The Chris Hedges Report: The monstrous myth of Custer

There is a vast disparity between the mythic presentation of Custer and the reality of the so-called Indian wars. Nathaniel Philbrick, author of The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Big Horn, joins Chris to discuss this seminal moment in American history.
Studio: Cameron Granadino, Adam Coley, Dwayne Gladden, Chris Arnone
Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
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[@mikehart8281]

I read Bury MY heart at Wounded Knee, and recommend it to everyone. one quote in the book by an Indian chief said, The white man made us many promises and of all of them, they kept only one. They promised to take our land and they took it. Im also sad to say that Custer was my first hero when I read a biased account of his life. I was only aprox 12, im 70 now. I realize now that he was just a butcher. The Indians had way more honor than the U.S. military.

[@janetcohen9190]

Yes. There are many revelations in historical facts that contradict 'pop-culture', urban-legends, 'official' & msm narratives, and so called 'Hollywood' history. Also, revelations by everyday people whether conscripted, volunteered, swept-up in euphoria, and same for people on opposite side of agendas that either before, during, or later even much later realize they were misled into beliefs, agendas, and being the array 'good' to 'evil' of doings. Political & financial agendas can be masked under, e.g., Saving the Savages. Purging Evils. False Flag Events. Repeated Lies to demonise one culture /race against another & vice-verso. Concoct Boogiemen. etc. So, to usurp lands, foods, goods, minerals, etc, to be controlled by a few. Eerily, akin is happening now by creating distresses, frustrations, antagonisms, red-tape, opening paths to 'buying farmlands, etc' by the 'super-wealthy' under guise of philanthropy, preventing Climate Change/ Global Warming, jobs, prosperity, health and human welfare. Sometimes, revelations arise out of being an being rational critical thinker, an awakening, hindsight, an examination of conscience, or getting close to meeting one's maker. History offers us the people and their revelations/ confessions among many such people is, i.e., ''War is a Racket'' by Smedley D Butler, Major General USMC although he spoke and wrote in 1930's it is applicable to prior generations and to now. Ever wonder why the Middle classes are under great stresses and in physical & fiscal decline? Why 40%+ of US, and First World, population do not have $400.00 in savings or in cash? Ever wonder why number of poor is increasing? Why homelessness in increasing? Why mortgages, loans, credit-cards, student loans, reverse mortgages, equity loans, etc supported by usury are vigorously promoted under myths value and prosperity? All the while propagating inflation of currency based on nil more than entries on spreadsheets and printing money at whims of politicians, financiers, bankers assuring the 97% of population are chattel. The combination of the latter and laws of taxes, levies, fees, usury that allow seizing /stealing peoples lands, farms, homes, small businesses. So, what was done to the Indians aka First Nations of the Americas in Custer's 1870s' and earlier certainly in what became USA & CAN still holds true only camouflaged, subtle, 'following Laws' but still vigorously existing and applied to 97% of population. In short chattel, serfdom, and slavery are alive only rebranded and vigorously thriving.

[@barquerojuancarlos7253]

Yes, that quote is from Chief Red Cloud of the Oglala Lakota.

[@stevenr5149]

yeah a human life is not long enough for most to get past the lies and to arrive at truth, then have enough time to do anything about it. and so it goes…

[@janetcohen9190]

@@stevenr5149 Yes, keep sleeping, so you can believe, embrace, be in bliss and live the Americn Dream. Life is a great gift, please avoid squandering it.

[@tapptom]

They have no respect for anyone anything that gets in their way! I say this as a former military Officer candidate!

[@mikehart8281]

Libby Custer helped her husband reached the stage of celebrity by writing books about her husband and having speaking engagements about her husband after he died at the battle of The Little Big Horn. She promoted her husband tirelessly.

[@rogersmith7396]

And got paid for it.

[@eileenmc4746]

Whitewash of his sins

[@tneita3166]

Mike Hart,they say that the poor start to make money when someone else See's where they can make money off them,, what iam trying to say is?, could it be that she was just a front piece,, at the same time enjoying the financial benefits that comes with the show. JUST SAYING that's all,😁 😁 😁,,, l

[@micnorton9487]

Yeah well A girl's got to do something to survive lol..

[@i.p.knightly149]

Always a market for bullsh**

[@BudahOfBirmingham]

We have all been fed propoganda about the goodness and bravery of the American forces. Turns out, they were the badies

[@rickydee5863]

Right up to this day

[@benmcfee]

Storm Trooper: *[scratches chin]* Wait a second... are _we_ the bad guys??

[@allenhill1223]

I've was taught he was a baby killer. Yes in school he was great. But at home we knew better. Potowatmi.

[@kristinleigh07]

Have yet to read his book, but it’s important to note that it was actually a female Cheyenne warrior named Buffalo Calf Road who killed Custer. The Natives wanted to avenge the barbaric slaughter at Washita. They knew exactly what they were doing when they annihilated Custer and his command. The Battle of the Little Big Horn was the first time a sacred medicine bundle was ever brought onto a battlefield in ceremony, according to my Cheyenne-Arapaho Grandma Margaret Behan. Crazy Horse & others felt that Custer and his men wouldn’t expect a native woman to kill him. During battle, Custer used the women and children as shields. Being close to him, Buffalo Calf Road Woman charged Custer, grabbed his saber, knocked him off his horse & killed him. Afterward, Cheyenne-Arapaho women stabbed their awls in his ears, chanting "you will listen to our people in the next world.” Exactly 10 years ago, the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers held council on Northern Cheyenne. A four-day ceremony took place, during which, completely out-of-the-blue, Custer’s great, great, great, great niece showed up and made a formal apology to the entire Cheyenne Nation, on behalf of her Uncle, Custer & her entire family. She was pregnant at the time. We miraculously have the apology on film. We shared it on the 5th and final webseries as part of The Ride Home. vimeo.com/channels/348513/64830728 Powerful & otherworldy to say the least. Thank you Chris.

[@Jay_Hall]

Kristin,,clearly U know nothing of the history or times U speak of, thus U have zero credibility. Custer Lives forever.!

[@lynnwood7205]

Thank you for posting this.

[@crowdedcrow3098]

Yes, I will watch the footage you provided. Thank you so so much, for providing this link, but also for sharing the truth about who killed Custer. What a poor education too many Americans receive; I had no idea, none. I'm in awe and ready to leap out of my chair at the same time. It's difficult, I shouldn't celebrate anyone's death, but I do celebrate what sure as hell feels like justice to me.

[@aaron4wilkins]

Which one is it? There are several videos on that link

[@Jay_Hall]

@@crowdedcrow3098 Do not be deceived, you are falling for lies from ignorance on this subject. Custer lives forever! :)

[@brianjacobsen8878]

Chris you should do a story about Fort Spokane at the turn of the century. The Army rounded up the local tribes turned Fort Spokane into a prison camp. Children were split up from the parents. Hair cut given christen names taught told to speak English learn Christian ways. They resisted kids went to the hole for the weekend. The cells are still there for display. And the adults were given blankets infected with TB. After all it was the middle of winter. How kind of the army.

[@barquerojuancarlos7253]

Yes, not to lessen the atrocities at Spokane, but it was following a policy with a long history of what was called "Indian boarding schools" in the US and "residential schools" in Canada (because of the recently discovered gravesites at these Catholic schools in Canada the Pope issued a few words of "apology". All is ok now?). It was also a method of indoctrination of the young used by the British colonists in India. i didn't know about the blankets infected with TB, but i do know that blankets infected with small pox virus were given to Native Americans (Native American scholar Ward Churchill wrote about this). It was an early form of biological warfare, which is what US research scientists were working on today in the biolabs in Ukraine (before war started recently) and Georgia.

