‘to introduce among them the habits and arts of civilization’
FADE IN:
Scene 1 EXT. DENVER, COLORADO (1864) – DAY – ESTABLISHING
BLACK KETTLE CHEYENNE CHIEF (Voice Over)
. . . we came to the conclusion to make peace with you . . .
we want true news from you in return . . .
Scene 2 INT. MAYOR’S OFFICE – DENVER, COLORADO – NIGHT
MAYOR WYNKOOP to MESSENGER
We’ll release our prisoners in exchange for the release of theirs
tell Black Kettle’s Cheyenne and Left Hand’s Arapaho bands
to go to Fort Lyon and camp 40 miles outside at Sand Creek
there they’ll be under the protection of the United States troops
Scene 3 INT. FORT LYONS, COLORADO – DAY
CLOSE ANGLE ON COL. JOHN MILTON CHIVINGTON
Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians
I have come to kill Indians, and
I believe it is right and honorable to use any means
under God’s heaven to kill Indians
Scene 4 EXT. ENCAMPMENT OUTSIDE SAND CREEK, COLORADO – NIGHT
The camp is full of soldiers drinking heavily and celebrating the victory to come
CAPTAIN SILAS S. SOULE
He means to attack a peaceful settlement
all to further his political ambitions
LIEUTENANT JAMES D. CANNON
He risks court-marshall
what are we going to do?
CAPTAIN SILAS S. SOULE
Refuse to let our companies join in
I don’t see any other way
Scene 5 EXT. SAND CREEK, COLORADO – DAY
MONTAGE:
A) Bodies are strewn through the creek and along the banks
B) Women, children, and elderly are clearly among the dead or dying
C) Cannons have been used against the civilian population
D) Small bands of soldiers are shooting unarmed people pleading for their lives
E) The tribes horses are either dead or let loose
F) CHIVINGTON’S soldiers are looting the gifts given to the tribes in the peace treaty
G) LIEUTENANT JAMES D. CANNON and CAPTAIN SILAS S. SOULE
return to the white encampment
END MONTAGE
Scene 6 EXT. SAND CREEK – DAY
Several days have passed,
the soldiers have left
the survivors have fled
CAPTAIN SILAS S. SOULE (Voice Over)
The massacre lasted six or eight hours (beat)
it was hard to see little children on their knees having
their brains beat out by men professing to be civilized (beat)
they were all horribly mutilated . . .
Scene 7 INT. CONGRESSIONAL HEARING – DAY
LIEUTENANT JAMES D. CANNON
Men, women, and children’s privates cut out
I heard numerous incidents in which men had cut out
the private parts of women and stretched them
over their saddle-bows and hats . . .
No charges were ever brought against any soldier
Scene 8 EXT. PRISON YARD, FORT MARION, FLORIDA – DAY
RICHARD PRATT (Prison Commander) to HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
The end to be gained is the complete civilization of the Indian
his absorption into our national life (beat)
to lose his identity as such (beat)
the sooner all tribal relations are broken up
the sooner he loses all his Indian ways
even his language, the better it will be
for him and the government
Scene 9 INT. PRISON SCHOOL, FORT MARION, FLORIDA (late 1870s) – DAY
MAKING MEDICINE (CHEYENNE WARRIOR) now DAVID PENDLETON OAKERHATER
You remember when I led you out to war
I went first, and what I told you was true
Now I have been away to the East
I have learned about another captain
the Lord Jesus Christ, and he is my leader
He goes first, and all he tells me is true
I come back to my people to tell you
go with me now in this new road
a war that makes all for peace
where we never have only victory . . .
Scene 10 INT. MISSION SCHOOL, INDIAN TERRITORY, OKLAHOMA – DAY
Indian children are learning English
OAKERHATER, an ordained priest, died in 1931
due to efforts by the Oklahoma Council on Indian Ministries
he was named a saint of the Episcopal Church in 1985
FADE OUT:
Cheyenne was a name given to the tribe
by the French from the word meaning dog
the actual names of the tribes
Só’taeo’o and Tsétsêhéstâhese
mean ‘Human Beings’
PSALM 23 (Translated into the Cheyenne Language) Watch the video to hear it read.
1. Tsenetästs nähane-atämistowinots, howähe nätsää-hoehätsto.
2. Täss näoh˙che ofshemäne tsishekooits; täss näoche-naaväotseä tsehish-hakoomoaäts.
3. Epavomoh˙tämän nämätäsoomä: näoh˙che-naaväotseä mayo tseh˙änowewostäne-havistowits havitof.
4. Haaha! homäsowitto täss näämin tseh˙owaooistä näastots tseh˙vaato nämissääato howähe hävs; otä net’ savioh-tsime stoh˙to nähiststähäo.
