The “Mainstream” vs “Non-mainstream” Media: Dilettantes vs SubstanceLewis & Clark: “frontmen for genocide”
–
e-mail interview between Jim Craven and a Time Magazine Correspondent (who will remain unnamed): ****
–
hello, i am a writer for time magazine working on a story on native american attitudes toward the lewis and clark commemoration. would you have a few moments to email me your current thoughts? i saw a few clips from the oregonian and the columbian dating back 2 years, where you discussed lewis and clark as “frontmen for genocide.” am also confused about what’s happening vis a vis the commemoration with the Blackfeet generally. There is a reference on the official lewis and clark website to some sort of “day of reconciliation” planned by the tribe, along with a performance of an opera about Scarface. i am writing this week. thanks.
–
National Correspondent
TIME Magazine 11766 Wilshire Bl.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
****
–
Hello,
–
Thanks for the inquiry. Yes, I was invited on to and then kicked off of the Vancouver Wa Mayor’s Committee on Lewis and Clark celebration. The reason? Because I used the term genocide in reference to all of U.S. history before and after Lewis and Clark (according to Hitler, his inspiration for possible scopes and methods of genocide) vis-a-vis American and Canadian Indians.
–
Interestingly, not one person who took issue with my use of the word genocide had ever read the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide (have you by the way?) that defines genocide in Article II or read any scholarly literature on the subject (I am extensively published in this area). I am attaching some of my work which gives my views clearly and somewhat succinctly.
–
Please read the attached. The attached indictment of the U.S. and Canadian Governments for genocide has been reviewed by eight professors of international law who say it is airtight.
–
Jim Craven *****
Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2002 11:20 AM To: jcraven@clark.edu <mailto:jcraven@clark.edu>
Subject: Re: blackfeet/lewis and clark
–
thanks for all the documents. my story is tightly focused on native american attitudes and activities surrounding the lewis and clark bicentennial. can you offer some comments and reflections on that? i haven’t heard much open dissention, nor even much talk about lewis and clark as “frontmen for genocide.” in your phrase.
–
**** jcraven@clark.edu <mailto:jcraven@clark.edu>wrote:
–
Well for one thing, there is no such thing as “native american attitudes” about anything; Indians are as diverse as any communities and of course have different views. The main schism is between the “Traditionals” (of which I am one) and the “Officials” (BIA/DIA).
–
The term “frontmen for genocide” comes from having read the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide (not ratified by the U.S. until 1988 and still not fully ratified due to the “Helms/Lugar/Hatch Sovereignty Amendment” which says that anything in the UN Convention contradicting U.S. Laws and/or Constitution is trumped by the U.S. Laws and Constitution–sort of a “sovereign right to do genocide which is exactly what the nazis argued and is also a violation of the U.S. Constitution itself or Article VI Section 2); it comes from having read the letters of Thomas Jefferson and others to Lewis and Clark and about the real intentions of their mission vis-a-vis the Indians; it comes from examination of U.S. history and a long chain of calculated, planned, covered-up (consciousness of guilt) actions against Indians and Indian Nations that fall under Article II (a to e) and other articles of the UN Convention on Genocide; it comes from a lot of living and activism in Indian Country (over 35 years); it comes from an examination of the debates of the 98 US Congress in which many senators argued that the U.S. could never ratify the UN Convention on Genocide as the US itself could be charged as a result of “Jim Crow laws and laws/policies governing Indians” that could easily be seen as genocidal; it comes from examining the sad statistics in the U.S. and Canada on the deteriorating life conditions/expectancies of Indians;
–
The view I have articulated is prevalent among many Indians. The reason you do not hear it much is due not only to BIA/DIA cover-ups and reporters not having access to the real Indian world(not the damn “officials” in the typical rolodex of a typical reporter) but also due to laziness and inadequate education of the typical reporters and media personalities. Our story doesn’t fit into neat sound-bites or neat paragraphs. Plus you have the “rolodex syndrome” where the same sell-outs get interviewed time after time by reporters who don’t know what a real Indian is.
