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Uinta Ute

Signor of 1868 Treaty

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Ute Leader Black Hawk Declares War

April 9th 1865

by

Peter Gottfredson

Author

Indian Depredations in Utah

and

Phillip B Gottfredson

Documentarian

War Is Declared!

"During the winter of 1864-65, a small band of Indians was camped near Gunnison, Sanpete County (Utah). It is said that they contracted Smallpox, and that many died. The Indians seemed to think that the white people were to blame in some way for this and were threatening to kill the whites and steal their horses and cattle. Arrangements were consequently made for a meeting between the Indians and the whites at Manti on the 9th of April, 1865, to talk over matters.

On that date a number of prominent Utes came to Manti. They met at Jerome Kempton's place, and it appeared that an understanding would be arrived at, but a young Chief (Yene-wood) also known as Jake Arropeen (Wakara's brother) could not be pacified. "John Lowry, believed drunk at the time, told the Chief to keep quiet, when someone yelled,  ‘look out he's getting his arrows!’ Lowry jerked the Chief (by his hair) off of his horse, and was about to abuse him, when some men stepped in and broke them up."-Indian Depredations in Utah - Peter Gottfredson

Chief Yene-wood, being dishonored before his people, saw it as the final blow of a long endurance of insults and depredations over nearly 15 years that had rallied the Utes under the new leadership of Chief Black Hawk to declare war against the Mormons. This marked the beginning of what the whites later dubbed "The Black Hawk War."

1865- Brigham Young, at the point of heightened frustration, told his followers; "Seek out the murdering Indians and slay them;" but in light of the political situation he commanded them "to keep quiet about it. Do your duty and say nothing to any man," he ordered, "and call upon nobody to help you for you are able to help yourselves." Utah's Black Hawk War by John Alton Peterson.

1847 was the year the first Mormon pioneers arrived, and it was not until 1865 when war chief Black Hawk, who was also at the point of heightened frustration having endured years of bloody confrontations and assaults on his people and land, declared war. The white population had dramatically increased to about 50,000. At the same time the Ute population is estimated to have been over 30.000 thousand but many were dying from Measles, Smallpox and Tuberculosis epidemics. The natural environment was drastically altered due to the Mormons’ farming of domesticated crops and animals, seriously interfering with the Utes’ primary source of food. Settlers plowed under vital grasslands, destroying native plants essential to the Utes’ diet. Settlers continued to alter the natural environment by logging, redirecting streams for irrigation, recklessly over-fishing rivers, and killing deer, elk, and buffalo. As both Indian and non-Indian competed for the Utes’ land, tensions grew exponentially.

The Black Hawk War in itself was not a single incident. Over 150 deadly confrontations took place over a seven-year period throughout Utah territory and spilled over into Colorado, Idaho, and Wyoming as tens of thousands of Mormon Pioneers poured in at the rate of 3000 a month. 

Note: Leaders of the Ute nation were chosen by succession. Walkara, Jake Arropeen, and Black Hawk all descended from a long line of leaders going back centuries in time. They were the 'royal bloodline’ of the Ute, and all were related to one another. Simply put, one had to be born into the family bloodline to become a leader.

JOHN LOWRY STATES CAUSE OF BLACK HAWK WAR

JANUARY 25th 1894

Excerpt from Indian Depredations in Utah

On January the 25th the Black Hawk War Veterans held their first re-union, at the Reynolds Hall at Springville. There John Lowry gave his personal account of the cause of the Black Hawk War.

"The occasion of the present reunion, being opportune, in order to correct any erroneous impression that has become widespread as to what precipitated the Black Hawk War, I take this opportunity or means of placing the facts before the world.

