. A Seneca leader named Tanacharison called Washington HandaganyasTown Destroyer.. When he met with Washington 11 years after the devastating campaign, Chief Cornplanter, who headed the Seneca tribe of the Iroquois, stressed the durability of "Town Destroyer" as the commander in chief's nickname. And it is not the Six nations only, that reproach those Chiefs, with having given up that Country; the Chipaways and all the nations who lived on those lands westward, call to us & ask us brothers of The first screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers and special guests to be announced. Town Destroyer; George Washington/Nicknames. We have nothing to answer to the children of the brothers of our fathers. For first one, and then another, come and take it away, by order of that people, who promised to secure it to us. Elaborate reenactments of the robots experience via Industrial Light & Magic wizardry are accompanied by a treacly, heart-tugging orchestral score. Upon this threat our Chiefs must know from you, whether you mean to leave us, and our children, any land to till. Perhaps only in a city that loves its murals, some by Diego Rivera, and hates its murals, could murals painted in the 1930s under a New Deal art program, divide citizens from one another and stir up deeply seated passions. The George Washington's 2008 arrival in Yokosuka was preceded several months by more than 240 Navy families. The former vice president has become the Democratic front-runner with primary victories across the country. All rights reserved. Sun. After suffering for nearly two years from Iroquois raids on the Colonies' northern frontier, Washington and Congress decided to strike back. In his general perspective and frequent logistical frustrations, his movie provides a challenge to the complacency of the able-bodied, and a chance to experience a very different relationship towards the external world. The name in its original language(s) has been given variously as Conotocarius, Conotocaurious, Caunotaucarius, Conotocarious, Hanodaganears, and Hanadahguyus. All the Lands we have been speaking of belonged to the Six Nations: no part of it ever belonged to the King of England, and he could not give it to you. Battlegroundis almost entirely limited to the game-changing year of 2020, when RBGs death, Amy Coney Barretts appointment, and other events turned a tide. But the issue was more complex than that, with painfully strong feelings on all sides, many of whose participants more typically found themselves on thesameside. The Onondaga and the Haudenosaunee saw the colonists growing and uniting to become a new government called the United States of America. Graham with his Compy. copy, DNA: RG 233, First Congress, 17891791, Records of the Office of the Clerk, Records of Reports from Executive Departments (War Department), Confidential Reports; Not all U.S. presidents are missed once they leave the White House. fort Stanwix, commissioners from Pensylvania, told our chiefs, that they had come there to purchase from us, all the Lands belonging to us within the lines of their State, and they told us that their line would strike the river Susquehanna below Tioga branch. START or Stop: Do Nuclear Weapons Treaties Matter? Contact. But if Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman have their way, George Washington will also be remembered as the town destroyer. Thats the title of a new documentary that they have written, directed and produced about the controversial murals in San Francisco at George Washington High School. Town Destroyer opens Fri/4 at the Roxie, with the filmmakers and special guests present at all shows. During the Revolutionary War, Washington, known to the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations) as Handaga:yas, or Town Destroyer, ordered a brutal campaign against them in which his generals devastated some 60 villages, and hundreds of prosperous houses, farms, and orchards. It is an ideology that has been so thoroughly internalized that it has never prompted a national reckoning. It might also illuminate Arnautoffs murals that roiled The City and the nation. You demanded a great Country to be given up to you. Phelps (17491809) was a Massachusetts merchant, politician, and large-scale land speculator. Its like a midpoint betweenWall-Eand those old Disney True-Life Adventures, which manipulated nature footage into sentimental narrative shapes. It also illuminates a work of. While SFFilmsDoc Stories showcase runs through next Tues/8 (see our previewhere) , theres no lack of new documentary features concurrently finding their way to regular release. Wanting to remain neutral but forced to choose sides, some Haudenosaunee nations fought alongside the colonists during the war. 53 minutes SDH Captioned>> Directed by Alan Snitow, Deborah Kaufman Produced by Snitow-Kaufman Productions Executive Producer: Peggy Berryhill (Muscogee) Writers: Alan Snitow, Deborah Kaufman Pete Galindo, the director of the Great Wall Project, talks about the half-mile long Great Wall of LA which depicts the history of the city, including lynching. Both Washington and Jefferson enslaved and waged war against Indigenous nations to dispossess them of their homelands. Nonetheless, the murals stirred little debate until the 1960s, when some Black students protested aspects they deemed offensive. The homeless traveled to Fort Niagara for