–
Then you have the typical imperatives of the profit/career-driven media and media personalities: Not asking certain nasty questions to those in power gets/keeps your access, which helps to get the “scoop”, which brings exposure/recognition/ratings/revenues/market share which brings expanded access and off you go. Which reporter will dare ask Bush: “How can the U.S. government lecture anyone about human rights or terrorism when by all accounts American Indians have been brought to the verge of extinction and the U.S. Government still refuses to fully ratify the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide and is one of only 7 countries not to have done so?” Which reporter will dare ask that question? Or here is another one: “Mr. Bush, you talk a lot about treason by individuals who have not yet even been charged let alone convicted of it, in discussing treason, how about the fact that your grandfathers Prescott Bush and George Herbert Walker were principal financiers of Hitler from 1924 onward and how about the fact that their company, the Union Banking Corporation, was broken up by the U.S. Government for selling nazi securities and trading with the nazis AFTER Pearl Harbor and during World War II; is that not real treason? (see The Secret War Against the Jews by John Loftus and Mark Arrons or Trading With The Enemy by Charles Higham) No journalist would dare ask those questions just as none would dare seriously investigate the genocidal conditions, laws and policies to which Indians in America and elsewhere are subject–while America dares to lecture anyone about genocide, war crimes, human rights or whatever.
Jim Craven [Craven, Jim]****
jim,
beware of lumping all reporters into one category–just as we should be wary of generalizing about “native american attitudes.” i try to avoid the “rolodex” syndrome–i just made two separate trips to ft. berthold and standing rock and interviewed a lot of native americans from all walks of life who were not in any rolodex. not to mention that you weren’t in my rolodex…
–
1) why do you consider lewis and clark to be “front men for genocide”? 2) should native americans be commemorating the bicentennial of the lewis and clark trip? 3) what’s to commemorate? 4) if not commemorating, what would you like to see native americans doing as far as this anniversary goes? 5) you were quoted in some newspaper saying you thought there might be a protest. do you still think that? 6) some native americans see this as an opportunity to tell their version of history. do you think it is? will it happen? 7) specifically, what do you hear about what is or is not being done vis a vis lewis and clark among the Montana Blackfeet(foot).
thanks. ****
—–Original Message—–[Craven, Jim]
From: Craven, Jim Sent: Monday, June 24, 2002 10:54 AM To: @timemagazine.com’ Subject: RE: blackfeet/lewis and clark
m,
I do not lump all journalists into the same category. But I do understand the system–and associated imperatives– under which they work which is why there are fewer and fewer journalists of the stature of I.F. Stone or George Seldes or Edward R. Murrow left–and the few of such stature have either been driven out or marginalized into the “non-mainstream”.
–
If you were assigned to do a retrospective on Henry Luce for example, and you dared to research and write up his history fully (a principal financier of Hitler from 1924 onwards; a member of the American Liberty League that formed a conspiracy to overthrow FDR in 1935 and replace him with Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler to lead dispossessed veterans as shock troops to support a fascist dictatorship in America as Butler exposed the conspiracy and its members who were never prosecuted); a member of Skull and Bones, a sick and twisted satanic cult with some very bizarre and very “un-Christian” rituals and practices, etc etc); you would either change what you wrote or be gone (and the fact that you even dared to find out such historical facts would brand you as a troublemaker or some kind of radical and your future at Time would be limited).
–
So many journalists can honestly say that they were never told what to write or not write; that is because they were hired with a certain working paradigm ( and lack of real education) in-tact such that they do not need to be told what to write or not write–they know instinctively what is taboo, what brings/keeps access (that leads to the “scoop” that leads to exposure, that leads to name recognition, that leads to expanded access) and what brings ostracization and marginalization.