But first let me state that I came here as a pioneer, and took part in the first battle fought with the Indians under the command of Col. John Scott. And, I have in one way or another been associated with almost every Indian trouble in the early history of this region. I served as Indian interpreter for years in Manti and have passed through many close places in dealing with the red man; at times having been surrounded by them I knew that one word, look, or action would have cost me my life in the event I showed fear. A man who betrayed cowardice might be killed without any consideration, but a brave man was always approached with consideration. Among them were some strange traditions and peculiar notions in relation to their spiritual life. They served Satan, not God; the idea being to placate the power bent on doing injury. The elder brother (God) was good, and never harmed anyone, but Satan was served through fear. For instance, should a white man write the name of an Indian on a slip of paper and give it out that it would be sent to Satan, the Indian would sacrifice his life if necessary to get possession of it. In 1864 a small band of Indians was wintering at Gunnison, and many of them died, and they found reason for their trouble in conclusion that the Mormons had written their names and sent them to Satan, and he had caused death to come upon them.  So, in their councils, they were directed by their chief to stop the sickness among them by killing (Mormons) in retaliation. In February, Black Hawk informed me what the Indians were going to do when the snow went off. They would kill the Mormons and eat Mormon beef. I immediately went to my Bishop with the information. He thought, as did many others, that it was just Indian talk and amounted to nothing; but the Indians told me several times what they intended to do and so I went the second time to the Bishop. My story was received by his saying ‘There are not enough of them.’ I then told him it did not matter how few the number as long as they entertained the idea that it was the wish of Satan, they would accomplish their purpose regardless of results to them.

Shortly after, I learned they were killing cattle. I had some cattle on this range myself, and in my search for them, I found the skull of an ox which I owned. I operated a grist mill at the time, and the Indians would come there for grinding, and I remember it was about the sixth of March that I informed them that I had found the skull of my ox and asked them why they had killed it, as I had always been a friend to them, as had the Mormon people, generally. I talked to them in such a way that they agreed to pay me for the animal which had been killed by fetching me a horse, and they did so the next day. I agreed to meet with them at Manti about the eighth of April and talk the matter over of their killing our cattle.

Accordingly, the council took place. It appeared the difficulty would be settled amicably, but a certain young Indian present, whose father had died during the winter, continued to halloo and make demonstrations, saying that he would eat Mormon beef and kill Mormons when the snow went off. I told him a time or two to stop and to permit me to finish my talk. Just then someone called out ‘lookout, he is getting his arrows!’ I rode up to him and turned him off his horse, and pulled him to the ground. The bystanders interfered and we separated. I had fully exposed what they intended to do.

The next day, as our people were out hunting cattle, a man named Peter Ludvigson was killed. I have always taken the position that that talk with the Indians ‘showed their hand.’ I believe they started hostilities sooner than they would have done had not the incident above mentioned occurred. But the trouble would have come just the same. I am confident that many lives were saved, because it put the people on their guard.

The chief, Black Hawk, told Charles Whitlock of Ephraim the same thing as had been told me concerning the intention of the Indians. These are the facts as to the starting of the Black Hawk Indian depredations. In those early days it was at times imperative that harsh measures should be used. Hamilton killed an Indian dog, and whipped some Indians too, but that didn't start a war; I threw an Indian out of my house and kicked him off the place, and no war came of it. We had to do these things, or be run over by them. It was a question of supremacy between the white man and the Indian.

I have patiently born the stigma placed upon me, for I knew the facts, and those who still persist at looking upon me as guilty of precipitating the Black Hawk War I will say this, that I appeal from their decision to a higher court---Our Creator, who will ultimately judge all men.

Signed John Lowry.

Stamped with--- Commissioners of Indian War Records Seal.

UTE

"Change the conditions in which they thrive"

a commentary by researcher Phillip B Gottfredson

Well, I have to hand it to Lowry, he stands firm in his belief. But, saying it was the "will of Satan" that was the driving force behind the Indians defending their rights to their own land...? That's a crock. In the words of Dr. Floyd O'Neil "You can't stretch a rat’s ass over a rain barrel." The paradox is that the “saints” were in total denial that they were intruding upon land that had been settled centuries before by the Utes. In Lowry's opening statement he admits taking part in the "first battle" which took place at Battle Creek above Pleasant Grove, Utah. Do you call 44 militia surrounding and firing upon four innocent men, one boy and 12 women and children sleeping in two teepees in the wee hours of the morning a battle? Do you call shooting an unarmed man in the back of his neck, and blowing the top of his head off, a battle? Do you call shooting an unarmed man 16 times a battle? (See Battle Creek here)

