as opposed to wars, between indigenous peoples & settlers/governments. You would then be able to cover conflicts such as those that occurred in Australia, New Zealand & South Africa for example. I haven't been looking for monuments in Australia but have visited the site of a massacre which had a memorial. There would be others. There are already enough waymarks that are country specific.

[+Ianatlarge]

Australia was legally declared to be "uninhabited", therefore there could be no conflicts.

[+Tuena]

Australia was legally declared to be "uninhabited", therefore there could be no conflicts.

 

That memorial must have been an illusion, certainly a sobering one. I had been thinking about my comments anyway & decided I would be uncomfortable with Waymarking such places. I withdraw my idea.

 

[+silverquill]

I also wholeheartedly disagree with the assumptions of these Indian wars and conflicts not being common throughout the U.S.

It was not my intent to convey this as an assumption or conclusion.

 

My impression is just that there are very few actual monuments to these conflicts.

 

There were conflicts from Maine to Baja, from Olympia to Florida. What this means is that such a category must be broader than just monuments and memorials in order to be successful.

 

I would think that any site that can be clearly documented as having a direct and relevant connection to armed conflict between native peoples and non-native forces would have a place in such a category. I also strongly believe that the language used must be as value-neutral as possible. Let the facts speak for themselves. There may be memorials to massacres by both sides of such conflicts, for instance--the aforementioned Whitman Massacre being one of them. One might think of exclusions for sites included in the Trail of Tears category, or those pertaining to participation in the so-called French and Indian Wars or the Revolutionary War. Having lived on both coasts, I've seen different aspects of this.

 

I'll comment on the issue of a broader scope for the category below. Not really a good idea.

[+silverquill]

Why not make it global rather than American specific. Conflicts, as opposed to wars, between indigenous peoples & settlers/governments. You would then be able to cover conflicts such as those that occurred in Australia, New Zealand & South Africa for example. I haven't been looking for monuments in Australia but have visited the site of a massacre which had a memorial. There would be others. There are already enough waymarks that are country specific.

While I generally support attempts to make categories more international and global, I think this is one of those cases where the topic is so specific that it needs to be an exclusive category.

 

Certainly there are examples of conflicts between native and non-native populations all over the world. That is the history of civilization, isn't it? The Ainu of Japan suffered a fate similar to the native peoples of North America. This Caucasian race was nearly exterminated and finally pushed to a small reservation on the northern island of Hokkaido. I don't know if there are any monuments or memorials, however.

 

Then one raises the specter of colonialism. What about the colonies in Africa where many indigenous populations in many places were engaged in "wars" of various magnitude. Again, there are probably very few monuments or memorials. Who were the native peoples of the various European countries? I think this an entanglement that we might want to steer clear of.