safety and shelter but found none with the British there. Washington Square Park Arc, 2020. The Expedition you are appointed to command is to be directed against the hostile tribes of the Six Nations of Indians, with their associates and adherents. An installation of video projected onto a bust of George Washington mounted on a surveyor's tripod. It is quite an image, and one difficult to reconcile with the man known by many Indians as the "Town Destroyer," a name originally claimed by his great-grandfather for the fighting he did along the Potomac frontier in the 1670s, and which our Washington appears to have appropriated and used when it served his purposes. HAWARA, West Bank (AP) Israeli troops fired stun grenades and blocked hundreds of Israeli left-wing activists from staging a solidarity rally on Friday in a Palestinian town that was set . For this Land Phelps agreed to pay us Ten thousand dollars in hand and one thousand dollars a year for ever. ", This lesser-known title also had its origins in 1779, when General Washington ordered what at the time was the largest-ever campaign against the Indians in North America. We saw that we were wrong: we wished for peace. Lowry offers the somber notion that well have to have this debate for another couple of decades before the issue is resolved. Maybe so. History of Relations with our Brothers: 1613 to Today, Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), MAGAZINE OF SMITHSONIANS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN. He had been commissioned by the Five Nations in the spring of 1790 to seek redress of grievances against the New York lessees. George Washington (February 22, 1732 - December 14, 1799) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America and served as the nation's first president (1789-1797). First came genocide, than came cultural plunder or maybe it was the other way around. by watchingGood Night Oppy, and this movies spoonful-of-sugar emotional appeal was really tailored for them. Summary: George Washington (1732-1799), nicknamed the "American Cincinnatus", was the 1st American President and served in office from 1789-1797. Sign up for email updates on the latest frieze talks, fairs and events. ), Timothy Pickering to GW, 4 Dec. 1790, n.6, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-07-02-0005, From Washington to Seneca Chiefs [29 December 1790], All correspondence between Washington and Seneca Chiefs, National Historical Publications and For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Town Destroyer is playing as part of the Mill Valley Film Festival with a screening Saturday afternoon at The Roxie (and with an extended run at the Roxie November 4-10). He had risen quickly through the militia ranks by butchering Indian communities and burning their homes. The time has come to even reconsider towering figures like Washington, honoured for their roles in founding the US, yet profoundly implicated in its colossal and, tragically, ongoing ethical and humanitarian failings. For my 2018 video installation Handaga:yas (Town Destroyer), I projected video referencing this scorched-earth campaign onto a replica portrait bust of Washington. Hes known as the Father of the Country and as the man who couldnt and wouldnt lie about chopping down a cherry tree. held a Council and they agreed that no event of war could be worse than being driven with our wives & children from the only Country which we had any right to. Black muralist Dewey Crumpler came of age in the era of Black Power. From George Washington to Major General John Sullivan, 31 May 1779, Simeon DeWitt Central NY Military Tract c.1792. hidden? public. He then threatened us with immediate war if we did not comply. It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.. We told you we would open our hearts to you. The National Historical Publications and Our writings were lodged in the hands of Street of Niagara, as we supposed him to be our friend; but when we saw Phelps consulting with Street, on every occasion, we doubted of his honesty towards us, and we have since heard, that he was to During the American Revolution, some Mohawks led by Joseph Brant chose to fight with the British and to defend the Proclamation Line. In Snitows and Kaufmans documentary some George Washington students and their parents argue that the images on the walls are a relic of the past and not history, that they instill a sense of trauma and shame and ought to be eradicated. As one observer puts it, Nuance is sort of a quaint notion now.The Life of Washingtonwas intended as a teaching toolbut are only positive lessons allowed now, even when history itself was cruel and unfair? Often it took the army days to completely destroy all of the longhouses, fields, orchards and food stores. Innocent men of our nation are killed one after another, and of our best families: But none of your people who have committed the murders have been punished. You told us say they, that the line drawn from Pensylvania, to lake Ontario, would mark it for ever on the East, and the line running from Beaver Creek, to Pensylvania, would mark it on the west; and we see that it is not so. (The Iroquois dubbed him "Town Destroyer.") As GW explained in an undated memorandum on David Humphreys draft biography of GW: It was on this occasion he was named by the half-King (as he was called) and the tribes of Nations with whom he