Lowry points out, "should a white man write the name of an Indian on a slip of paper and give it out that it would be sent to Satan, the Indian would sacrifice his life if necessary to get possession of it." Most assuredly a white man's contrivance as the Indian people did not believe in a "Satan". The Native people had not adapted their language to writing. Have you ever seen petro glyphs with written words? Have there ever been any written accounts in the Ute language? Then how would a Indian person recognize their name written on a piece of paper? Indeed Lowry inadvertently points to a sinister prank that goes way beyond any so called "strange traditions and peculiar notions" in relation to their "spiritual life." The truth is that some Mormon pioneers being supercilious were as unable to comprehend real Indian nature as the Indians were to understand white culture.

Indian nations have been denied their most basic rights, simply because, before the time of Christendom's arrival in the Americas, Christian Monarchs decreed that anyone who did not believe in the God of the Bible, or that Jesus Christ was the true Messiah, were deemed "heathens," "infidels" and "savages". Christians were then entitled to commit all manner of depredations upon them. Indeed America was founded upon Christian principals; there was no separation of church and state by those who drew their power from Old Testament-inspired Manifest Destiny, saying: "This is the land promised by the Eternal Father to the Faithful, since we are commanded by God in the Holy Scriptures to take it from them, being idolaters, by reason of their idolatry and sin, to put them all to the knife, leaving no living thing save maidens and children, their cities robbed and sacked, their walls and houses leveled to the earth." - Pagans in the promised Land by Steven Newcomb

Whereas, according to the LDS church's Book of Mormon, the church believed they had a divine obligation to convert Utah's American Indians to Mormonism, according to church doctrine, and in so doing the so-called "loathsome" Indians would become a "white and delightsome people" and would be forgiven of the sins of their forefathers. (Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 5:21-23) According to church doctrine, the nature of the dark skin was a curse, the cause was the Lord, the reason was because the Lamanites (of Israel) "had hardened their hearts against him, (God)" and the punishment was to make them "loathsome" unto God's people who had white skins.

Recent DNA studies of the exact origin of the American Indian people have scientifically proven that they came from northeast Asia, not Israel. Over 150 Indian tribes and 6000 individuals have been tested. Dr. David Glenn Smith University of Calif., Dr. Dennis O'Rourke University of Utah, Dr. Stephen L. Wittington, and LDS Church anthropologist and scholar Thomas Murphy have publically stated that there is no archeological evidence, no historical evidence, no linguistic evidence and no DNA evidence that proves the American Indian people are descendents of Israel, and that would prove that the Book of Mormon is not a history of the American Indian. "In other words, like the legend of little green-skinned Leprecons living in the forests of Ireland is a myth, so are Lamanites a myth."

This has long been the justification for the denial of Indian rights in federal Indian law, and remains as true today as it was in 1847 and before. It should be noted that there is actually no such thing as "Indian Law," as the Indian peoples were never allowed to participate in the creation of such laws that would govern them. They were not given a choice. No one asked the Utes if they wanted to live the white man's ways or Indian ways.

Christianity is not a democracy, whereas Indian culture is. The church has always held firm to the divine doctrines of authority and hierocracy. Indian communal life has always been rooted in mutual accord and equality. When the Utes failed to assimilate into Mormon culture, the answer was to exterminate them. 

In 1850, Mormon Apostle George A. Smith declared, "The Indians have no rights to the land", he then instructed the all-Mormon legislature to extinguish all Indian titles to the territory and "provide measures for the removal of Indians from Utah." Indians were given no voice in the matter. As stated, Christianity is not a democracy. And, the first step essential in the process of their removal was to change the conditions in which they thrived. Yet, the blame is placed on Lowry? Clearly both Smith and Lowry are blinded by their own enculturation, believing they are doing God's will and they use religion to justify their dirty deeds.