5. Nenestä-ahän täh˙amissistots mäato nävaämeo: nämakon nevishhinin’ amowe ämskavä näpavatänoh˙tots aha-iotomohin.
6. Onissyomitto pavatsistätots nä shevätstästots nätshoeoe oishavä tsehwostänahivitto: nä-tseavhäs Tsenetätsiss himhiyon äenitto.
Psalm 23
New International Version (NIV)
A psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
THE END
Chromapoetica 
dang….i jus tbow…wow…love the screenplay…the action within and the topics adressed…the indoctrination….this part reall was just sad to me….
The end to be gained is the complete civilization of the Indian
his absorption into our national life (beat)
to lose his identity as such (beat)
the sooner all tribal relations are broken up
the sooner he loses all his Indian ways
even his language, the better it will be
for him and the government…
this is all too real. and you capture it well…to end on the scripture and the translation is spot on…the dogs vs human beings as well…dang….
For the most part the dialogue comes directly from historical documents as I thought it was the best way to capture the thinking of the time. Thanks Brian, this is a lovely compliment!
Anna. All I can say is–wow. And then wow again.
Thank you Susan :).
An altogether excellent write, as always from you. I always get shivers when I read all the way to the bottom of our Declaration of Independence. Thank God for change.
I always appreciate your encouragement.
Form allows a distance to the horror that was created by the certainties of civilised men. Amd that the destroyed embrace their death to live. One of the strange rewrites of history is that Nazis were a 20th century abomination rather than the logical conclusions of much 19th and early 20th century ‘common sense’.
Sadly true, and the Nazi’s imported their eugenics ‘science’ from the United States (it was prominent at Stanford through the 1930s).
Yes, not for one minute do I want to rehabilitate them but Eugenics was the common sense of the time and was part of the left’s and liberal programmes. Feminists struggle for birth control was fought on this terrain. My MSc traced the relationship of this ideology and the moral panics created with the spread of universal education on the institutional care on those with learning difficulties.
I had not heard this argument, maybe they were connected in the UK in a way they were not in the US. Before I get offended I’ll do more research. In the context of the history of this poem the liberal view of the time was assimilation which contrasted with the conservative policy of isolation/extermination. I don’t think either approach was humane.
Wow Anna… this is so powerful. I often see a picture now on Facebook and it says; You want to talk about illegal immigration because it’s your land. Tell it to the Natives and the Inuit whose land it was to begin with’
This packs such a punch in so many human rights ways. White men think if they march behind a Christian banner of doing God’s will, it makes them right, when in fact I’m positive no God would ever want to see such inhumane slaughter. There is/was nothing at all to be proud of in any of this is/was there.
I am in awe of your skill.
Me either, I agree with you on all counts. Thank you for your empathy.
I recognize a muse explosion. The prompt grabbed you, shook you and wouldn’t turn you loose, right? It is, as Anna says, powerful. Surely one cannot read this without seeing it . . . even if it is imagining it performed on a stage. Wouldn’t that be amazing. Congratulations and a splendid, significant piece. You need to do something with it beyond this blog–my thoughts, of course.
That’s true, it wasn’t going to let go. I deeply appreciate your kind compliment.
and still they are at war with people
drones killing families
the obscene arrogance of a war
where the aggressor does not even risk himself in combat
this man red crow is inspiring i think
there are quite a few videos of him speaking
in australia the story is similar
the groups on both sides are smaller
but the dishonesty and cultural oppression have been similar
at one stage within my lifetime the family services department took pale skinned children away from their families to be fostered by white families.
Thank you for the video, what a concept, a Bill of Responsibilities. Learning from animals and children is inspiring. I agree that planting a tree is not planting a community. Always love your visits :).
This is wonderful philosophy and encapsulates my understanding of their way of life, respecting and learning from nature and its non-human sentient beings. Common sense and individual responsibility have been the tenets of my own philosophical views on life since I turned 20 years old (and that was a long time ago!) and this is so encouraging. I shall be book marking this video, for sure!
Heart breaking, the era of assimilation in the US was from the 1870s to the 1930s, the children were sent to boarding schools. At the same time they enacted allotment to take away much of the land secured by treaties. The abject poverty that resulted has crippled communities into the modern day.
This is so sad ~
Oh terribly sad. Just very sad. A lot of devoted work here, well done. k.
As a very young child I remember finding arrowheads along the Illinois River in Oklahoma and wondering about the people who made them. As I did I was appalled by the cruelty and injustice they suffered.
There’s something going on in here I can’t grasp at all, I just have to sit back and marvel at it…
Oh, that may mean I’ve managed to make something like art :). Thank you.