[@micnorton9487]

@@barquerojuancarlos7253 Yeah the colonialist system is just the precursor of the modern-day Corporation,, and the idea of infecting millions of Russians with a strange pathogen that thrives in Winter conditions of people being inside most of the time which the Russian winter obviously necessitates,, is not outside the interest of the current American corporation which is aimed at weakening Russia as much as it can.. it all goes back to the natives having a more Equitable and therefore productive life pattern, it all goes back to the Russians and then the Soviets and now the Russians again refusing to let their country be cut up by wall street,, most people don't bother to realize how much Wall Street got out of the industrialization of the west, basically they were inventing booms and bonanzas as fast as they could with the accompanying bust being handled by other people.. but the big Financial realizations back then were made by Robber Barons and their descendants make money off Mining rights and Timber concessions and all sorts of other things..

[@HooDatDonDar]

@@barquerojuancarlos7253 an attempt to break up the culture of raiding - robbery and murder in the dominant culture. Argue if you like, but don’t romanticize it.

[@jacquesstrapp3219]

The infected blanket story is a fabrication of Ward Churchill, a Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado. In early 2006, the University investigated Churchill on seven allegations of research misconduct, one of which was Churchill's smallpox blankets hoax. The committee unanimously found Churchill guilty on all seven counts, and the Chancellor recommended his dismissal from the university. In the words of Cherokee sociologist Russell Thornton, "History is bad enough-there's no need to embellish it".

[@davidletasi3322]

Born and raised in Monroe Michigan my grandmother is buried less than 50 feet from George's two brothers killed at the Little Big Horn Massacre Site. He and Libby were married in the church one block west from our Monroe 1828 home where we lived in the 1980s. He was well known to be a hellraiser with his brothers especially in Dundee Michigan 10 miles west of Monroe where many drunken incidents were recorded. Many residents families here in Monroe have many memories handed down of the Custers behavior. He became even more reckless during the Civil War just to win the favor of the Bacon family to gain fame and rank to marry Libby. Once married he still became notorious in DC frequently hitting every house of prostitution. His historical battle in 1868 is well know as a massacre against native Americans. Half of our hometown community regards him as a icon and just as many consider him a black spot on our history. There has been a strong movement to remove his equestrian Statue from the city. Libby spent the rest of her life after his death petitioning congress to immortalize his public image. His Monroe childhood home still exists on North Custer Drive from the 1840s and the Monroe County Historical Musem now housed in the old Monroe Post Office has exhibits featuring his life and many personal belongings. This Post Office building site sits where Libby's childhood 19th century home was located. Custer and Andrew Jackson are highly disdained by the Native American community for their hostility but the Lakota warriors still considered him to be a renowned warrior and adversary. The controversy rages on.

[@heathcliffearnshaw1403]

After watching the film Soldier Blue at a cinema in South London many years ago - about Custer - after seeing the vile things done to the Indians during this battle , I felt so angry I went out and stopped the traffic in Elephant and Castle. It’s the only time a judge has ever let me go Scot free with a warning to ‘behave’ . Maybe he too saw the injustice of this event …

[@rogersmith7396]

I was brought up on the film "Little Big Man" where Custer is betrayed as insane from start to finish.

[@Jay_Hall]

@@rogersmith7396 Roger, so you are saying you were brought up on lies and U depended on Hollywood for your education! LOL!!

[@rogersmith7396]

@@Jay_Hall I have three 4 year science degrees, have worked in scientific and legal research and have extensive personal research experience. You are projecting and talking about yourself.

[@Jay_Hall]

@@rogersmith7396 No Roger, U made that shocking and silly statement, not me.LOL!! When it comes to history, research, and an inquiring mind, U have come up short. Point made. :) Good day.

[@mediawatcher1945]

@@rogersmith7396 I think you mean portrayed.

[@lynnwood7205]

I remember as a boy in the 1950's in the Black Hills, my parents related to homesteaders of South Dakota, veterans of the Union Army proofing out their homesteads, excited at the Old West, being a part of this history. And then in a small watercourse, having walked off from my parents, surrounded by what had always been there, suddenly knowing that ancient gods were of that land and water, and not of what God my parents tried hard to reconcile to but who felt too the ancient ones from time to time were still to be acknowledged. And then later, the great 1950's wonder of TV, bringing Errol Flynn's "They Died With Their Boots On" and the rousing strains of Gary Owen, again part of the great march of progress And then later that one day understanding the bitterness that song also carried to so many. Myths die hard,

[@AudioPervert1]

Your whole nation is a graveyard...... Oh wait, so is mine (India) and the rest of the world at large.

[@rickydee5863]

@@AudioPervert1 suttle but savage .

[@HooDatDonDar]

With any luck, this one will as well. You suddenly started believing in superstion? I think there must have been an alienationfir other reasons.

[@miahsaint-georges]

I remember those rousing strains of Gary Owen!

[@michaelvance1118]

I appreciate this one!! I've always hated Custer!!! As a a kid I always rooted for the " INDIANS "! in western movies!!! I like the way John Trudell put it... He said they don't even like being called Native american because they were HERE WAAAAAYY BEFORE AMERICA WAS EVEN A WORD!!!

[@eileenmc4746]

Long live the spoken words of Trudell

[@louislamboley9167]

A very good book about the battle is Keep the Last bullet for Yourself. Thomas B. Marquis. The book is composed of testimonials of the Indians that actually fought. Taken from many Indians from various reservations back in the 1920's. Apparently the government has suppressed this book since it describes contagious suicide after Custer was killed early on.

[@micnorton9487]

Not surprising,, it was pretty well known that the Comanches for one would torture captives as long as they could.. since there was no formal War declared and none that the natives would recognize anyway, the fate of prisoners was pretty horrible,, of course there were many people both white and black who just wandered around the Nations and were taken in by the tribes just because they were willing to work and weren't hostile.. they became hostile however when the nations were taken over and rather than going to what they knew were going to be prisoner of war camps they became probably the first members of the permanent criminal underground in the present day United states..

[@31terikennedy]

Rain in the Face, while drinking at a bar in Coney Island in 1902, said he was the one that killed Tom Custer. On his death bed, he said he killed Custer. Since Rain was there, so much for Custer dying earlier or committing suicide.

[@louislamboley9167]

@@31terikennedy The Indians had said there were soldiers killing themselves but they were only doing that when things began to break down. If Custer was killed early on then order might have collapsed and panic set in.

[@31terikennedy]

@@louislamboley9167 The problem is not (how) Custer died, we will never know, but (why) he died and that is why the LBH is such a huge scandal.

[@louislamboley9167]

@@31terikennedy He died because he did not listen to orders which were to wait at the fork in the road for the Army. Instead he dispersed his force and rode into more than he bargained for.

[@rezmetisll1163]

Thanks! Good interview! As a Native American from North Dakota we always thought it was odd for Custer to be considered a hero. Also, I visited fort Abraham Lincoln, last week, south of Bismarck/Mandan north Dakota where the Custer house is located. It was an interesting visit and took me back in time. We all need to learn this history and understand it's essence of Man's inhumanity to man and apply it to improving our life today. God bless you all! Keep up your work for peace and love and knowledge and understanding.

[@rickgarza4167]

I agree with you. True history must be learned. As a youth I always thought the this POS monster was a hero because that was the lie my history teacher taught me. I learned the truth in 1975. I'm 69 and will be 70, God willing, February 16th.

