Geronimo-Terrorist or Warrior?

I don't know if all of us are aware of this or not, but it was almost a year ago that a Navy SEALS team had found Osama Bin Laden and killed him. While this was a huge victory and celebration for Americans, there was some feelings of resent and hurt from the Native Americans. In the article, "Revisiting Osama Bin Laden's Death, One Year Later", discusses the "harsh reminder of the continuous treatment towards Native Americans." Again, I know that we have talked about this is class before, but just as a little reminder, here is why the Native Americans are upset. They are upset because when Bin Laden was found in killed, Barrack Obama received a message containing, "Geronimo-EKIA". This means, "Geronimo, Enemy killed in Action."


Obviously, this something that Native Americans were extremely offended about. Needless to say, this caused a huge uproar because Geronimo was NOT a terrorist. In their minds, Geronimo, the leader of the Chiricahua Apache, who lived from 1829 until 1909, was not a terrorist like bin Laden. In resisting American advances into Apache territory in the 1800s, he was protecting his Indian relatives and community against the true terrorists—colonists and pioneers who were stealing land, water and other resources that rightfully belonged to Indians,” Indian Country Today Media Network reported on May 11, 2011."

Clearly, someone who was in the military would use the name Geronimo in text of a terrorist, because Americans assume that he was a terrorist. In actuality, he was a leader and a role model to Native Americans. He was someone who stood up for them and fought for them. But to Americans, he is considered a "terrorist" because he fought against us.

This is obviously wrong on so many different levels. This is offense to the Native Americans because the Navy SEALS are taking the name of someone is was and still is a warrior to them, and using it in the form of a terrorist. “I was pretty surprised. We typically stay away from issues relating to Geronimo especially. It’s kind of a custom. There started to be a groundswell of opposition, and I felt that as leader of the tribe—the successor to the tribe that Geronimo was in—we needed to say something,” he said. “We wrote a letter to President Obama, asking him for an apology. That’s really it. It was unfortunate. We also proposed at [National Congress of American Indians] this past November a resolution that asked the federal government not to use Native icons, names or representations for their military actions until they have a consultation process with the tribes…We were surprised and disappointed.”

It is also extremely surprising that they never received an apology about this issue. The point of this is, when are Native Americans going to be treated like actual people-like actual humans, and like actual Americans?  The fact that people just think and assume that nothing is wrong with this is extremely racist and demeaning.