THis is very powerful. It’s one of the best encapsulations of the holocaust that was the extermination of the American crime against native americans. That you incorporate actual testimony and words of the perpetrators abd victims is really amazing. The irony of seeing Christianity used to kill people is devastating. Your use of Psalm 23 in Cheyenne heightens the overall terror of this history.
Thank you, as ever, for your close reading and understanding of the work.
This hurts–you’ve used the research effectively to re-create the tragedy. The Psalm was beautiful to hear–
The hardest part was deciding what to cut out. Thank you!
You did a great job on your edit, then–the result is powerful.
Thank you, Julie. My poetry doesn’t usually incorporate this much factual information. I wanted to provide enough contextualization but still have it arrive in the mind of the reader like a surprise attack.
Surely, the Native American Indian did not originally have Christianity as their religion. Their moral compass was the natural order of things as dictated by the seasons, the sun, the moon, the stars and mother earth…?
The conversion and assimilation was carried out largely by mission schools empowered by the statute and support of the government. Their spiritual beliefs were a primary target and part of what many consider an extention of cultural imperialism or genocide. In the case of David Oakerhater he was converted while imprisoned.
This is just amazing,Anna! You really put your heart and soul into this. The historical connection may be specific but it was similar in many other instances. The sacking, the carnage and the destruction were similar as in all conquests (eg the Mongols) and accepted within the context of war. Seen in the present context these were horrifying but ok then!
This posting and your previous ones have all been powerful and most skillfully devised. It’s an education in fact. Thanks for sharing Ma’am!
Hank
I agree with you Hank, a real horror story played out many times throughout history. Thank you for your kind compliment, I struggled with this and may put more of my heart and soul into it before calling it complete.
Painful to visualize the scenes. The way they were treated. I like how you did this, the cut scenes and quotes.
Civilization that word — it’s suppose to mean people being better, more advanced in thinking, but the actions can be really something else, savage and selfish at the worst. It’s a label, maybe that’s why it’s a problem. If there’s “civilization”, then there’s the others that are not. And then, thinking less of those who are not part of one’s defined “civilized” ways.
Yes, defining people creates marginalization, othering, and justification for less than humane treatment. We don’t seem to learn this lesson, only repeat it, continuing to make ignorant judgements about who is worthy of human rights.
You are a researcher par excellence! Fabulous use of all you discovered. Wonderful poem. Thanks for a great prompt too 🙂
Thanks Polly, so glad you enjoyed the prompt!
I appreciate all the work and effort you placed here Anna. It made my stomach churned from the way these civilized people have humiliated and treated the natives ~ Thanks also to the link to their language ~ May their spirit never fade ~
Outstanding work ~
Me too, it has given me nightmares. Thank you very much for your kind words.
Indeed, Anna. We have nearly been civilized to extinction.
I find the Oakhater section particularly biting. Religion was a major factor in “civilizing” the Plains Indians. Teach them English, teach them to stay in one place, teach them or farm or starve.
Fabulous write.
Yes, all the while shrinking the land ‘granted’ by treaty whenever it was deemed valuable, a devastating practice. Mining played a huge part in forcible displacement in the West. Thank you Mama Zen, your feedback means a lot to me.
Oh Anna, Anna, Anna. You take us again to where we fear to tread, displaying the evidence and the relics of the genocide. It is not OK not to know, not to feel. I see you here in your expert handling of the manner of weaving, as unmistakable to a writer as a stonewall builder’s signature is to another Irish stonemason. The screen play is good work–great work, but I have to look to the comments to get a glimpse of the words and feeling of Anna the person. I suppose you could say the same to me. I will have to think about this.
I think that unlike some of my other poems I don’t really have a right to words and feelings within this work. I have no place in this poem as that (to me) feels like another claiming, another invasion, another violence in a way. Does that make sense?
This is a very good point, which does make a lot of sense, Anna. It is not unusual for a poet draw attention to injustice – you might argue it is perhaps our primary purpose – but to delegate, if that’s the right word, no, maybe become the mouthpiece of those, who cannot speak for themselves, is very worthy, but difficult to do with complete objectivity and integrity. You’ve made a damned good attempt at doing so here, that is easy to recognise from the number, length and depth of comments you have drawn out here.
Thank you for your understanding and thoughtful response.
This is heart breaking. Your presentation is thoughtful and very well done. This really gets under my skin:
“Cheyenne was a name given to the tribe
by the French from the word meaning dog
the actual names of the tribes
Só’taeo’o and Tsétsêhéstâhese
mean ‘Human Beings’”
Just wow.
Me too…thanks for letting me know your thoughts.
again, Anna, this is deeply thought provoking. It asks me to wonder who I am and what I’m doing here on the planet.
I had that response too; thanks so much for visiting.