[@benmcfee]

I'm not sure if I'm in the minority or not, but I'm white, and even as a kid, I was confused when I learned Custer was often painted as the hero of this story. When I was a kid, I heard an admittedly sanitized version of this story; but still I assumed, from the body count alone, that Custer was the villain of the piece; Sitting Bull was the underdog hero, and that Custer's end was just the bad guy getting his just deserts. Now naturally, real life isn't as simple as heroes and villains, but in this case, it seemed that dichotomy was easier to apply than in many others. Yet, to hear my peers, in elementary school, talk about Custer in the hero's role confused me to no end. It was only as I got older that I realized that they had heard an entirely different story than I had, and even later still that I learned that even the version I'd heard had been significantly sanitized to ease the guilt of its white audience. History is written by those who benefit from the slaughter.

[@EnwardSnowman]

@@benmcfee Yeah... I was born in the 80s and I've NEVER heard a version of Custer's story that depicts him as anything but a villain.

[@ranchodeluxe1]

@@benmcfee Well. I live 90 miles from Wounded Knee and I can tell you that there is plenty of history on the "losing" side. I know these survivors personally. Just because they were butchered doesn't mena they have no history.

[@milascave2]

rez: Yea. He sure didn't help the Native Americans. And he didn't help his own soldiers much either, since he led them all tho their death.

[@rosstisbury1626]

what a hero hiding behind women and children so the men wouldnt get to grips with him . . what a role model

[@rickydee5863]

He had no honor .how could he have he was an imperialist mass murderer.can you imagine how that end felt for him .and at the hands of a women too.

[@ranchodeluxe1]

The women and children were in camp, not on last stand hill.

[@danielblackburn1241]

@@rickydee5863 probably felt painful

[@rickydee5863]

@@danielblackburn1241 haha yeah things got down to earth for him real quick..he never for a moment thought that was going to happen .he was on the recieving end for a change. You reap what you sow.

[@hhheee3939]

The military also mocks natives to this day with the names of the weaponry and operations such as apache, tomohawk, geronimo. Its not a coincidence.

[@obsoleteelite8258]

It’s a definite twisted perversion.

[@lukeolson5177]

I served in a platoon called crazy horse while I was in the US army

[@doubleugly1594]

I dont know if thats mocking persay... im sure they present it as a misguided "respect for a worthy adversary" kind of thing

[@hhheee3939]

@@doubleugly1594 raul peck has a movie series called exterminate the brutes and he has a pretty good take on this.

[@KaliMaaaaa]

Many of the tribes mentioned here were "modern" groups that developed after the arrival of the horse from Europeans, they were the worst of any with their violence, rape and slaughter. Selective history never tells the real story.

[@tomjohn8733]

I’ve know about Custer being a monster for some time, this was just icing on the cake, and one of my favorite books was also “ Bury my heart at wounded knee”, like Howard Zinns history books, all highly recommended reading, but I suppose those who don’t like history, Are the descendants of those who profited from the Indian wars, land wise etc, the hidden shame of one family wealth is written in politics, like profiting from the slavery trade…history is almost always written by the victors, seldom do we hear both sides of the story until years later…

[@Warrior_Resisting_Colonialism]

Words of truth, my relative!

[@tedmusson5179]

In that regard Tom John... how long if ever to find the lowest and darkest of all truths... the CIA, bU$h cabal, Mossad, PNAC, JCoS, larry "pullit" silverstain and U$M$M, vs humanity, false flag battle of 911

[@tomjohn8733]

@@tedmusson5179 well, I’m not sure of you cryptic message, I’m not a cryptologist, perhaps you could clarify your last, thank you!

[@mikehart8281]

I always remembered one indian chief said, The white man made us many promises, and of ALL of them they kept only one. They promised to take our land, and they took it. Bury my heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown

[@brianwoodbridge88]

I agree with everything you said except for Howard zinn. He writes hate filled propaganda not history!!!!

[@DrBill-zv5dx]

I’m predicting you’ll have over 1 million subscribers before June. You’re the most maligned journalist in the USA. I personally think you’re the best due to your integrity , honesty and content . All the best .

[@jasonlacroix6083]

Chris's channel gets about 30k views per video. Thirty minutes is far too taxing on the mind for many. He's willing to tell the stories nobody wants to hear. That's exactly what I like about him.

[@Warrior_Resisting_Colonialism]

Most American settlers don't want the truth. This is the problem.

[@paulheydarian1281]

Integrity and honesty don't pay the bills. They never have, never will. Human nature is rotten. We're a broken, highly damaged, irrepairable species. Pray for a mega virus with a 99.9% lethality rate. When we're finally gone, life on Earth shall thrive.

[@rogersmith7396]

Hes a pacifist in a militarist world.

[@mediawatcher1945]

@@Warrior_Resisting_Colonialism We are indeed Settler-colonists. I would venture to say squatters. What many of my fellow Americans fail to realize is, we do Not own this Land, this Continent, or this Earth. We are, at best, just visitors. It would behoove us to behave accordingly.

[@oleeb]

Does anyone still actually think of Custer as a hero? I always saw Custer as nothing but a loser and a showboat. Everyone knows the army treated the natives in unnecessarily brutal ways. I find the details presented here fascinating nonetheless.

[@rogersmith7396]

I don't think Custer was a General at Little Big Horn. He was a temporary brevit General in the Civil War but reverted to Colonel after.

[@micnorton9487]

True I always thought he was a general but he was reverted after the Civil War ended, common practice in the US military when a war ends after massive mobilization.. So he was a lieutenant colonel in charge of a battalion... still vastly over ranked by his actual ability although he was initiative-ly aggressive to a fault,, when McClellan and some other General were sitting on their horses at the side of a stream on the peninsula in virginia, wondering how deep it was, Custer rode his horse to the middle of the stream, sat it, and said this is how deep it is general.. So if you have a guy who isn't afraid to get his horse and himself swept away in a river with you,, I guess you promote him lol

[@paulmentzer7658]

The term "Bevert" was never a true rank, given as an honor that you acted like an officer of that rank. At the time of the Battle of Little Big Horn, Custer was a Lieutenant Colonel. Custer was actually not even the Colonel of the Seventh cavalry, that was someone else who was on detach service in Washington. Custer had been a General of Volunteers during the end of the Civil War, but his permanet rank was never higher then Lieutenant Colonel. Post Civil War, all "Volunteer" units were dissolved along with officers, thus Custer had to revert to his permanent regular Army rank post Civil War (Custer was one of just a few Civil War Volunteer Generals that even retain a "Field Grade" officer instead of the return to the rank he was in 1861, a second Lieutenant).

[@rogersmith7396]

@@paulmentzer7658 Great. Well I know some people get field promotions in combat. Lt. killed sarge advanced to acting Lt.

[@Eadbhard]

He was reverted to a Captain, then was eventually given a Lieutenant Colonelcy in the Seventh Cavalry, you dumbass. How great would it be if commentators in the KZbin "comments" section knew what the hell they were commenting about? That would be refreshingly different, sure.

[@thomas-marx]

Colonel Custer on the prairie

[@penhdog2207]

This reminds me of the book "Fours Hours at My Lai" of which the thesis is that the massacre in Vietnam can be traced via family lineage of military leaders, tactical tradition and US military practices back to the time of 1860s. So, the My Lai massacre was a simply a continuation of US military subjugation that has long existed.

[@williambrennan1507]

Also kudos to investigative reporter Seymour Hersh who published the truth about US troops slaughtering hundreds of innocent men, women, and children at My Lai...