treatedCaunotaucarius (in English) the Town taker; which name being registered in their Manner & communicated to other Nations of Indians, has been remembered by them ever since in all their transactions with him during the late war (Comments on David Humphreys Biography of George Washington, 178788, in Papers, Confederation Series description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. "Town Destroyer" sheds new light on our first president. What was George Washington's favorite fruit? And at this moment his wife and children are lying on the Ground in want of food. They told us they must have the whole: That it was already ceded to them by the great King at the time of making peace with you, and was their own. Town Destroyer contextualizes this fight within a landscape where similar battles are occurring (like over Confederate monuments), though often for different reasons. Town Destroyer. Roxie Theater3117 16th St, San Francisco, CA 94103. https://www.roxie.com/ai1ec_event/town-destroyer/. Gil Herkimer Roads to Niagara Year 2000 Categories: facts, texts Updated:May 29, 2004 Share on TwitterFacebookLinkedInPreviousNext It opens in area theaters Fri/4, then begins streaming on Amazon Prime Nov. 23. Screen Grabs: 'Town Destroyer' dives into the George Washington Supes fail by one vote to approve Sanctuary City resolution that challenges ICE, Biden, Herb Greenes 60s Haight-Ashbury shots immortalize era, Grace Slicks bird, The tragic toxic legacy of the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, Screen Grabs: Of Cocaine Bears and Jesus freaks, Screen Grabs: WinterFest brings Ukrainian kids, artificial shtetls, orthodox drama, Screen Grabs: Noise Pop Film Fest brings space bubbles, rap spoofs, toxic New Wave fans, Budget Chair Chan prepares for serious challenges to mayors budget priorities, Best of the Bay 2022 Editors Pick: Red Poppy Art House. Town Destroyer explores the ways we look at art and history at a time of racial reckoning. The men who claimed this promise said that you were children and had no Guns that when they had shaken you, you would submit. In April 1754, en route to the Forks of the Ohio, Lieutenant George Washington sent a request for aid and counsel to Tanaghrison, an Ohio Iroquois leader who acted as an intermediary between Virginians and Ohio Indians. Town Destroyer will shed new light on our first president. Thus he claimed the whole country North of Pensylvania and west of the Lands belonging to the Cayugas. When our chiefs returned from the treaty of fort Stanwix, and laid before our Council what had been done there our Nation was surprized to hear, how great a Country you had compelled them to give up, to you, without paying us any thing for it.3 Every one said your hearts were yet swelled with resentment against us for what had happened during the war: but that one day you would reconsider it with more kindness. The Speech of the Corn-planter, Half-town and the Great-Tree chiefs of the Senecca Nation. Sr William Johnson came and took that Fort from the French; he became our father and promised to take care of us and did so till you were too strong for his King. On 29 Oct. 1790 these chiefs appeared before the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania, seeking redress for a number of wrongs allegedly committed against the Seneca. Few visitors to the museum had ever heard of the Sullivan Campaign, or knew that most of New York state was our original homeland. Police funding, tax cuts, and spending equity will be on the table as the supes take on a brutal budget season. The film highlights the debate about controversial murals at George Washington High School. with filmmakers Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman"Town Destroyer the Art of Controversy". The chiefs remained in Philadelphia until GW arrived in Philadelphia and Congress reconvened. Nov. 5thBenefit forPrecita Eyes Muralists Q & A with filmmakers + Precita Eyes founder Susan Cervantes. After all, the issue goes back to 1779 when Washington ordered the destruction of the Iroquois villages. But if Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman have their way, George Washington will also be remembered as "the town destroyer." That's the title of a new documentary that they have written,. Pero los indios iroqueses de la poca le dieron a Washington otro epteto no tan halagador: Conotocarious, o "Town Destroyer " . Hear now we entreat you, what has since happened, concerning that Land. Scarcely considered or acknowledged, our catastrophic losses, like those of other Native nations, are treated as settled business, rather than unsettling travesties in need of redress. Longtime local nonfiction filmmaking team Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman (Blacks & Jews, Secrets of Silicon Valley, etc.) Beyond Canal Street: Gentrification in Chinatown, Rediscovering Moki and Don Cherrys Utopian Visions. Roxie Theater: Town Destroyer - Mission Local Gunman robs taco truck at 14th & Harrison at lunch hour Wind splits giant sequoia that may date to 1884 90-unit Irving St. housing OKed despite toxin fears Local news needs you! In fact, it dates back at least to 9 July 1776 when, after a public reading of the Declaration of Independence, a group of Continental soldiers and New Yorkers, calling themselves the Sons of Freedom, pulled down the equestrian statue of King George III on Bowling Green. The