Based on the Battle of Bear Paw

Yesterday on October 5, 1877, at 2 pm, the Nimiipu chief, Joseph, surrendered to General Nelson A. Miles. Ordered to remove themselves from American lands onto a reservation, Chief Joseph greed, and while en route to gather up their stock, they were attacked and forced to flee. Chief Joseph then strove to lead 800 of his Nimiipu people across the border from Oregon into Canada. Thinking they were safe, though only for a short while, the Nimiipu people stopped to regroup before making the final trek into Canada. As they bathed their bloodied feet in melted snow, they quickly erected several temporary shelters for the women and children. The rags they wore could hardly be called clothes. The babies cried for food, but there was none to give them. Children huddled together, shivering in the bitter wind. Sentries stood guard over the camp.

Unfortunately, however, unbeknownst to the Nimiipu, General Miles had been dispatched to intercept them. I had been following the Nimiipu for several days, hoping to talk with Chief Joseph. From where I was hiding on the hill, I could see the entire camp. Suddenly, three natives on horseback burst over the crest of the hill, screaming warnings to the others. Apparently deciding General Miles was too close to try to run, they quickly went about digging shallow trenches. Then, without warning, General Miles attacked.

I was horrified to see the gleeful ferocity with which the soldiers hacked down the Nimiipu. I watched, over five grisly days, as small bands of Nimiipu broke cover and ran for the foothills of the Bear Paw Mountains. Yells and screams of agony from the battlefield carried over to my hiding spot, and sleep proved impossible as both sides vied for the upper hand through the night. I saw a toddler, no more than twwo, hewn and trampled as the soldiers advanced on the natives' camp. On the third day, a frigid north wind moved in and the snow began to come down in earnest, rendering both the Nimiipu and the General's men totally incapacitated.

At last, on the fifth day, General Miles petitioned Chieg Joseph to lay down his arms, and in return the Nimiipu would be allowed to return to their ancestral home. Exhausted and disheartened, and knowing that the annihilation of his people would be upon his head, Chief Joseph finally surrendered and the fighting ceased. Despite many escaping, only about half of the original Nimiipu survived the battle, not to mention the extreme cold. I could hear women howling and shrieking their anguish into the frost air, grieving for their dead husbands and sons. It was then, standing in the red snow that Chief Joseph gave and eloquent, heartbreaking speech to his people.

"I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say no and yes. He Who Led the Men is dead. It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them have run away to the hills and have no blankets- no food. No one knows where they are- perhaps they are freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how many of them I can find. Maye I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired, my heart is sad and sick. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."

General Miles led the Nimiipu people away. The last I saw of them, they were stumbling through the snow, back the way they had come, their flight to freedom brutally cut short. As they dragged their bloody feet through the snow, they left a trail of crimson behind, staining the pure snow. I fear their ordeal is far from over, and I wonder what will become of the Nimiipu; and how many will die of broken hearts.



The Battle of Bear Paw is a true, historical event. That took place in 1877. Chief Joseph and the Nimiipu were not given their ancestral homes back. Instead they were kept on increasingly smaller reservations like animals. Although Chief Joseph continued to petition the U.S. government for his people, he was ignored.

Some say history is doomed to repeat itself. Sadly, America seems doomed to repeat its past mistakes. During World War II, all Asians, no matter their nationality were sent to prison camps because we were paranoid about the Japanese sabotaging our factories. American Communists have been hunted down and tried in a manner like that of the Salem Witch Trials. Can we be sure that nothing like these atrocities is ever committed again? No, of course not. America is not the world police. But can we do our best to try to keep such paranoia out of the U.S.? Yes. Through education and by fighting against ignorance, absolutely. And by speaking out for those who do not have a voice, we may stop such things as the genocide in Darfur from continuing or from happening at all.

But it is up to us, the generation of today, of Now. This is our time. Our time to speak up for what's right and to bring to light what is wrong. It's up to us to solve the problems of the world. Because we ARE the world. And they're our problems.