[@thebishopoftherailway4719]

That is the stupidest thing i ever read.

[@PRH123]

I think that’s quite true, including the tradition of the American soldiers cutting off body parts and keeping them as souvenirs.

[@vladimir0700]

And continues to this day……

[@thebishopoftherailway4719]

@@vladimir0700 Cutting of souvenirs isn’t unique to any culture. The indians did too, as well as many middle eastern cultures. And I haven’t heard of any modern American soldiers taking flesh souvenirs, and it being widely approved of.

[@joymahiko]

Custer initiated the attack which got him killed. There's a moral lesson in that which applies in many common areas of life. Thank you Custer!

[@verbalkint1770]

Just imagine how Custer and his brothers spoke about the natives privately.

[@paulheydarian1281]

Just imagine how they talked about African-Americans in private. 🙈🙉🙊

[@007nadineL]

They didn't hide anything back then

[@paulheydarian1281]

@@007nadineL Good Point. It would be the reverse then. If they wanted to say anything positive about Black folks, they would do so in private.

[@icemike1]

Openly

[@lesterarbusto3535]

They probably used the same piously hypocritical language they used in public. Think about what that says about them.

[@davidschlessinger9945]

I know indigenous people who still to this day have the utmost contempt and hatred for Custer

[@hx-flixblog4569]

Not only the Native people!

[@rangerk9]

Career soldier here. Infantryman and Ranger. 28yrs. Combat deployments were all in Iraq with Operations Desert Shield/Storm and Iraqi Freedom. We are and were the colonizers once again from my perspective. I am ashamed of my "service" to the corporations and a government that caters to them. I ask for forgiveness every damn day for what myself and others did there. I don't deserve it! I grew up working on a sheep and goat ranch through high school and college. I felt greater affinity and connection to the Iraqi people that we waged war with, than the politicians that sent us off to do the corporation's bidding. I now do volunteer work on the Pine Ridge Reservation and love the Lakota people. They are hardy, strong, resilient, loving and warm. As the great Chris Hedges says, they are living in one of "America's Sacrifice Zones." Shame on all of us for generational persecution and genocide! I highly recommend an author that is Sicangu Lakota from the Rosebud Reservation named Joseph Marshall III. His perspective of history is from the Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota peoples. He is precise in his studies and writings. He also possesses deep wisdom and is willing to share. His perspective of historical events are eye opening and truthful. Long live Crazy Horse!

[@HooDatDonDar]

Sorry you have bought into this. Butthanks for helping get rid of Saddam in your sane phase. If you are real, of course. Anyone can be anything on the Internet.

[@barquerojuancarlos7253]

There's something very basic, fundamental, integrated America's cultural psyche about, what Chomsky calls "America's original sin", America's genocidal wars against its own indigenous people. Take for instance, a recent report (8 March '22) from the US Congressional Research Service. This important and highly regarded research service found it necessary from the very start to divide domestic wars from foreign wars. The report titled "Instances of Use United States Armed Forces Abroad" found the US was involved in 469 wars since 1798, excluding from the very start, as if it were to be accepted by all, the 100s of wars the US military fought against the Native American Nations

[@williambrennan1507]

So glad to see Chris Hedges at The Real News!!

[@rogersmith7396]

Custers wife Libby was the main author of his mythical status. She wrote an over the top book which invented his mythos to make money for herself. At the time of his death he was thought an incompetent fool.

[@micnorton9487]

He WAS an incompetent fool so his wife writing that so-called biography would be perfect for the myth they wanted to build.. she learned the lesson Big Joe Kennedy taught his son's a long time before Joe Kennedy thought of it, image is what people think you are and image is enough if people want to believe it.. and it's the exact reason behind Trump's so-called fame, that people like to identify with the blustering fool who tells you what you want to hear..

[@jasonbrown372]

At the time of his death he had the same thought.

[@rogersmith7396]

@@jasonbrown372 See "Little Big Man".

[@jasonbrown372]

@@rogersmith7396 Seen. Scene?

[@rogersmith7396]

@@jasonbrown372 The death scene when Custer thinks Hoffman is president grant and is going to shoot him.

[@rjbjr]

I put Custer up there with president Andrew Jackson. And to think both are still revered by so many people.

[@mikehart8281]

The trail of tears enacted by Andrew Jackson was a tragedy

[@leethunderhill7002]

@@mikehart8281 My ancestors were one of the 5 tribes of the southeast that were forcefully removed from their homeland at gunpoint at the order of Jackson. My tribe is Muscogee Creek and along with the Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles, and the Cherokee. They were forced to walk to present state of Oklahoma. Many perished along the way.🪶

[@mikehart8281]

@@leethunderhill7002 I apologize for the actions of my for fathers sir. It was horribly cruel to do that to your ancestors. Please forgive us.

[@leethunderhill7002]

@@mikehart8281 🤝

[@jasonlacroix6083]

@@leethunderhill7002 we're not all like them. My family arrived in America early 20th century. I've long admired the native cultures and traditions. The life experience must have been so fulfilling.

[@AudioPervert1]

We non americans know so much better the history of this rotten empire (hopefully the last empire).. Thanks to folks like Chris Hedges, Sheldon Wolin, Chomsky, Ralph Nader, Howard Zinn, David Stannard. Kudos and utmost respect love to all these guys, that American zombie turds never listen to.

[@reidwhitton6248]

I'll add one great American historian and teller if truth, Gore Vidal. I have a book of essays next to me entitled, "The Last Empire".

[@micnorton9487]

Some Americans aren't zombie turds but rather have been pushing Chris for years,, but unfortunately he only suggests going so far -- he uses an instance from the American involvement in the Vietnam war, when protesters were outside the White House and buses were being placed into barricades and Richard Nixon was ringing his hands and saying in tears literally, Henry they're going to break through and get us.. Chris says that's where we want people in positions of power, but it wasn't Nixon and Kissinger who were actually in positions of power, they are only the public relations vehicle of the corporation.. and if we're not supposed to go against the corporation, where does that leave us? They will allow dissent, to a point, they will allow protest, to a point, just because it doesn't matter.. the corporation goes on as always because it is above the law it always has been in the United states.. the presidents like to make a big show out of being able to use the military, but that's only in the interest of corporate power or else the corporate heads do not supply the military.. and if the Corporation stops supplying the military with weapons, what kind of a military do you have?

[@micnorton9487]

@@reidwhitton6248 ..him and the vanity fair guy,, excellent writers with all the problems laid out and CAN'T BRING themselves to try and turn the page,, to get the financial charlatans out of positions where they control massive militaries and Nation states.. can't remember his name but he did the documentary The American ruling class,, Louis Lapham, both Gore and Louis seem to be under the impression that the American ruling class can be changed somehow.. as long as Supremacy rests on money, it obviously won't be able to be..

[@romaskincare9138]

What a filthy thing to say. If Americans had cancer as a result of the government infusing toxic chemicals into every aspect of their infrastructure, would you call them cancer-patient turds? . That's exactly what happened. This shouldn't suprise you, but the US government lies has hides EVERYTHING from the American people. The US government controls the schools, every single texbook, every single curriculum, the media, the military is the strongest force the world has ever seen, the alphabet agencies control every aspect of the American people's lives, every bit of information the American people see, hear or consume from the minute they're born to the minute they die is controlled by the US government. And you're shocked that they somehow only know the narrative projected to them? In reality, what's shocking is the number of people like Chris Hedges out there because the FAR majority of people who've tried to tell the American people the truth have been killed. . Just look what they're doing to Julian Assange, Edward Snowden and Daniel Hale. There are hundreds more exactly like them. . How brave it is of you to sit there and criticize the people who are being manipulated and robbed of the truth and of their lives. It makes you feel superior when you call them names because it's not happening to you.