voice of the Senecca Nation speaks to you the great Councillor, in whose heart, the wise men of the thirteen fires, have placed their wisdom. Main Image:Washington Square Park Arc, 2020. You then told us we were in your hand & that by closing it you could crush us to nothing; and you demanded of us a great Country as the price of that peace you had offered us; as if our want of strength had destroyed our rights. His heart is in pain for them; but he percieves that the great God will try his firmness in doing what is right. How did we get here after 50 years, during which span a majority of Americans came to support abortion access? N MA F AU -K O N S g or W TI n. O a T C I fm SN ODU w-kau o PR nit. The Current TikTok Ban Doesnt Go Far Enough. Good luck with that: GWHS is seldom if ever open to the general public. But the Iroquois Indians of the time bestowed on Washington another, not-so-flattering epithet: Conotocarious, or "Town Destroyer. In his orders to campaign leader Major General John Sullivan (after whom Sullivan Street in Manhattan is named), he wrote: The immediate objects are the total destruction and devastation of their settlements and the capture of as many prisoners of every age and sex as possible. Our nation empowered John Livingston to let out a part of our lands on rent. facts, The issues reached a tipping point not long ago when the members of the San Francisco Board of Education listened to impassioned testimony and voted to cover up the murals. Hundreds perished of starvation, disease and exposure a Haudenosaunee Trail of Tears. Many colonial homes were attacked. The current dispute over monuments in the US is not new. George Washington: Father of His Country? Like the statue of Christopher Columbus targeted in Boston last month, it was beheaded and the crown finials of its surrounding fence sawn off. The Seneca address was transmitted to Henry Knox for report; Knox replied on 27 Dec. 1790 with a report on the Seneca address and a draft of GWs reply (see Knox to GW, 27 Dec. 1790). He was likewise unsuccessful in obtaining a settlement from the U.S. government on his own. At least thats the impression we get from this very slick package, which numbers Spielbergs production company among its makers and isnt so far in cuddly tone from hisE.T. . Street presented a document listing the grievances of the Five Nations to Jeremiah Wadsworth, with the request that Wadsworth put it into GWs hands (Street to Wadsworth, 5 Aug. 1790, NNGL: Knox Papers). In the American Revolutionary War, General Washington led Patriot forces to victory over the British and their allies. We will not conceal from you, that the great God, and not man has preserved the Corn planter from his own nation: for they ask continually, where is the Land which our children and their children after them are to lie down on? The surviving Onondaga were homeless; some began to rebuild; some headed west to find shelter with their brother nations the Cayuga and Seneca. Just an hour long, Snitow and Kaufmans documentary offers a fascinating overview of a case that encapsulates many of the bitterest divisions of our era. Cart, Become a Member Hundreds of Iroquois died of exposure to winter weather. (Its twin sister robot, named Spirit, conked out pretty quickly by contrast.). He's the first and a reluctant first, at that . modern editorial content, are copyright The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. In July 2020, Americans are once again divided, gathering in the streets and tearing down statues. Bay Guardian Archives He told the council of the murder of the husband of his wifes sister by a white man four years earlier, the robbery of his company at Cat Fish (Washington, Pa.) while returning from the treaty at Fort Harmar in early 1789, and the murder of his nephew by a white man in the winter of 178990 (Pa. Archives, description begins Samuel Hazard et al., eds. the United States, and research and development projects to bring historical records to the 2.At this point the copyist inadvertently repeated the words and so long.. Derryveagh Evictions, and preserve, publish, and encourage the use of documentary sources, relating to the history of In Wolf Nation, my 2019 exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, I marked the 240th anniversary of Washingtons ruthless invasion with an augmented reality version of this work. Among the many discussions in the podcast, Estes brings up George Washington's reputation amongst indigenous people as "town destroyer" Washington was known as "town destroyer." Become a 48 Hills Hero and support the only daily progressive news source in the Bay Area. He paid us two thousand & five hundred dollars in hand part of the Ten thousand, and he sent for us last Spring to come and receive our money; but instead of paying us the remainder of the Ten Thousand dollars, and the one thousand dollars due for the first year, he offered us no more than five hundred dollars, and insisted he had agreed with us for that sum only to be paid yearly. The name in its original language(s) has been given variously as Conotocarius , Conotocaurious , Caunotaucarius , Conotocarious , Hanodaganears , and Hanadahguyus . When your army entered the country of the Six Nations, we called you Hanadagyas (Town Destroyer): and to this day when that name is heard our women look behind them and turn pale, and our children cling close to the necks of their mothers. On display since San Francisco's George Washington High School opened in 1936, it offers a view of the Founding Father both celebratory and critical, referencing his involvements in slavery and Native American genocide. 