JavaScript is disabled. However, theres one thing almost everyone will agree on: After seeing the film, you will most likely be jonesing to see Arnautoffs magnum opus in person, because it looks quite stunning. Town Destroyers armies burned and plundered 60 of our towns and hundreds of our farms, fields, orchards and livestock, forcing our people to evacuate. 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. The name in its original language(s) has been given variously as "Caunotaucarius", "Conotocarious", "Hanodaganears", and "Hanadahguyus." It is translated as "Town Taker", "Burner of Towns", "Devourer of Villages", or "he destroys the town". Washington received his commission on October 31, 1753 and set out immediately. Phelps (17491809) was a Massachusetts merchant, politician, and large-scale land speculator. MVFF is an acclaimed eleven-day cinema event celebrating the best in US . In the summer of 1790, Street was in New York to present these grievances to GW. our fathers where is the place which you have reserved for us to lie down on. The Then and Now project examines three case studies of dispossession: the 'Town Destroyer' contra los indios iroqueses Cuarenta aldeas indgenas, y una poderosa nacin indgena, fueron arrasadas por orden de George Washington Para 1779, George Washington ya se haba ganado el famoso apodo de "Padre de su pas". 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. In his book, George Washington and Native Americans 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 (The Iroquois dubbed him "Town Destroyer.") The father of his country massacred men, women and children. Town Destroyer opens Fri/4 at the Roxie, with the filmmakers and special guests present at all shows. The title by which Washington was known to Native nations, Handaga:yas or Town Destroyer, was one he inherited from his great-grandfather, John Washington, a slave-owning planter and colonel in the Virginia militia who, during Bacons Rebellion of 1676, had the chiefs of several tribes killed. Philadelphia and Harrisburg, 18521949. George Washington's favorite native fruit is ripe in the HFH orchard >> the pawpaw. Sign up for email updates on the latest frieze talks, fairs and events. 5.Samuel Street, reportedly born in New England, kept a store at Niagara. 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 It has also been translated as "Town Taker", "Burner of Towns", "Devourer of Villages . 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. The Game which the great Spirit sent into our Country for us to eat, is going from among us: We thought he intended we should till the ground as the white people do, and we talked to one another about it. Many colonial homes were attacked. But the title stuck even tighter than the Seneca chief could have imagined. that the King had ceded the lands to the thirteen fires, The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series, David Humphreys Life of General Washington,, David Humphreys Life of General Washington with George Washingtons Remarks., Early American Land Companies: Their Influence on Corporate Development, Report on Canadian Archives . 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. Allegedly both George Washington and his Great Grandfather, John Washington shared an unusual nickname. The Iroquois, whose tribes had lined up on both sides of the conflict, were too distracted by their own internal divisions to see the crisis coming. What distinguishes her documentary is that she offers considerable insight into grassroots activism on both sides of the fence. It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more., I would recommend, that some post in the center of the Indian Country, should be occupied with all expedition, with a sufficient quantity of provisions whence parties should be detached to lay waste all the settlements around, with instructions to do it in the most effectual manner, that the country may not be merely overrun, but destroyed.. 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. White supremacy, grounded in the Doctrine of Discovery the absurd claim by European Christians and their American descendants that they were more entitled to our lands than we were was the rationale for dispossession. 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. . Speak plainly to us concerning this great business. 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. In the summer of 1788 Livingston accompanied Phelps to a meeting with the Seneca chiefs at Buffalo Creek, and on 8 July Phelps concluded an agreement to purchase the Indian rights to the eastern third of the area purchased from Massachusetts (Livermore, Early American Land Companies, description begins Shaw Livermore. Report on Canadian Archives . Black muralist Dewey Crumpler came of age in the era of Black Power. Paul Chaa, a curator at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C., calls romanticism a form of racism and observes that Americans have a secret obsession with Native Americans.One hundred years ago, D. H. Lawrence noted that white people aimed to extirpate Indians and then glorified them. Courtesy: the artist and Peabody Essex Museum, In 1779, Washington launched a full-scale invasion of Iroquoia, our extensive homelands. Upon this threat our Chiefs You have said we were in your hand, and that by closing it, you could crush us to nothing. The supreme executive council of Pennsylvania had informed Cornplanter and the other Seneca chiefs on 30 Oct. 1790 that Longtime Bay Area documentarians Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman interview historians, artists, activists, and GWHS students to probe a fascinating microcosm of todays culture wars. 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. In recent times, probably no San Francisco news story has traveled as far or as wide as the story about Victor Arnautoffs murals which subvert the myths and depict the life of George Washington as a foe of the Iroquois and an owner of Black slaves. 1890. copy, PHi: Gratz CollectionIndian Commissioners Papers. Many Haudenosaunee froze or starved to death that winter. 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. Conotocaurious(Town Destroyer) was a nicknamegiven to George Washingtonby IroquoisNative Americansin 1753. Great Tree was shot in the leg during his stay in Philahdelphia (Wallace, Death and Rebirth of the Seneca, description begins Anthony F. C. Wallace. After suffering for nearly two years from Iroquois raids on the Colonies' northern frontier, Washington and Congress decided to strike back. Charlottesville, Va., 199297. We told you we would open our hearts to you. All rights reserved. Alan Michelson is a Mohawk artist and a member of Six Nations of the Grand River. Hundreds of Iroquois died of exposure to winter weather. Before you determine on a measure so unjust, look up to the God who made us, as well as you, we hope he will not permit you to destroy the whole of our nation. This devastating history has been papered over with myth, in a familiar national narrative established by writers such as James Fenimore Cooper, whose father, like Washington, was a successful speculator in Native land. 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. The documentary also provides a platform for experts about the representations and misrepresentations of Indians in American culture, including commercial advertisements and the names of military helicopters like Apache and Comanche to Barbie Dolls with feathers and beads. Sun. Gen, George Washington meets with representatives of the Iroquois nation before departing for Y. (Being an Appendix to Report of the Minister of Agriculture.). Hundreds perished of starvation, disease and exposure a Haudenosaunee Trail of Tears. This resulted in a companion mural from African American artist Dewey Crumpler, entitledMulti-Ethnic Heritage, being commissioned for an adjacent corridor. 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. A dispute erupts at a San Francisco high school over Depression-era murals about the life of George Washington: slaveowner, military leader, land speculator, President, and a man Native leaders. "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. to GW, 15 Aug. 1789, note 1. Why does Cornplanter bring this up? It has also been translated as 'Town Taker', 'Burner of Towns', 'Devourer of Villages', or 'he destroys the town'. All Events This event has passed. Several of the latter have a Bay Area slant, notably two opening this Fri/4 at SFs Roxie Theater. 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. Sat. To the Irouqois, General George Washington was Ha-no-da-ga-nears, which means Town Destroyer, and this remained the name they gave to all Presidents of the United States. 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