[@HooDatDonDar]

Many listen, but don’t agree with Chomsky, zinn, et Al. But their fringe fanboys gather here, it seems. You have seen Chomsky’s recent attacks on Ukraine. Predicted in ‘The Anti-Chomsky Reader’. I read most of the junk thinkers you mentioned (thanks for telling me about Wolin). Go on, read the critiques. The above ‘Reader’ is a good place to start.

[@stephenhaegele2297]

Through all I’ve read about Custer & the times in which he lived & died, I’ve formed the opinion that he was neither hero nor villain. He was a soldier in a campaign to subjugate or exterminate the natives. He didn’t make the policy. He made huge mistakes at the Greasy Grass, but they didn’t cause his defeat. The Sioux and their allies simply outgunned & outfought the cavalry.

[@danhaywood5696]

They cant teach us the truth about anything or we'd hate ourselves.

[@54000biker]

A while ago I read a book about a certain tribe that was relegated to a reservation which was rock & desert so no-one else wanted the land. Then oil was found on the land and all the Indians became rich. The Governor then decided to allocate a minder to each Indian family to 'help' them with their finances. The thing is, if the Indian landowner died then the land, and the oil therein, became the property of the minder. Shortly after Indians started dying in increasing numbers. A huge scandal at the time.

[@sinkpehnarossfire454]

🌎: "The business people had figured out how to use legal paperwork for their 'Wards', and used that legal maneuver in oil business. Oklahoma and Texas are full of uncapped wells. Where are their 'User-Owners'? The money was taken. Many folks know the businesses in Texas are from 'fraudulent behavior'. Any reparations ? Its great Blake Shelton, Garth Brooks and more 'loved' superstars are landowners in Oklahoma. This accurate history will become famous songs. Just a thought ".

[@sevensages5279]

Book is titled "Killers of the Flower Moon" , the Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. Edit: There will be a movie coming out soon based on the book!

[@jasonbrown372]

Louise Erdrich, "Love Medicine"?

[@LonelyRanger902]

George Armstrong Custer was a real life Civil War hero. He volunteered for the Michigan cavalry and became the youngest general in United States history. He basically fought in every major engagement of the Civil War on the East Coast, and due to his almost mythological bravery, won every medal for gallantry available at that time. He was a man of his time, and let’s not kid ourselves - those were very brutal times. If you came across entire wagon trains that had men, women and children, tortured and slaughtered, I’m sure your violent response would merit examination as well.

[@jasonbrown372]

If you came across a scene of women, children, and the elderly mowed down to test out the new-fangled "Gatling gun", acres of scattered corpses left by the US Army at Cavett's Station (1793), Sand Creek (1864), Camp Grant (1871), Wiyot Massacre (1860), Bridge Gulch (1852), Three Knolls (1865), Marias (1870), Yontocket (1853), Clear Lake (1850), Bear River (1863), Autossee (1813), Skull Creek (1823), Dressing Point (1826), Battle of Bad Axe (1832), Amador (1837), Johnson (1837), Council House (1840), Red Fork (1840), Fort McKenzie (1844), Sacramento River (1846), Klamath Lake (1846), Kirker (1846), Taos Pueblo (1847), Brazos River (1848), Battle at Ft. Utah (1850), Mariposa War (1851), Old Shasta Town (1851) Hynes Bay (1852) Wright (1852) Howonquet (1853), Achulet (1853), "Ox Incident" (1853), Nasomah (1854), Chetco River (1854), Asbill (1854), Harney (1855), Lupton (1855), Grand Ronde River Valley (1856), Round Valley Settlers (1856-1859), Jarboe's War (1859-1860), Spring Valley (1859), Pit River (1859), Indian Island (1860), Horse Canyon (1861), Keyesville (1863), Swamp Cedars (1863), Oak Run (1864), Washita (1868), Wickenburg (1871), Skeleton Cave (1872), Sappa Creek (1875), Battle of the Big Hole (1877) Ft. Robinson (1879), Wounded Knee (1890)

[@brucefournier2391]

Yes, at Appomattox General Grant used this small spool-turned table to sign the document setting forth the surrender terms. After the signing, Lieutenant General Philip H. Sheridan presented the table to Elizabeth B. Custer, the wife of Major General George A. Custer. This being truth, it is hard to question or argue against Custer's Civil War record and his impact on the outcome. Of course, the plains war was a completely different animal.

[@4440ch]

Our guide at Little Bighorn Battlefield was a Cheyenne woman who made it clear that this battle was not a battle between two military powers but an unprovoked sneak attack by a military power on a large gathering of native men, women, children and elderly going about their daily lives.....butchery, extermination averted, delayed. Custer got what he deserved.

[@biff408]

many people in my family lived long lives even over 100. My Great Great Aunt was 108. She was born during reconstruction in the South right after the Civil war. I was able to meet her and talk to her about the "old days". I also met many of my relatives as a boy that lived in the Old West era. They were all in their 90's or above, and what struck me then as now so many decades later was the matter of fact way of doing the dirty work to get ahead without second thoughts, the meanness, and the "I'm getting mine for me and my family and to hell with anyone else attitude. People from the 19th century that I met as a boy were not kind, gentle sentimental types as portrayed in "Little House on the Prairie" People need to wake up to what we were and still are to a certain extent. That is ALL of us regardless of race, creed, etc.

[@rogersmith7396]

When the going gets tough the tough get going. Its alive and well today, maybe the number one problem in this country. Masichism.

[@tneita3166]

Biff,umm,wow,what else can I say,,,. lol,try & have a good day,,,.

[@micnorton9487]

Some were and some weren't,, obviously in 1862 at Lake Shetek the natives anger at being lied to after their being brought to their prison camp boiling over and 300 and some settlers including women and children being killed,, this happened with Custer's Superior General Pope being sent out to basically kill as many military age young Native males as they could.. and Lincoln's so-called compassion can be seen in his ordering the execution by hanging of 29 of them at Mankato in one day.. one can imagine the situation coming out differently if the settlers around Lake shetek would have been sympathetic and just given the natives what food they needed, unfortunately yes as the original poster said, a lot of homesteaders were pretty racist people themselves..

[@ranchodeluxe1]

They were hard. They had to be. Everyone who ended up here in Dakota Territory and settled ranch country came here due to oppression of some sort, Hutterite, Mennonite, Methodist, Mormon, etc. The Indians aren't histories only victims.

[@michelleconnor3909]

This information is so painful- I can only listen for short periods of time without crying

[@mikemooney9124]

This is excellent… up until now I had never really identified Custer as being part of the Imperial war against ethnic minorities but after seeing this and also recently I read about the destruction of the royal palace in Beijing by British forces when the single biggest destruction and sacking and theft of some of the greatest treasures in the world took place… one and a half million precious objects were stolen and destroyed by the British army and sent back to Europe for auction or private collections… scandalous, shameful. And the British now lecture China on human rights. All of this imperial invasion, pillage, rape and destruction was going on simultaneously around the world. And Americans, who had recently achieved independence themselves went on and participated in this destruction and ethnic cleansing…how amazing is that.

[@steveclapper5424]

I read a book called Faint the trumpet sounds and I remember that it was his wife pushed the attacks on the other officers. I believe her father was a publisher.

[@tneita3166]

umm,interesting,,,. (the publisher bit),,,.

[@ToddSauve]

I'm pretty sure Elizabeth Custer's father was a judge.