1790. Several years after the Revolutionary War, Seneca chiefs told Washington, "When your army entered the country of the Six Nations, we called you Town Destroyer; and to this day when the name is heard, our women look behind them and turn pale and our children cling to the necks of their mothers." Matt Dorsey, who wants to deport Fentanyl dealers, blocks approval, as 10 board members say his approach is deeply misguided. By Teka Lark (February 18, 2020) This week we're honoring George Washington or Conotocaurius (Town Destroyer) as the Iroquois called him, a man who enslaved 316 people and brought nine of them to the White House (Coard, Philadephia Tribune, 2018). Nov. 10thBenefit forThe Living New Deal Q & A with filmmakers + speakers. By the standards of the era, the work was indeed pretty progressive in content, mixing a standard, celebratory depiction of early US history with images that clearly indicted treatment of Native Americans, the institution of slavery, and so forth. The name in its original language (s) has been given variously as Conotocarius, Conotocaurious, Caunotaucarius, Conotocarious, Hanodaganears, and Hanadahguyus. CODE OF CONDUCT, Workshop: In Our Own Words: Poetry on Film. The story focuses on a dispute over historic murals depicting the life of George Washington: slaveowner, general, land speculator, President, and a man Seneca leaders called "Town Destroyer" after he ordered their villages destroyed during the Revolutionary War. When your army entered the Country of the Six Nations, we called you the Town-destroyer and to this day, when that name is heard, our women look behind them and turn pale, and our children cling close to the neck of their mothers.1Our Councillors and warriors are men, and can not be afraid; but their hearts are grieved with the fears of our women In the summer of 1790, Street was in New York to present these grievances to GW. They became our fathers, and took care of us. The supreme executive council of Pennsylvania had informed Cornplanter and the other Seneca chiefs on 30 Oct. 1790 that Charlottesville, Va., 199297. Newsletter "Town Destroyer" will have its world premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival, Oct. 6-16, with the first of three screenings at the CinArts Sequoia Theatre in Mill Valley, Oct. 8, at 8 p.m. This is an analysis of a controversy that was all over the local and national news not so long ago even if it seems very long ago, as it was just-pre-COVID. At fort Stanwix we agreed to deliver up those of our people, who should do you any wrong, that you might try them, and punish them according to your Law. We will not join either side. If the British took the . copy, PHi: Gratz CollectionIndian Commissioners Papers. Categories: The name in its original language(s) has been given variously as Conotocarius, Conotocaurious, Caunotaucarius, Conotocarious, Hanodaganears, and Hanadahguyus. The nickname, Conotocaurius means Destroyer of Towns. He loves peace, and all that he had in store he has given to those who have been robbed by your people, lest they should plunder the innocent to repay themselves: the whole season which others employed in providing for their families, he has spent in his endeavors to preserve peace. On the next day we let them know, that we were unwilling to sell all the Lands within their State, and proposed to let them have a part of it which we pointed to them in their map. He demanded it: He insisted on his demand and declared that he would have it all. You have compelled us to do that which has made us ashamed. Would You Pay to Live in Facebooks Metaverse? To this day, "Town Destroyer" is still used as an Iroquois name for the president of the United States. es. https://www.usnews.com/news/national/articles/2008/06/27/town-destroyer-versus-the-iroquois-indians, Massacre & Retribution: The 1779-80 Sullivan Expedition, How a Native American Prophecy Over George Washington Affected the Country. AI Chatbots are Even Scarier Than You Think, DeSantiss Educational Policies Come Right Out of the Fascist Playbook, Erase the Memory to Erase a People? For GWs reply, see GW to the Seneca Chiefs, 29 Dec. 1790. Years later when George Washington was elected President of the newly formed United States, Seneca Chief Corn Planter addressed President Washington in 1790. The political doesnt get any more personal than when it comes to abortion, and now thanks to an activist conservative Supreme Court, it appears the era of Roe v. Wadeand choicemay well be over. Ryan Whites documentary about the data-gathering land rover that was only expected to function on Mars surface for about 90 days, yet wound up lasting a remarkable 15 years. There are passionate arguments on both sides, and they are not as simply divided by racial, cultural, or political identification as youd think. Pawpaws. Street the great trader at Niagara was then with us having come at the request of Phelps, and as he always professed to be our great friend we consulted him on this subject; He also told us, that our Lands had been ceded by the King and that we must give them up.5.
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