Christian supremacy and fanaticism would lead to events such as the beheadings at Fort Utah in 1850, which would haunt the Mormons for many decades to follow and enrage the Native population even unto the present day. (See Black Hawk War Legacy here)

Only months earlier, 12-year-old Black Hawk witnessed the senseless murder of his family at Battle Creek. He and six of his kin, women and children, were taken captive and held in Salt Lake. There the children were taken from mothers and raised by their captures. I have to pause here to contemplate this for a moment. Black Hawk's family, innocent of any wrong doing, are brutally murdered, taken captive, and the children taken away from their mothers and raised by Mormon women. The Indian mothers are then sent to Fort Utah along with Black Hawk.

At Fort Utah, young Black Hawk would witness the killing of 70 more of his kin at the hands of Brigham Young's militia. There, Dr. James Blake, inspired by Bill Hickman's trophy of Old Elk's head he had hacked from his frozen corpse during his foray into Rock Canyon, located today above the LDS temple in Provo,  and had hung by its hair from the eve of his cabin. (see Fort Utah here) Blake then ordered his men to go out and behead the frozen corpses lying about in the blood-soaked snow. Dr. Blake told them he "wanted to have the heads shipped to Washington for scientific examination." While Blake hunted ducks and pheasants, his men then acquired as many as 50 Indian heads, placed them in open boxes where then-young Black Hawk and his already traumatized kin were to view the gore for a period of two long, agonizing weeks. The heads were then shipped to Salt Lake to Blake, and it is believed he sold them to the Smithsonian and/or medical institutions for a profit. That Lowry accuses the Utes of following Satan just boggles the mind. But, such is how history has been written by the victors.

The Utes have, for a century and half, born the stigma that they were the cause of the war. The arcane notion that they were "heathen," "savage" and genetically inferior and had no right to their land or life-ways is laughable. That people today in this modern time continue to believe these bald faced lies is outrageous. The LDS settlers stole their "promised land" from the Utah Indian peoples  and without any remorse decimated a thriving and prosperous culture in the process. Lowry stated, "It was a question of supremacy between the white man and the Indian."

There was the murder of Black Hawk's family in 1849, the beheadings at Fort Utah, the murder of Old Bishop, falsely accused of stealing a shirt in 1850. He was eviscerated, his stomach cavity filled with rocks and his body thrown in the Provo River. Then the massacre at Mountain meadows took place in 1857. One hundred twenty whites were brutally massacred and the blame unjustly placed on the Paiute when, in fact, Mormons attackers, dressed as Indians, carried out the heinous crime under the leadership of John D. Lee, who had been sealed to Brigham Young in the LDS Temple. When it could not be hushed up completely, John D. Lee was made a scapegoat and executed. LDS Church officials finally made a public apology in 2007, and again in 2008. But they still fail to acknowledge the injustices perpetrated by their predecessors upon the Native Indian people of Utah.

The massacre at Bear River occurred January 29, 1863. Four hundred thirty-one Shoshone were slain by the U.S. army—among them, old men, 90 women and children. After the slaughter ended, soldiers went through the Indian village raping women and using axes to bash in the heads of women and children who were already dying of wounds. Chief Bear Hunter and sub-chief Lehi both were killed. The troops burned 75 Indian lodges, took possession of 1,000 bushels of wheat and flour, and 175 Shoshone horses. While the troops cared for their wounded and took their dead back to Camp Douglas in Salt Lake City for burial, the Indians' bodies were left on the field for the wolves and crows for nearly two years.

Although the Mormon settlers in Cache Valley expressed their gratitude for "the movement of Col. Connor as an intervention of the Almighty" in their behalf, the Bear River Massacre has also been brushed aside in the history of Utah, or all blame  placed on Connor. -John Alton Peterson

In 1861 word circulated among the Utah Indians that President Lincoln had set aside four million acres of land in the desolate north eastern regions of Utah for a reservation. So, four years prior to the war, it was premeditated genocide between the United States government and Brigham. Lincoln asked Brigham if the land was suitable for a reservation, Young reported that “the land is so utterly useless that the only purpose is to hold together the other parts of the world." In other words, it was a perfect place for an Indian reservation.