[@freezoneproject567]

"Little Big Man" with Dustin Hoffman seems to portray Custer accurately.

[@annmowatt7547]

I LOVE all your work for which I am most grateful. Seems like Custer was yet another who believed his own publicity. Another great example of the "wonders" of imperialism, typical tactics. Thanks for this fascinating discussion. Must get the book.

[@tracyleighbasham]

Seems the media and politics are inextricably connected.

[@byronevans1]

@@tracyleighbasham they are, propaganda.

[@rogersmith7396]

He was a pure social status climber. He got what he deserved.

[@jessepowell1891]

Just a thought. Such were the atrocities of imperialism and colonialism that, when confronted with the horrors of the shoah at the end of WWII, 1945, that despite the unspeakable horrors of the camps, that with time, looking for the source of these ghastly crimes, they found their ancestors, including Custer's generation and hit the reset button, starting in the 1960s. Check out Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz's seminal work The Indigenous Peoples history of the United States. The crimes by colonialism in the western hemisphere may pale compared to the raw brutality of the nazi death camps, but point by point, before the final solution carried out by the nazis that an auto reset was hit, ending popular support for colonialism, white supremacy, eugenics, and a whole cavalcade of other injustices which we now contest, in multiple ways breaking up all the horrors seen since 1492. Professor Dunbar-ortiz's book will make, if you haven't read it yet, a good first step of freeing your mind and realizing the horrid deeds done in the name of empire or religion in reality, window dressing removed. Adieu.

[@peterbalogh8138]

As a non-American/US, non-colonizer European, I merely ask - what is the difference between white men killing natives, and various native tribes doing the same? Why is the mass murder (which it was) perpetrated by US denounced in a much stricter (retrospective moralizing) way compared to the Apache-Comanche wars?

[@billfrenger8955]

Thank you Chris. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz's book "An Indigenous People's History Of The United States" also presents an excellent account of what this country is about.

[@dookahan]

The multiple genocides in the Western Hemisphere are chronicled in American Holocaust by David Stennard . Heavy reading. It’s a must read though.

[@Warrior_Resisting_Colonialism]

That is a book EVERY American and Canadian of say, age 15 and up should read.

[@dookahan]

@@Warrior_Resisting_Colonialism our cousins all the way down to the islands off of what they call Cape Horn suffered a genocide at the hands of spainish and portogees butchers. Who knows how many millions of human beings suffered terribly and virtually wiped out of existence. The invaders meant it, this was their intention, to steal the Western Hemisphere by murdering and infecting us with their filthiest of plagues. The systematic torture of an entire people, rape, the basest debaucery David Stennard estimates 100 million on turtle island alone. He cites his sources on how he arrived at his estimate. Reading this book hurt me deeply. It changed me. You know the rest.

[@billfrenger8955]

Reading Dee Brown's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" also makes one weep and feel deeply ashamed to be a part of this vile nation.

[@Loweredexpectationss]

… Now I will tell you buster That I ain't a fan of Custers And the General he don't ride well anymore To some he was a hero But to me his score was zero And the General he don't ride well anymore … Now Custer done his fightin' Without too much excitin' And the General he don't ride well anymore General Custer come in pumpin' When the men were out a huntin' But the General he don't ride well anymore … With victories he was swimmin' He killed children, dogs and women But the General he don't ride well anymore Crazy Horse sent out the call To Sitting Bull and Gall And the General he don't ride well anymore … Now Custer split his men Well, he won't do that again Cause the General he don't ride well anymore Twelve thousand warriors waited They were unanticipated And the General he don't ride well anymore … It's not called an Indian victory But a bloody massacre And the General he don't ride well anymore There might have been more enthusin' If us Indians had been losin' But the General he don't ride well anymore … General George A. Custer Oh, his yellow hair had lustre But the General he don't ride well anymore For now the General's silent He got barbered violent And the General he don't ride well anymore … Oh, the General he don't ride well anymore

[@kuriadams9138]

Amazing song. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGbciGWsibGUaKc (my favorite version)

[@skindianu]

That's badass. Seems like I've heard that somewhere, unless that's something you made up yourself? Either way, I like it

[@Loweredexpectationss]

@@skindianu i replied but i guess it didn’t go through - maybe because i included a link to another youtube video so my apologies if i am repeating myself here. Anyhoo, just wanted to mention that i get no credit and that this is a johnny cash song. In my useless opinion its best heard when he sings it live with buffy sainte marie on the mouth bow.

[@skindianu]

@@Loweredexpectationss thanks for the info, brother. And I always tell everyone that I'm not totally useless; I can always set a bad example...

[@Loweredexpectationss]

@@skindianu ahaha! Right on, Saigon. xx lady Panda M ;)

[@thebookofearl3303]

Thanks Chris! good to see that others have noticed the striking similarities between the U.S government's 'Indian policy' and how they dealt with the press and the truth back then - and Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, and 'the truth' yet today... Love and appreciate your work

[@carolgaribay]

The parallel between the United States and native Americans and Israhell is undeniable.

[@marianotorrespico2975]

EXCELLENT NEOLOGISM! | "Israhell" is awesomely accurate!

[@carolgaribay]

@@marianotorrespico2975 I didn't come up with it, but yes. It's hell. I've also heard "isnotreal", which is equally great.

[@marianotorrespico2975]

@@carolgaribay CORRECT, INNIT? | Yes, it is quite a dilemma to deal with Israel and the racially intolerant religious minority oppressing the racially tolerant majority of Israelis; yet facts are facts.

[@greg0879]

St. Claire's defeat at Wabash in 1791, was another great day to celebrate.

[@Salman-sc8gr]

The Perfidious Brits did similar in taking over Australia.

[@spartacusjonesmusic]

Yeah, man. The United States has been on a long-running "Manifest Destiny" World Tour ever since.

[@YoungSantasGroupie]

Any fans of Blood Meridian here? Before reading that, I had very little knowledge of what western expansion really looked like. I grew up in Canada, so even less history taught here than the romanticized versions taught in America. Not only was that history formative for so much of how the US (and Canada to some extent) proceeded but the "Borderlands" are likely going to be the site of more bloodshed in years to come. I sincerely hope not but it's hard to see how the cartel issue can be addressed without US boots on the ground.

[@mediawatcher1945]

Decriminalize all drugs, disband DEA, cut Police Departments nationwide, and use the money to build educational, medical, and treatment facilities. The War On Drugs is a complete and utter failure!

[@ranchodeluxe1]

I live two miles from Custer Flats, where the cavalry came through in 1874. We still find cavalry tack and insignias from time to time.

[@MrJimloveuk]

Little big man with Dustin Hoffman...what a great movie .

[@scchs67]

Right you are. I finally watched it for the first time just a couple of weeks ago. Funnily enough, I was at Little Big Horn in June.

[@eugenesant9015]

Ya.....I saw it in the theater when it first came out when I was 10. Not something you really should be getting your history from.

[@scchs67]

@@eugenesant9015 Ya, I didn't think it was a history lesson, just a good movie.

[@eugenesant9015]

@@scchs67 it was leftist propaganda.

[@scchs67]

@@eugenesant9015 It's historical fantasy and never pretended to be otherwise. If you were offended by its perspective at the age of 10, that's unfortunate.

[@sasachiminesh1204]

Pretty Nose and Buffalo Calf Woman were female warriors at Little Bighorn. Buffalo Calf Woman was a war chief.

[@HooDatDonDar]

Why this unusual deviation from the norm of Indian culture?