–
Being an Indian does not give me any kind of “credential” per-se to speak on Indian issues, on Lewis and Clark or whatever; just as there are many Americans who no know nothing about the realities of America, the Constitution, American history etc, so there are many “Indians” (by “blood”) who know nothing about the realities of Indian Country, histories of their Nations or Lewis and Clark’s role in history vis-a-vis Indians etc. That is why your having interviewed a bunch of Indians on various Rezes does not mean much in and of itself; part of the genocide Indians have suffered involves a corps of sell-out Indians doing the work of those intent on exterminating them and perhaps–or perhaps not–you ran into some of them. That is why I sent documents with evidence and not just my opinions on the realities of genocide in America; I am also a scientist by training.
–
To answer your questions:
–
1) Genocide is defined legally in Article II of the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide:
a) Killing members of a group;
b) Causing serious bodily and mental harm to members of a group;
c) Deliberately inflicting upon a group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
d) Imposing measures designed to prevent births within a group;
e) Forcibly transferring children of a group to another group.
–
The U.S. Government did not finally ratify (and still is not fully ratified) the UN Convention on Genocide until 1988–40 years after the Convention was drafted. In the minutes of the 97th Congress, there was explicit mention that if the U.S. ratified the Convention, the U.S. could easily be charged with genocide due to Jim Crow laws against African-Americans and due to the intended policies, practices and impacts of the U.S. government vis-a-vis Indians throughout the whole of U.S. history; that is why the U.S. Government continues to block the formation of a World Court to deal with War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, Genocide etc as the U.S. Government could be the first defendant for past and present genocidal practices and/or complicity in genocide etc.
–
When Thomas Jefferson commissioned the Lewis and Clark mission, he had already written several classified letters (e.g. Feb. 24, 1803 to William Henry Harrison) laying out his plan for Indians: to remove them forcibly to west of the Mississippi; to drive them into debt in order to acquire Indian lands on the cheap and acquire “legal title”; to forcibly assimilate Indians as “marginal citizens” and destroy any Indian cultures and values that conflicted with “American culture and values”; etc. In other words, he laid out a plan for cultural if not physical extermination of Indians. Lewis and Clark were commissioned as recon or front-men for his “Manifest Destiny” program to survey the exploitable resources and peoples to the West and he explicitly stated so; hence my description of Lewis and Clark as “front-men for genocide”. There are also accounts in Blackfoot oral histories of Lewis and Clark carrying vials of what they purported to be “smallpox bacillus” which they threatened to unleash when cornered in an area of what is now Montana. but in any case, the whole of American history in relation to Indians and African-Americans, pre and post Lewis and Clark, is one of outright genocide as defined in the UN Convention. The documentation is overwhelming.
–
2) No real Indian should be “celebrating” the Lewis and Clark expedition any more than any Jew or real human being should be “celebrating” Hitler’s birthday; like “Columbus Day” it should be a national day or mourning. The fact that “Columbus Day ” is still “celebrated” in America shows how backward, illiterate and inhuman this country and its system really are.
–
3) “Commemoration” of “there goes the neighborhood”; genocide, historical revisionism, “Manifest Destiny” (America’s version of the nazi concept of “Lebensraum”);
–
4) Educating the public about the real history, interests and intentions behind Lewis and Clark before and after.
–
5) No doubt there will be protests from various segments of Indian Country and from non-Indian supporters who are not illiterate about American history and the nature of the U.S. system that continues today;
–
6) We cannot tell our true history in media that focus on: “if it bleeds it leads”; “find controversy, and if not, manufacture it”; 9-second sound bites; profit for power and power for profit; keep access by not asking nasty questions that will cause the gatekeepers in power to deny access and or give the “scoop” to the competition as payback. We have to tell our story through our own media and through our own demonstrations knowing full-well that what will show-up in the “mainstream” media will be shallow, superficial, cover-up and generally “within the established parameters of what is called mainstream or orthodoxy”.
–
7) Plans among the Blackfoot are being discussed in Blackfoot Ways; We do plan to demonstrate against all public events “celebrating” Lewis and Clark to give our version of what they were really about; we have links with other Nations and plan coordinated actions and informational sessions etc; Of course Blackfoot are not a homogeneous mass either, we have our traitors and sell-outs and “official Indians” so I’m sure that some of them will be on the other side.