Black Hawk's uncle, Walkara, or "Walker" as the whites call him, had been chief all along, until he allegedly succumbed to pneumonia and died in 1855. However, there is strong evidence that he was poisoned. Yenewoods became chief by succession. Then, following the botched attempt to reach an agreeable compromise at Manti in 1865, Black Hawk became chief in succession.

Just as a side note, the name "Black Hawk" is not a Ute name. It was a name Brigham Young, in jest, called him. So it was that Brigham’s joke name is how he is now most commonly known. Black Hawk's Ute Indian name was Nooch, and he was so named in honor of his people, the Noochew. Nooch was born into a noble family of legendary leaders spanning centuries.

Understanding the political and economic situation, a third element of concern developed when the United States army arrived in 1857 under the leadership of Col. Johnston, sent to unseat Brigham Young, abolish the illegal practice of polygamy, and take over the land. The Utes found themselves somewhere in the middle. Brigham tried to convince the Utes to side with him against the United States. The Utes took the position of wait-and-see, with Johnston's army, at times,  encouraging the Utes to fight the Mormons. However, the real motivation of the US government and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was always land. Brigham Young was determined to be the first to get his hands on a piece of paper from the Utes saying that they had signed the land over to the Mormons before Johnston's army arrived. He told the Utes time and time again "It would be better for them to sign over the land to the Mormons before the US government takes it." Ute leaders’ response to Brigham was no!

When Johnston and his army of 2500 U.S. troops were sent to Utah in 1857-1858, it was Young's good fortune that funds and resources were diverted to the Civil War, tying Johnston’s hands once they arrived. Brigham seized the moment and gave the order that Johnston's wagons and food be burned. A faithful follower, Lot Smith, carried out the order causing 2500 U.S. troops to suffer extreme hardship during the bitter cold of winter. "Gen. (Daniel) Wells (commander of the Mormon militia), looking at me as straight as possible, asked if I could take a few men and turn back the trains that were on the road or burn them. I replied that I thought I could do just what he told me to." — Lot Smith, Mormon militia (Nauvoo Legion).

Mormons, in the process, stole 800 of the 1,400 head of the Army’s cattle. While Mormons severely punished the famished Indians for stealing their cattle, the Mormons not only stole from the United States government over a thousand cattle, they destroyed the Army’s 2720 pounds of ham, 92,700 of bacon, 167,900 of flour, 8910 of coffee, 1400 of sugar, 1333 of soap, 800 of sperm candles, 765 of tea, 7781 of hard bread, and 68,832 rations of desiccated vegetables. Another train was destroyed by the same party the next day on the Big Sandy; also a few 'sutlers' wagons that were straggling behind. Onward Christian soldiers! The blame was placed on Col. Johnston.

In 1865, Black Hawk would become Yenewood’s successor and go down in history as one of the most brilliant leaders of the time. Black Hawk (Nooch) commanded a formidable counter-attack against all odds and held back white expansion into southern Utah for nearly a decade, causing the abandonment of some 70 Mormon villages. But because of the exploding white population over the previous 18 years, and the dramatic impact upon the environment as a result, as well as the soon-to-be arrival of the Transcontinental Railroad, Ute leaders, especially Black Hawk, were becoming aware that life as they knew it was about to change forever. Black Hawk saw that his people were increasingly famished, sick, their hearts filled with hopelessness and despair. In 1867, he convinced his brother, Tabby, it would be better to campaign for peace than continue to fight. Black Hawk led in peace efforts that eventually brought the war to an end.

This is contradictory to mainstream accounts wherein  Brigham Young has been credited for ending the war. But I have proof that it was Black Hawk, not Brigham Young, who was directly responsible for bringing the war to conclusion. Blame for “the Black Hawk War” was placed on Black Hawk. (See Black Hawk's Mission of Peace here)

Brigham Young complained, "It is cheaper to feed them than fight them," meaning he had already spent over a million in church funds equipping his private militia. The Denver Rocky Mountain News quoted Brigham as also saying, "If you want to get rid of the Indians, try and civilize them." He also said, "You can get rid of more Indians with a sack of flour than you can with a keg of powder." So, in other words, get rid of the Indians, but be kind about it. And I shall note that germ warfare was not new at this time.