[@timmcardle2233]

Thank you for this. Everything I've read that's true history about Custer points toward extreme megalomania. All the massacres that he had done he finally he got his fitting comeuppance. We can only be glad that he was there to defeat the slaveholding South. We cannot be glad that he decided to take even worse tactics toward native Americans who never imported one single person as a slave.

[@kevinrussell1144]

It's easy when you think one group of people is pure as the driven snow while another ONLY has horns and are spawn of Satan. Correct me, but didn't the Aztecs kill, enslave, and sacrifice their fellow Native North Americans, didn't the Comanches try to exterminate the Apache, didn't the Iroquois make war on all other non-Iroquois, and didn't the Haidu keep slaves? I'm not defending GAC, but virtually all human groups are territorial and violent and do bad things. That's the way WE are.

[@2Sugarbears]

I took Canadian, American and British history at university. I learned the story of Custer. I was disgusted and my essay for that course was about the Ghost Dance. I titled it A People's Dream Died Here. My prof said it was emotional and journalistic and gave me a B. It was the best paper I ever wrote.

[@owlcowl]

Exactly the kind of essay I would love to read, especially since it warranted only a B in the eyes of your professor (perhaps you can post it online if you feel comfortable doing so). I know I often differed with my own teachers over which of my college papers were stronger or weaker in substance. But they all applied different standards, since grades are so subjective, another compelling reason why the entire practice of grading in schools should be abolished.

[@phyllisthompson4207]

Thank you Chris. Another great segment.

[@gordonjreeves5651]

👏 BRAV-OOOOO ⚖️ CHRIS ⚖️ and Welcome Back 🙏 to a venue that foundationally unequivocally supports your ^ Transcendent Commitment to Truth ^. As your recent interview with ☆☆ Kick-Ass Kiriakou ☆☆ again so authoritatively demonstrated, you're utterly unique. This current interview that exposes the egoholic arrogance that was the REAL - not reel - Custer hopefully will receive the wide audience it so richly deserves. He typifies all that's woefully tragically wrong with what 👏 Gore Vidal 👏 so definitively christened 😠 The United States of Amnesia 😡

[@markgarrett3647]

If you read the Empire of the Summer Moon you'd find that the atrocities go both ways.

[@markbujdos584]

This presents a great unintended argument that Erroll Flynn was indeed perfectly cast in "They Died with their Boots on."

[@normanbraslow7902]

The fact that generals Sheridan, Grant and Sherman all agreed Custer was a suburb soldier in the field has more gravitas than any latter day historian.

[@bluerock4456]

Superb?

[@brucefournier2391]

Yes, at Appomattox General Grant used this small spool-turned table to sign the document setting forth the surrender terms. After the signing, Lieutenant General Philip H. Sheridan presented the table to Elizabeth B. Custer, the wife of Major General George A. Custer.

[@gregggordon7798]

Well, Grant never thought of him as anything but a show horse, and Sherman had no basis to think anything of him at all, since they spent the whole was in entirely different theaters. But one out of three ain't bad.

[@williamolsen20]

I believe that General George Custer American patriot Indian fighter died with shit in his pants. D. Boon.

[@LesserMoffHootkins]

Nobody dies dignified, not even a Noble Savage.

[@danielblackburn1241]

You probably would of too if facing that kind of death

[@kokobwild2413]

I must say as a European its somewhat surprising to hear two jewish men saying they can "only imagine" what its like to be the victims of racial bigotry.

[@davidgamble955]

Read: THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’s HISTORY OF THE UNITES STATES. Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz

[@LesserMoffHootkins]

There is no indigenous history. They were all prehistoric until Columbus.

[@LesserMoffHootkins]

@@tomasmccauley569 It’s the easiest way to build a large structure. Of course, that “easy way” took a lot of back-breaking work from slaves, and it’s a monumental feat, but it was definitely surpassed in engineering snd architectural achievement, and in usefulness, in other cultures. Think of all the supporting mass, diminishing all the way to the point at the top, then consider how much more knowledge, skill, and technology it took to build a castle, a cathedral, a palace, a pagoda, a skyscraper, or even a two-story house. Anyway, pyramids were only built in Central America, not in what became the USA. Also, the people were literally prehistoric because they had no written history. Only a few cultures in the Americas had written language, and even then it was mostly a rudimentary pictographic system, similar to a comic book, or emojis, although the Mayas had a true written language. Most languages started as simple pictures in the Old World, East and West, until they became truly developed writing systems, so it’s no knock on the Meso-Americans. Even so, Natives of America north of Mexico had none of that, and so were prehistoric by definition.

[@LesserMoffHootkins]

@@tomasmccauley569 But not one written language, so they were prehistoric, by definition. What does “prehistory” mean?

[@bernardedwards8461]

Custer must have known it was wrong to butcher women and children, even if he thought it OK to murder prisoners. The Geneva Convention came into force in 1864, and although America didn't sign it until 1882 it must have given high ranking oficers food for thought. I find it hard to imagine that Robert E Lee would have behaved the same way, but then he was a more mature character than Custer. No one ever surrendered to me when I was in the Army, but if they had I would have treated them as I would wish to be treated myself. The US has this idea that it is alright for Americans to do things which would not be permissible for other countries, such as invading a sovereign state without provocation or deliberately bombing civilian infrastructure.

[@John-nz6jb]

Remember Erroll Flynn's portrayal of Custer at the end of the movie They Died With Their Boots on ? That movie only set Indian relationships back 100 years 😢.

[@John-nz6jb]

Custer shot himself in the head. ❤

[@John-nz6jb]

Don't believe Custer was humming Gary Owen😢.

[@chuletaization]

Interesting to learn Custer's fame was largely due to his wife. Her publishing of his exploits gained the public notice. In the Battle of the Little Bighorn the irony was, to the loser went the spoils.

[@55andamanhills]

Great discourse and very entertaining narratives of events during the times of the great Indian battles.

[@007nadineL]

Death and genocide is entertaining to you? Indians?

[@alwaysfourfun1671]

wrong! The great white people battles.

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

Can all in left-YT please start educating people about both: (1) the difference between right-authoritarian vs. right-libertarian; & (2) the difference between left-authoritarian vs left-libertarian? It’s long overdue. People aren’t cattle or sheep: They will understand if we educate them. Though we need to educate (& learn) about all the nuance.

[@joeymurdazalotmore6355]

Old dogs can learn new tricks people are dumb downed naturally , simply put, ur in ur bubble as well thinking folks think like you, they don't, most don't think and follow spectacle or find a cause to hate it's easier, path of least resistance are maga red team n team blue there is no difference between which corporate congressional media conglomerate rolls out a few folks born 100 years ago and choose between Darth Vader and Darth Vader lite. If folks have sound mind they notice they have seen this episode before like Joe manchining, etc it's kayfabe and telling folks to get it more understand more about a class of folks without moral fiber integrity the ability to stay on earth behave decent and still have some meaning and fun in life without wrecking the world or imposing any ideology on anyone is out order out there lane and should say less do more actions r facts words r masks to hide actions, everytime, yes every time,

[@GrandmaCathy]

Can you recommend a book on that topic? I have been struggling with the differences.

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

@@GrandmaCathy Glad you asked! There’s no particular book that’s good enough yet to my knowledge. Though I’ll share some helpful info in the next few comments that should steer you in the right direction: First off, ggl the main terms I used and you’ll find the info to research this. You’ll find excellent sites that distinguish the four corners, and they list main texts from each of the four separate corners

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

@@GrandmaCathy I’ll educate here some about right libertarianism, as I’m leftist and it’s important to teach other leftists to distinguish right authoritarianism(fscsm) from right libertarianism (anarcho-capitalism): Adam Smith was probably the first right libertarian (late 1700s). There’s also Gustave de Molinari’s Production of Security, written in 1849, a very significant right libertarian work. There’s Ludwig von Mises in early 1900s followed by the economists he influenced. And finally, all of it was influenced by the individualist anarchist writers from throughout the 1800s, mainly Americans.