–
In Aboriginal Law there are five fundamental mandates: 1)Truth, without which there can be no: 2)Justice; Truth and Justice without which there can be no real: 3) Healing; Truth, Justice and Healing without which there can be no real: 4) Reconciliation; Truth Justice, Healing and Reconciliation without which there can be no: 5) Prevention of Future Abuse.
–
As long as the lies and revisionist histories continue there can be no real Justice, Healing, Reconciliation or Prevention of Future Abuses and any purported “Reconciliation Ceremonies” around Lewis and Clark will be phony and will be labeled/attacked as such along with those sell-out Indians who dare to hold them in service to their white or nominally Indian masters.
–
Hope that answers your specific questions.
Jim Craven
********
Added:
From DotRez:
–
Comrades might recall the pithy response of Jim Craven to the Time Magazine reporter looking for an Indian perspective on Lewis and Clark.
–
It turns out that this issue is now on the newsstands and online at:
–
Commanding, cooperative, confident, complementary-why Lewis and Clark were perfectly cast as co-CEOs.
–
When the men of the Corps of Discovery had arrived back in St. Louis in 1806, the residents “Huzzared three cheers.” But they otherwise did not seem to know what to make of this crew or its achievement. Two nights later, they feted the captains at William Christy’s inn. There they raised toasts to, among others, President Jefferson (“the polar star of discovery”) Christopher Columbus (“his hardihood, perseverance and merit”) … and Agriculture and Industry (“The farmer is the best support of government”). But when the revelers got to the captains in the 18th and final toast, they seemed to be at a loss for words. Finally they settled for saluting “their perilous services [that] endear them to every American heart.”
It has been that way ever since.
–
Perhaps Jim anticipated this kind of crap when he was approached by the Time reporter. In fact, Jim used to include this bit of business from Jefferson in his signature:
–
“our settlements will gradually circumscribe and approach the Indians, and they will in time either incorporate with us as citizens of the United States, or remove beyond the Mississippi. The former is certainly the termination of their history most happy for themselves; but, in the whole course of this, it is essential to cultivate their love. As to their fear, we presume that our strength and their weakness is now so visible that they must see we have only to shut our hand to crush them…”
–
About six months ago I began reading Lewis and Clark’s journal. While it has absolutely no literary value, it is extremely interesting for its portrayal of what the USA looked like prior to capitalist development. It teems with wildlife and fauna that are in an ecological balance with each other. For example, this excerpt reflects the peculiar quality of Lewis and Clark’s reportage. It mixes a kind of inventory-taking mentality with an astonishing image of the aboriginal landscape. Keep in mind that the trees mentioned below were mostly destroyed in the 19th century, to be replaced by cultivated trees that had solely had value for home construction, etc.
–
“Last night posted out our guard and sent out 4 men, Captn. Lewis & [I] went up the Bank and walked a Short Distance in the high Prarie this Prarie is Covered with Grass of 10 or 12 inches in hight, Soil of good quality & at the Distance of about a mile still further back the Countrey rises about 80 or 90 feet higher, and is one Continued Plain as fur as Can be seen, from the Bluff on the 2d rise imediately above our Camp, the most butifull prospect of the River up & Down and the Countrey Opsd. prosented it Self which I ever beheld; The River meandering the open and butifull Plains, interspursed with Groves of timber, and each point Covered with Tall timber, Such as Willow Cotton sum Mulberry, Elm, Sucamore Lynn [linden] & ash (The Groves contain Hickory, Walnut, coffee nut & Oake in addition).”
–
My favorite passage in Lewis and Clark, however, recounts the resistance mounted by the Blackfoot Indians who clearly recognized the intruders as a threat no matter how many “medals” they brought with them as gifts:
–
“This morning at daylight the indians got up and crouded around the fire, J. Fields who was on post had carelessly laid his gun down behi[n]d him near where his brother was sleeping, one of the indians the fellow to whom I had given the medal last evening sliped behind him and took his gun and that of his brother unperceived by him, at the same instant two others advanced and seized the guns of Drewyer and myself…”