Young's long-time admonition to the members of his church was to "Treat them kindly, and treat them as Indians, and not as your equals," came in the wake of the tens-of-thousands of settlers who systematically spread out across the most fertile land of the Utes. Many “saints” were spending time in the Indian camps and inviting Indians into their homes, to which Brigham responded, "If the inhabitants of this Territory, my brethren, had never condescended to reduce themselves to the practices of the Indians, (as few of them have,) to their low, degraded condition, and in some cases even lower, there never would have been any trouble between us and our red neighbors." The blame is now placed on the members of the church.

Several so-called "Treaties" were negotiated between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Indians of Utah. But, contrary to historic accounts, there never were any legal treaties made. Only the federal government could make treaties with the Indians.

There was only one treaty made with the Utes in 1868, and the federal government never honored the terms. Yet these phony “treaties” with Mormon leaders would be used to extinguish all Indian rights to their homeland as well as their inalienable rights as human beings.  They were shoved on to desolate and remote reservations (concentration camps would be a more accurate description) land that whites found to be worthless.

The Indians had very little command of the English language, of course. This was advantageous to the whites and Indians were never given the chance to clearly understand the legal verbiage of the English-written documents. They were made to believe the treaties were to their benefit, but of course the opposite was true. One only needs to read one of the so-called treaties to understand they were written in a manner to deceive, certainly not to be understood by the Utes who didn't understand English anymore than the whites understood the Ute language.

In the 1866 Circleville Massacre, 26 innocent Paiute were murdered by Mormon settlers. Sixteen women’s and men’s throats were slit from ear to ear. The corpses were buried and an attempt was made to cover up the grizzly event. But word leaked to the press and quickly spread throughout the Native community. Brigham was reported as being outraged, but no action was taken to punish the perpetrators, lead by none other than  Bishop Allred. Brigham's "outrage" was nothing compared to what the Paiute were feeling. Hardly anyone today has any knowledge of this gruesome event except the living descendents of one Paiute boy who survived. Eventually, all blame was placed on Bishop Allred.

In 1866, Sanpitch, the father of Black Hawk, was murdered,  adding even more fuel to the rage of the Ute Indian people. In a botched attempt to lure Black Hawk in to a trap, his father was taken captive. He managed to break loose of his captors only to have his throat cut. By now, Black Hawk had witnessed the slaughter of his family at Battle Creek, the killing and beheading of his kin at Fort Utah, the poisoning of his uncle, and now the murder of his father. The blame was placed on Dolph Bennett, Sanpitch's assailant.

Historic accounts never attest to the humanity of Ute leaders who rarely killed any whites, and if they did, it was in self-defense. It is said the Indians burned wagons, yet there is not one account that can support the claim. Instead, Black Hawk with his army of 3000 warriors, focused on undermining the economics of the Mormon society by taking their cattle and horses, while surplus cattle were traded for guns and ammunition to arm his warriors. Over a period of 26 years of confrontations with early settlers, 140 whites lost their lives. How many Indians died in the same period? You won't believe it.

Brigham Young acknowledged an alarming rate of decrease of the Indian population, and a 1909 government census bore testament to Brigham's observances revealing just 2300 remained alive. The Native population had decreased by 90%. Considering that their population exceeded 40,000 (and some estimate 70,000) when the Mormons arrived in 1847, the numbers are staggering! Today, the Ute population totals about 3500 tribal members.

One hundred and fifty four years ago John Cremony wrote these words... "When will the white man ever become wise, and, instead of treating the Indian with scornful indifference, give him credit for his intelligence, his quick and remarkable instincts, his powers of reflection and organization, and his inveterate opposition to all innovation? We have been too much in the habit of treating them with contempt, and underrating our savage enemies. This has been a serious blunder, the rock upon which so many millions of money and so many precious lives have been wrecked. Is it not time to accept a new policy in their regard? Will civilized people never learn that they are quite as obtuse to comprehend real Indian nature as the Indians to understand their (whites) civilization?" - John C. Cremony "Life Among The Apaches" 1850

Now, was the Black Hawk war saga over? The Mormons got their land and the Transcontinental Railroad had come through. Black Hawk died in 1870. 90% of the Indian population had disappeared. Fifteen hundred Utes were forced to walk to the reservation in the Uintah Basin where they were abandoned, and 500 more died from starvation in the first year.  Were the whites satisfied? Not by a long shot.

