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. 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. Newsletter 1788-89 United States presidential election [ edit] Washington is inaugurated as president of the United States in 1789. Black muralist Dewey Crumpler came of age in the era of Black Power. Categories: (The Iroquois dubbed him "Town Destroyer.") But some present-day students, parents, and observers found those depictions . But most of the pro-lifers here seem to sincerely concur with such concepts as having a baby is more of a way to empower women. (Like every other abortion critic, however, these nice people never, ever mention mens responsibility in the matter.). Conotocaurius (Town Destroyer) was a nickname given to George Washington by Iroquois Native Americans in 1753. When George Washington High Schooldesigned by architect Timothy Pfleuger, who also created the Castro and Paramount Theaters, among other landmarksopened in 1936, its hallways sported 13 impressive murals titledThe Life of Washington. START or Stop: Do Nuclear Weapons Treaties Matter? Upon this threat our Chiefs Courtesy: JASON SZENES/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock. George "Town Destroyer" Washington Hulton Archive/Getty Images The first president holds the leftmost spot on the Mount Rushmore memorial carving, the center of the US one-dollar bill, and a controversial spot in the hearts of the indigenous people of America. copy, PHi: Gratz CollectionIndian Commissioners Papers. and therefore weak as our nation was, they determined to take the chance of war rather than submit to such unjust demands, which seemed to have no bounds. He wants to remind Washington that Cornplanter understands that he is a powerful warrior and has defeated the Seneca in the past. 'Town Destroyer' Versus the Iroquois Indians Forty Indian villagesand a powerful indigenous nationwere razed on the orders of George Washington By Johannah Cornblatt | June 27, 2008, at. [7] In 1790, the Seneca chief Cornplanter told President Washington: "When your army entered the country of the Six Nations, we called you Town Destroyer and to this day when your name is heard our women look behind them and turn pale, and our children cling close to the necks of their mothers. Many Haudenosaunee froze or starved to death that winter. Hundreds of Iroquois died of exposure to winter weather. Records Commission (NHPRC) is part of the National 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. 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. California Indian Artist Judith Lowry describes the Gold Rush as ground zero for Native Americans and a time when they experienced searing losses.She adds that Arnautoff aimed to subvert the dominant narrative about Indians, pioneers and settlers. "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," Cornplanter said. 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. 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. Town Destroyer contextualizes this fight within a landscape where similar battles are occurring (like over Confederate monuments), though often for different reasons. The last reason he assigned for continuing to refuse paying us was, that the King had ceded the lands to the thirteen fires and that he had bought them from you and paid you for them. The six Nations were powerful & compelled them to peace: The Lands for a great extent were given up to them, but the nations which were not destroyed, all continued on those Lands and claimed the protecti[on] of the six Nations, as the brothers of their fathers. with filmmakers Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman"Town Destroyer the Art of Controversy". In his book, George Washington and Native Americans The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca. THANK YOU TO OUR COMMUNITY PARTNER JEWISH FILM INSTITUTE, The California Film Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. 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. When I was a child, I was told that George Washington was our first president and that he had . Thus he claimed the whole country North of Pensylvania and west of the Lands belonging to the Cayugas. Following the 2017 clashes at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Trump presciently observed: So, this week its Robert E. Lee [] I wonder, is it George Washington next week [] Thomas Jefferson the week after [] Where does it stop? The short answer is that it doesnt stop until the US contends not only with its history of slavery but also its history of dispossession. While there he met with Alexander McGillivray in August in an effort to enlist the Creek leader in a common effort to obtain a settlement with the United States but was rebuffed. US 2022, 55 min, Director: Alan Snitow, Deborah Kaufman, Is arts role to provoke or placate? To this day, "Town Destroyer" is still used as an Iroquois name for the president of the United States. By clicking submit, you are agreeing to our Terms and Conditions & Privacy Policy. Part One: The one-time economic engine of the 'Harlem of the West' has become an environmental disaster areaand the city isn't taking it seriously. Ottawa, 1891. description ends 15354). The Haudenosaunee took notice of General George Washingtons actions. We are community supported journalism. . Battlegroundhas already had a brief run in theaters, but now is available for streaming on digital platforms including iTunes. Its time to reckon with a US founding father who waged genocidal warfare against Indigenous nations. Lowry offers the somber notion that well have to have this debate for another couple of decades before the issue is resolved. Maybe so. hidden? Town Destroyer? During the American Revolution, some Mohawks led by Joseph Brant chose to fight with the British and to defend the Proclamation Line. When you kindled your thirteen fires seperately, the wise men Donald Trump recently condemned these actions in a speech delivered in front of his latest provocative backdrop, Mount Rushmore, in Lakota territory illegally seized by the US in the 1870s. The George Washington's 2008 arrival in Yokosuka was preceded several months by more than 240 Navy families. He lives in New York. Plus: Julian Assange's father comes to Roxie with new doc, Oscar-nominated Irish-language 'Quiet Girl,' more, Plus: 8mm video diaries by late, great local residentGeorge Kuchar and a history of the Laemmle theatre chain, Plus: 'First Fallen" confronts AIDS in Brazil, beguiling mystery in 'Magoado,' Naples thriller 'Nostalgia,' more new movies. Town Destroyer will shed new light on our first president. 