Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

When the prairie is on fire you see animals surrounded by the fire; you see them run and try to hide themselves so that they will not burn. That is the way we are here.

-Surrounded

I picked up this book at a hostel in Quito and couldn't put it down. I finished it shortly after getting to Cuenca. It details the American expansion westward from 1850-1900 from the perspective of Native Americans. If it was fiction, I'd consider it one of the saddest books I've read. That it's non-fiction makes it disturbing and heartbreaking. It filled a gap in my knowledge that I only had vague ideas about beforehand.

My idea is that, unless removed by the government, they [the Indians] must necessarily be exterminated. ... The advantages that would accrue from the throwing open of 12,000,000 acres of land to miners and settlers would more than compensate all the expenses incurred.

-Frederick Pitkin, former miner and then-Governor of Colorado (which contained the Indian territory he wanted to "open")

Of the 3,700,000 buffalo destroyed from 1872 through 1874, only 150,000 were killed by Indians. When a group of concerned Texans asked General Sheridan if something should not be done to stop the white hunters' wholesale slaughter, he replied: 'Let them kill, skin and sell until the buffalo is exterminated, as it is the only way to bring lasting peace and allow civilization to advance.'

-Another tactic designed to destroy the Indians' livelihood

"From down the creek a large body of troops was advancing at a rapid trot... I looked toward the chief's lodge and saw that Black Kettle had a large American flag tied to the end of a long lodgepole and was standing in front of his lodge, holding the pole, with the flag fluttering in the gray light of the winter dawn. I heard him call to the people not to be afraid, that the soldiers would not hurt them; then the troops opened fire from two sides of the camp." ... By this time hundreds of Cheyenne women and children were gathering around Black Kettle's flag. Up the dry creek bed, more were coming form White Antelope's camp. After all, had not Colonel Greenwood told Black Kettle that as long as the United States flag flew above him no soldier would fire upon him? White Antelope, an old man of seventy-five, unarmed, his dark face seamed from sun and weather, strode toward the soldiers... "He came running out to meet the command holding up his hands and saying 'Stop! stop!' He spoke it in as plain English as I can. He stopped and folded his arms until shot down." ... When Left Hand saw the troops, he stood with his arms folded, saying he would not fight the white men because they were his friends. He was shot down.

-Beginning of the description of the Sand Creek Massacre, only a small glimpse of the horrors soon to occur

So documents Dee Brown the various ways millions of Indians were removed from their land and/or exterminated, otherwise known as genocide in today's language. Whether it was through brute military force, elimination of their food supply, agitating and organising armed settlers, or forcing them onto barren reservations, one by one all the tribes of Indians were pushed out to make way for the expanding nation of America.

We have sat and watched them pass here to get gold out and have said nothing... My friends, when I went to Washington I went into your money-house and I had some young men with me, but none of them took any money out of that house while I was with them. At the same time, when your Great Father's people come into my country, they go into my money-house [the Black Hills] and take money out.

-Long Mandan

Miners wanted gold, settlers wanted the best pieces of property, and a combination of racism and Manifest Destiny made stealing Native American land an easy sell. In remarkably short periods of time, areas once declared to be Indian property "forever" and "permanently" were soon overrun, and one by one, each treaty made between the Native Americans and the United States government proved to be worth nothing more than pieces of paper.

Apart from the fascinating history, it's amazing how Dee Brown managed to turn archival records into a gripping narrative as good as any novel. I can only imagine the amount of research that went into the making of the book.

When I was at Washington the Great White Father told me that all the Comanche land was ours, and that no one should hinder us in living upon it. So, why do you ask us to leave the rivers, and the sun, and the wind, and live in houses? Do not ask us to give up the buffalo for the sheep.

-Ten Bears of the Yamparika Comanches

"It is only six years since we came to live on this stream where we are living now," Red Dog said... Another chief remembered that since the Great Father promised them that they would never be moved they had been moved five times. "I think you had better put the Indians on wheels," he said sardonically, "and you can run them about whenever you wish."