Anna, really nice job here. I love incorporating script form into poetry, such a nice effect for the storytelling and you did a great job here. Great write up at D’Verse as well. Sorry I couldn’t get going yesterday to get one in for it. But outstanding job here. Thanks
I took liberties with the strict format in the interest of experimentation (as you probably noticed). I’d never tried the combination of screenwriting and poetry but felt this was an appropriate time for a couple of reasons. First, the movies have played a major role in stereotyping. Second, when I played with the High Tension (Action!) poem about the stunt double I began to see how to use words to heighten action. Here, I felt the poem would have a greater impact if I found a way to present it as a series of scenes. Thank you so much for your feedback. Sorry to hear you weren’t feeling well enough to participate in the prompt.
Think perhaps I misunderstood a subtlety in this whole piece, Anna. my overriding sense was such that the reading of Psalm 23 in the Cheyenne tongue would be interpreted as an acceptance by the Native American Indians of what happened to them. It just struck me as a massive irony that, whilst killing, raping and pillaging their people, lands and livelihoods was the worst thing to happen, for their descendants, who live on, a major part of their culture, their heritage, the foundations of their soul was taken from them by indoctrination – just as the British Empire did in their colonies all those years ago.
By the way, I suddenly realised I hadn’t acknowledged by saying what an original and moving piece I thought this is. To use a screenplay / storyboard type of format is quite unique and works very, very well.
Thank you for your reread and subsequent comments. The irony of the Psalm is what I intended but I also have always welcomed multiple and contradictory interpretations of my work in general. I believe the reader plays a vital role in poetry. I appreciate your acknowledgment :).
My pleasure 🙂
Again your work staggers me, Anna. The callous way that humans can treat each other is just beyond words and the grief can bring you to your knees. Very interesting form and a very moving conclusion. K
Thank you, that is a beautiful compliment.
Wow, I know this is based on real events, but still… There’s such a *realness* to this. The horror of what happened, the prayer at the end. I’m simply stunned by this.
It is unfathomable but very real. I worked at finding a way to present it to the reader so that they might experience that horror anew.
Anna, double wowzer!! You and I are not afraid to tackle the epic poem, and this one tears up the firmament with historical fact fused with poetic passion. It is similar to the “cinemagenic” form I used on my 12 part series, LOVE HURTS ….which did not seem to stir interest over at dVerse; but your poem fills me with the enthusiasm to continue posting its scenes on OLN. Thanks for the ride & inspiration.
Thank you Glenn, a double wowzer from you is a true compliment. I will check out your LOVE HURTS series soon. I miss participating in OLN but have not been able to for quite a while.
This makes me wish IsiXhosa (my native language) was a universal language, so as to better express the emotions evoked by the play/poem/movie.. I love all of it, it opened my eyes to the sad state of affairs that is humanity vs politics.
What a lovely thing to say, thank you.
Heartbreaking and so well done… and so disapointing to humanity, only way is to tell the stories.
Thank you, I did a lot of research before writing it. It was a poem I’ve wanted to shape since I was a child but didn’t know how to approach it. This felt right and so I attempted it.
I feel kind of nauseated. You made this very real.
Thank you.
Wow, indeed!! This is colorful yet horrible, not a story but a true event, and I love how you presented it all. One of my grandfathers was a Native American and I feel this more that you
know..thank you for the Psalm in Cherokee and for all the work you put into it
Thank you, that means a lot to me.
Painful and sad. Nicely penned, Anna.
Thank you!
just sitting here with an open mouth anna…so cool…love how this builds..love that you wove in psalm 23 in cheyenne language as well.. this is just breath-taking
Thank you Claudia, this means a lot to me.
I think the use of historical documents gives powerful weight, as well as being culturally sensitive in not appropriating their perceptions and feelings. So sad and strange the behaviors some call civilized.
Brilliant writing, Anna! Absolutely outstanding!
Charles, what a beautiful compliment. Thank you!
Outstanding write Anna – horrific in its honesty.
I remember Soldier Blue…
The white mans history – as is probably all mans history – is steeped in violence and the blood of the innocent. The human race, sadly, has far to go before it earns the title civilised.
Anna :o]
So true, little changes and thank you for the introduction to Soldier Blue, I’ll have to watch it.
“All men are created equal …” unless we choose not to call them human, or if they choose to live their lives differently to us, or if we simply don’t understand their culture and the civilisation it has produced.
The UK has more than it’s fair share of events like this in our history. When Gandhi was asked about his thoughts on the civilisation of the English he replied, “On the whole, I think it would be a good thing.”
Your presentation of this horrific betrayal and massacre is powerful and disturbing. The most painful aspect is that it’s still going on today.
It is absolutely the most devastating part; each generation seems to need to make its own horrors instead of learning from the past.