On September 20, 1919, an article appeared on the front page of the Deseret News with the headline, "Bones of Black Hawk on Exhibition L.D.S. Museum." Deep within the article, the writer explains that, first, the remains of Black Hawk had been on public display in the window of a hardware store in downtown Spanish Fork, Utah. Then, Benjamin Goddard, in charge of the L.D.S. Museum, acquired them for display in Temple Square in Salt Lake City. For decades, the remains of Black Hawk, and those of an Indian woman and a child, were on display in the church museum on Temple Square.

Just 49 years had passed since Nooch had been laid to rest in 1870 at Spring Lake, Utah, when members of the LDS Church plotted the robbery of his grave. Accompanying the article is a photo of William E. Croff standing in the open grave, grinning ear to ear, while holding the skull of Nooch. While the living descendents of Nooch were outraged, their voices fell on deaf ears. Lacking in moral leadership church leaders condoned the practice, in spite of a federal law passed in 1906 called the Graves Protection Act. Descendents of Black Hawk had no legal recourse until the enactment of the National American Graves Protection Reparation Act, or NAGPRA, passed in 1994.

Nooch was again reburied in the year 1996. This raises the question why a religious institution and its leaders would have no compassion or respect for the family of Black Hawk? Was the reason simply amusement for others? Was grave robbing for art, pleasure, punishment, a morbid fascination of death, divine obligation, or, most importantly, the wielding of power?

Folks, my account of Brigham's Black Hawk War of Utah is, by no means, intended as amusement, nor will I make light of or trivialize the truth. For we owe it to the Native people to feel their pain, and not sanitize their history. There is nothing amusing or trivial about a war that resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent human lives, and the shameful devastation of a once-vibrant culture. Contrary to the victors’ "feel good" accounts, and their brilliantly managed rhetoric, the Utah Indian people are the people who made the ultimate sacrifice, who were subjected to every kind of man's inhumanity to man that you can imagine.

What is the true story of First People of Utah? The only people who can intelligently and accurately answer that question are the Indian people. That is the essence of our film documentary project. Twenty-six years of Utah history have been ignored and left out of school curricula—twenty-six years of Utah Indian history that more than 90% of Utah's population never heard of. A quarter of a century of the history of 40,000 lives has been tossed aside, forgotten, and made a mockery of. Isn't it time we own the past and speak the truth?

The point to all of this is very simple. It's not just about the Indian people, or the black, yellow, white, this church or that. It goes beyond the obvious. I ask a simple question, where is our humanity? For when a people has the power to take away a persons inalienable rights as a human being, if they can do it to one person they can do it to me and you. As a member of the human race I feel it is my responsibility, and our obligation as human beings to stand up for our rights. Where is the outrage for the injustices that our fellow citizens endure each and every day? I say to those of us who are educators, church members, or in government positions who say "it's not my problem, I'm just doing my job", that those who take the position of indifference they themselves become advocates of bigotry. And remember that racism has to be taught. Our children learn to discriminate against others from their friends, churches, and schools. Is Indian history being taught in your school? Why not? Who made the decision to leave Indian history out of school curricula? 

But don't take my word. Read it for yourself: Indian Depredations in Utah by Peter Gottfredson; Utah's Black Hawk War by John Alton Peterson; A History of Utah American Indians by Forrest Cuch; Red Twilight by Val Fitzpatrick; and a score of publications found in your public library. But the best source that hardly anyone has thought of before is, ask the First People. For who is there better qualified to teach others about the evils of genocide, racism, and discrimination than those who are the victims of the greatest holocaust the world has ever known other than the American Indian peoples?

~ Phillip B Gottfredson - Researcher of the Black Hawk War of Utah

 

 

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