-Indians talking to a commission sent to take away their land

My friends, if you took me away from this land it would be very hard for me. I wish to die in this land, I wish to be an old man here... I have not wished to give even a part of it to the Great Father. Though he were to give me a million dollars I would not give him this land... When people want to slaughter cattle they drive them along until they get them to a corral, and then they slaughter them. So it was with us.

-Standing Bear of the Poncas

Recommended.

Stealing an Election

Sometimes the almost always high quality tech news coverage at ArsTechnica crosses over into more general interest subjects. They're currently running a feature article about how to hack an election. The entire article might not hold your interest, but the first page is worth reading.

Excerpt:

What if I told you that it would take only one person—one highly motivated, but only moderately skilled bad apple, with either authorized or unauthorized access to the right company's internal computer network—to steal a statewide election? You might think I was crazy, or alarmist, or just talking about something that's only a remote, highly theoretical possibility. You also probably would think I was being really over-the-top if I told you that, without sweeping and very costly changes to the American electoral process, this scenario is almost certain to play out at some point in the future in some county or state in America, and that after it happens not only will we not have a clue as to what has taken place, but if we do get suspicious there will be no way to prove anything. You certainly wouldn't want to believe me, and I don't blame you.

I'm not sure why problems with voting, a cornerstone of our current society, have flown under the radar of the mainstream press for so long. Serious problems with e-voting machines have been documented for years, and in that time I haven't seen a general awareness of it. Given that this article details how to go about stealing an election (information which is already available), maybe it will serve as a wake up call for a slightly larger number of people and we will see the companies, politicians, and shady practices responsible for putting the current e-voting systems in place put under some scrutiny. I can always dream...

Full article here.

Trouble-Free Weekend

From Cuenca

Went hiking in Cajas national park on Saturday, only 30-40 minutes outside of Cuenca. Stunning scenery. Like Yosemite in the US and Milford Sound in NZ, the landscape was created by receding glaciers carving away rock faces. They left behind lakes everywhere. Went on a hike that lasted 5-6 hours. It was a very relaxed pace, although the altitude (3,400m-3,800m) made me short of breath fairly easily. For once, no disasters to report. Some of the others had minor headaches, likely due to the altitude.

After the hike we got tired of waiting for the bus back and eventually hitched a ride. One of the best decisions of the day. Riding in the back of a pickup with the sun shining and the wind in my face was the best way to admire the landscape.

Guitars

From Cuenca

Last Friday our Spanish teacher, Fausto, took us to see Luis Uyapuari, an excellent guitar maker. Fausto knows Luis through working with his brother at a language school. Very nice person, and makes beautiful guitars totally by hand. I wish I had taken some closeups of the guitars, but unfortunately all I have is this picture.

From Cuenca

If you click on it, then click the magnifying glass, you can make out some of the design work. If I was a guitarist with money to spend, I'd have ordered one right there. The guitar in the picture cost a chunk of money, but it was cheap compared to the equivalent work bought in Europe or the US. If anyone has a passion for custom-made guitars, I can put you in touch.

Photos Galore

Lots more photos online.

Mascotas por Almuerzo

From Cuenca

The other excitement yesterday was trying a typical Ecuadorian dish, cuy. That's guinea pig in English. You can see them being sold at the market - cute little furry pets that they pay $10-$15 apiece for, drop into a sack, take home, break their necks, pop out the eyes, hold upside down to drain the blood, dunk in boiling water to remove the fur, then roast over a fire for 30-45 minutes.

Tastes similar to chicken, but more salty. There's not a lot of meat on each one, and it takes some work to eat it. Here it is on a plate:

From Cuenca

The lobster claw-looking part is actually the rear legs.

Salsa

From Cuenca

Before you jump to conclusions, no, I'm not imitating Nelly. This is the result of my latest slightly worrying adventure. Wednesday night there are salsa lessons at my language school, and afterwards some of us go to a little salsa club called La Mesa. Last week was a lot of fun - I've never seen a dancefloor where people move so well. Some people are just incredible to watch, spinning in all directions, pushing off the walls, all the while making it look so stylish.