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. Conotocaurious(Town Destroyer) was a nicknamegiven to George Washingtonby IroquoisNative Americansin 1753. They are in the early stages of promoting the 55-minute film about the controversial murals at George Washington High School in the Richmond District. Join us for a free screening of TOWN DESTROYER - a new documentary about the furor over Victor Arnautoff's WPA murals at George Washington High School. 9 ser., 138 vols. TOWN DESTROYER less than 1 minute read 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. Just an hour long, Snitow and Kaufman's documentary offers a fascinating overview of a case that encapsulates many of the bitterest divisions of our era. George Washington, also known as Enthroned Washington, is a large marble sculpture by Horatio Greenough commissioned by the United States Congress on July 14, 1832 for the centennial of U.S. President George Washington's birth on February 22, 1732. During George Washington's presidency, Indian delegates were regular visitors to the seat of government. remains uncertain. Ironically, his choice of words more aptly applies to the American campaigns against Indigenous nations, which erased our histories, demonized our heroes, scorned our values and acculturated our children in boarding schools. '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". UCLA Professor Kelley adds that its not about choosing sides and that no one person or group can tell the story.. (Its twin sister robot, named Spirit, conked out pretty quickly by contrast.). 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 . Several of the latter have a Bay Area slant, notably two opening this Fri/4 at SFs Roxie Theater. We know that you are strong and we have heard that you are wise; and we wait to hear your answer to what we have said that we may know that you are just. In July 2020, Americans are once again divided, gathering in the streets and tearing down statues. The Haudenosaunee pledged neutrality with this statement, We see this as a fight between father and son. Street has been informed by General Knox, that the President cannot interfere in the business of the five nations, committed to his agency; that if they are not satisfied with the behaviour of the New York Commissioners, they must apply to the Legislature which appointed them; in consequence of this answer Mr. Street intends to return to Niagara in a fortnight, and to petition the Legislature of this State at its next meeting (Dorchester to Grenville, 25 Sept. 1790, in Brymner, Report on Canadian Archives, 1890, description begins Douglas Brymner. Records Commission. 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). to GW, 15 Aug. 1789, note 1. The founder of the San Francisco Jewish Festival and its director for 13 years, Kaufman teamed up with Alan Snitow, the former news director at KPFA, to make Blacks and Jews in 1997, Secrets of Silicon Valley in 2001, and this year Town Destroyer which premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival. What Happens When Art Gets Competitive on Television? 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? If you want to leave all these Earthly woes behind, there is warm, fuzzy and interplanetary comfort to be found inGood Night Oppy. Title to the land in New York west of Seneca Lake was claimed by Massachusetts. A Living New Deal Webinar. To him we gave four miles round Niagara, as a place of Trade. Jonah Raskin is the author of Beat Blues, San Francisco, 1955. "Town Destroyer" is a translation of the name given to George Washington by the Iroquois nation after he demanded the total destruction of their settlement and crops in a 1779 attack against the tribe that was aligned with the British. Washington Square Park Arc, 2020. But the title stuck even tighter than the Seneca chief could have imagined. In the American Revolutionary War, General Washington led Patriot forces to victory over the British and their allies. Crushed power. 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. Does this promise bind you? It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.. We see groups of collegiate women who travel to a D.C. March for Life in January 2020 to save the babies. They demand equal rights for unborn humans, hoping not just that abortion will become illegal, but abortion will become unthinkable. Organizations like Students for Life of America and the Susan B. Anthony List are very well-organized, and there is no questioning the earnestness of their members. Sat. After Phelps departure the Seneca made another speech to GW accusing Phelps of fraud and of defaulting on the terms of the 1788 agreement (see Seneca Chiefs to GW, 10 Jan. 1791). A collection of moments during and after Barack Obama's presidency. Cynthia LowensBattlegroundoffers some insight on that score. 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? Roxie Theater: Town Destroyer November 4, 2022 @ 6:45 pm - 8:45 pm The elder Washington's reputation was remembered and when they met his great-grandson in 1753 they called George Washington by the same name, Conotocarious.[2][3]. (Being an Appendix to Report of the Minister of Agriculture. 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 To Natives, Washington was both the "Great White Father" and "Conotocarious," which means "Town Destroyer" or "Devourer of . It has also been translated as "Town Taker", "Burner of Towns", "Devourer of Villages . Advertise It has also been translated as "Town Taker", "Burner of Towns", "Devourer of Villages", or "he destroys the town". 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. 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. Few visitors to the museum had ever heard of the Sullivan Campaign, or knew that most of New York state was our original homeland. 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. This project is supported by the They called us brothers and invited us to his protection. It also opens Fri/4 at the Roxie, with some screenings attended by Davenport and producer Keith Wilson. Town Destroyer is a 2022 documentary that discusses the art, history, struggle, and politics around the Victor Arnautoff murals at George Washington High School. 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.