This week I planned to go back again and try and practice the latest basic moves I learnt in class. I got there with a bit of a stomach ache, but after sitting down it seemed to disappear. I went to the bar with Anne to get a drink, and my stomach started hurting again so I decided to go back and sit some more while I watched other people. My stomach ache suddenly got very bad and then my vision clouded over. The next thing I knew I was being woken from a dream, feeling extremely sleepy and confused as to why I was waking up to people crowded all around me instead of a bedroom.

The bandage is covering the nice bump on my head that I got from falling forward off my stool. I was lucky once again to have a medical student there to give advice, and everyone around was extremely helpful. Today I feel fine. I went to a clinic this morning to get checked out, and the doctor's opinion was that passing out was probably caused by my stomach ache, not anything related to a more serious condition or the altitude. If it happens again I'll go back and have more extensive tests done. Fingers crossed that won't be necessary. For now I'm spending the day resting and will go back to classes tomorrow.

I don't know if I've ever passed out in my life before, but it seems I'm almost making a sport of it on this trip.

Call Me Nacho

That's what I tell some people my name is because when I say "Nigel", they end up pronouncing it nacho anyway. It's possibly my favourite nickname so far.

Ecuador has elections tomorrow (Sunday). Alcohol ceased to be served or sold everywhere starting at noon on Friday. Everyone of voting age is required to vote. According to my shakey understanding of Spanish, if you don't vote you face some type of fines.

It's getting on for 2 weeks that I've been in Cuenca. Ahora yo peudo hablar un poco español. Learning the language has been more fun than I ever imagined. Frustrating, when I realise how much I don't know how to say, and how much I don't understand, but fun all the same. It's so immediately rewarding because as soon as you learn something, you get the feedback of people understanding you. The host family that Anne and I are staying with are very friendly, and Ruth (the mother) has a great way of explaining things with her hands and simple words when we don't understand.

Anne and I spent our first weekend camping at Ingapirca, a small set of old Incan ruins. Apparently the Cañari people, who were there before the Incans conquered the area, had a society where the men cooked and washed and the women worked the fields. When we packed up and headed out after one night, a dog informed us by way of chasing us off the land that the place we camped on belonged to a farmer.

Today I went horseback riding for the first time in my life. It was good fun - got to ride in some hills which gave great views of the countryside. At a couple points we had the horses break out into a full on gallop. They go amazingly fast. I'm not used to having an animal carry me at high speed, and when I went around a corner I had to remind myself that I wasn't in a car that would spin out of control because of the deep bumps in the dirt path. After 4 hours of riding I'm feeling somewhat bruised.

We had a great guide (Fernando), which made a nice change from our Cotopaxi experience. He was very knowledgeable, and has started a farming cooperative that aims to be 80% self sufficient in a few years. They sell some nice dried fruit & meat which will go well on a hiking trip next weekend.

Fernando told us about a trip he made during the past week. He had a horse which wasn't doing so well in the high mountain altitudes, so decided to take it to his friend's ranch on the coast. Him and his friend made the 4 day journey on horseback, sleeping a couple nights under the stars. Sounded fantastic, and also made me realise that there probably aren't many areas in the US or Europe where you can still do that.

That's all for now. Pictures to follow in a few days. For some reason the computer at my host family's house won't let me upload any.

Arrived in Cuenca

Got to Cuenca after an all-day journey yesterday. Took a train from Rio Bamba where everyone sits on the roof for the entire 7 hour journey. Beautiful mountains and countryside everywhere. Arrived in Alausi in the early afternoon and took a 5 hour bus ride to Cuenca.

First Spanish lesson was this morning. Intense, helpful, fun, hope it stays this way. Not sure how much I'll be able to retain; so much to learn.

Had a papaya for breakfast. Always confuse the name with pomegranate. Made the mistake of trying to eat the seeds. Definitely not the same thing. Will probably remember from now on.