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

@@GrandmaCathy *In researching these distinctions on the right, this is the most important question to guide leftists in their learning* : How do you distinguish economic fascism from economic capitalism?? We live in economic fascism now. We are nowhere near *neither* free-market capitalism _nor_ socialism. _Actually_ reading the true right libertarians is how you learn this. And therefore how one _actually_ & substantially & practically helps the working class by Praxis. Instead of the empty talk without effective practice of mainstream “leftists”.

[@larrypetersen427]

"History is a set of lies that people have agreed upon," Napoleon "It is a misfortune for the dead man , that his enemy survived him , and wrote his story" Friedrich von Schiller Regardless of truth or fiction , Custer undeniably had an attribute sorely lacking in most , especially his critics; Courage ! And for them , I ask this question . . . What were your expectations in a culture clash when a nomadic stone age people came up against a farming iron age people ?

[@richardofoz2167]

Question for all you Custer nerds out there: When I was a kid (mid 50s) I visited a Ripley's-Believe-It-Or-Not exhibit purporting to show a necklace made from the trigger fingers of all of Custer's men killed at the battle. As a credulous kid in those innocent times, I believed it, and was enthralled to see it. As an older, more sceptical adult in these jaded times, I'm inclined to disbelieve it. Was I right then, or now? Has anyone else ever heard of such a thing?

[@ToddSauve]

Things like that happened. I must emphasize "happened." People become evil when involved in wars, and it doesn't matter which side you are on. Body parts were collected as symbols of your greatness as a warrior. One plains tribesman had a collection of the hands of babies he had murdered. Ears were taken in Vietnam by some US soldiers. War is evil and it is not wise to get involved in it. The best writer of Western US/Canadian history is Robert M. Utley, though he is now in his 90s and hasn't written much lately. His biography of Sitting Bull, "The Lance and the Shield ..." is the most authoritative on the subject and better than any other I have seen.

[@richardofoz2167]

@@ToddSauve Not what I asked.

[@ToddSauve]

@@richardofoz2167 You asked "Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?" So I answered you in the affirmative. Yes, such things did happen, though I have never heard of the Little Bighorn fingers incident.

[@judithwyer389]

Read Highly deorated Marine General Smedley Butler's "War is a Racket." He says that his adventures pre-WWI were on behalf of American big business.

[@johnbolger2625]

In a side note; does anyone know who sings the theme song for Hedges Report? Sounds very Muddy Water-esc..but I think it’s a different blues artist. I like the tune (now ya talk about terror” 🎶🎸

[@007nadineL]

Willie King’s “Struggling Blues”

[@johnbolger2625]

@@007nadineL thank you!

[@kenellis6575]

I served in a British armoured regiment, The 16th/5th the Queens Royal Lancers,it was an amalgamation of The 16th Queens Lancers,and The 5th Irish Lancers,the amalgamation took place in 1922,after serving in the Great War. Both Regiments had an affiliation with the United States of America,the 16th,as The16th Light Dragoons,in the American War of Independence,under “Gentleman” John Bergoyne, and the 5th Irish Lancers,who’s men emigrated to America,during the Irish Potato Famine.My Regimental History shows,that a large number of former 5th Lancers were present,in the 7th Cavalry,under Custer,at The Battle of The Little Big Horn.It might also be of interest to know,that the Regimental Song of the 5th Lancers,the Gary Owen,was so liked by Custer,that it became the 7th Cavalry’s song,and still is,to this day!

[@beforeyourimmigrants8471]

As a black American I look at it totally different because of the native Americans involvement and enslaving us and fighting for the Confederacy to continue that system. They fought against the country we built out of a wilderness during our enslavement. We celebrate the Buffalo soldiers . Tell the whole story.

[@annepoitrineau5650]

I have read "My Life On the Plains", Custer was abominable and deluded. He was not brave because he was brave, he was brave because he thought of himself as indestructible and was self-agrandising. I also read Bury my heart at Wounded Knee, and that was quite something else. Real bravery and grandeur. I did not know about his sexual escapades, but it fits the personality as presented in his book.

[@georgejcking]

Hey genius, before you make foolish statements on the internet about someone, you should try reading more than just ONE book!!!! The United States would not exist as a country, if not for guys like Custard. He was very instrumental in the defeat of the Confederate army at Gettysburg and several other critical battles!!! Try reading a few more books and please lay off of the public comments until you do.😢

[@vladimir0700]

Great man-he helped pave the way to turning the continent into the cesspool that it is today

[@HooDatDonDar]

You are demented.

[@brucesummers7448]

The U.S. Army during this period had a desertion rate of more than 50% which indicates that many soldiers were not happy with their sociopathic commanding officers and with being forced to partake in the genocide.

[@view1st]

What was the capture/arrest and court martial rates for these deserters? Did most escape the military police/civil authorities?

[@Eadbhard]

"Sociopathic commanders officers" and being "forced to partake in the genocide" had little or nothing to do with the desertion rate of soldiers on the American western frontier, you dumbass. The soldiers deserted because the pay sucked, the food sucked, boredom was rife, and prospecting for gold seemed like a much more lucrative endeavor.

[@ChannelMath]

mythic presentation? I'm 42 and what I learned in public school was that Custer was such a terrible/reckless commander that he was defeated by Indians (not, of course, that the Indians were good fighters or tactically superior). It was an anecdote to amuse us, and maybe to teach us that the conflict was not entirely one-sided

[@JSB1882]

I think Custer is the greatest example of the arrogance and psychopathic behavior of the USA. The only difference is we have expanded his personality to other places around the world. Ukraine for instance - few US citizens understand our involvement there, but they hoot and holler about how evil Russians are as they did with the Native American. The thing I'm most proud of is the rest of the nations are beginning to understand this about the USA and the USA is having its Last Stand currently.

[@obsoleteelite8258]

I’m in the American Indian Movement. Custer had it coming.

[@leivabernie]

Oh yeah, if anybody had it coming, it was him.

[@nonyabiz550]

Yeah, neither of you ever took colonial history in college and it shows. They respected him. They didn't turn him over to the women or shove sewing awls in his ears. Sherman set him up. And no native Americans stole land, killed each other, ate one another, or took slaves or if they did, they treated them kindly and won them over, huh? Yeah, poor Matilda Lockhart was loved to death. 🙄

[@jaydinledford6990]

Custer wrecked 🦞🦞🦞

[@Adam-kf6lr]

Fair enough, warriors live and die by the sword. The only noble death VALHALLA CALLS!

[@jasonclark1966]

Custer? Custer had a real 'bad hair day'. But he had it coming, that blond, blue eyed criminal fuck. - - George Carlin

[@Thomas-bw1bz]

As an Irishman some of whoms family died at the bighorn capt Myles Keogh i despise Custer he lacked humanity and compassion. He was vainglorious, egotistical arrogant. The worst type of man . I feel sorry for any human being that had to endure him . Crazy horse and sitting Bull did the world a favour. As an Irishman I apologise from one dispossessed people to another to the Sioux and Cheyenne for what happened. My people should have had nothing to do with this. We were driven from our own lands by a famine caused by people like Custer who stole from us to die in a new land fighting people we did not know on behalf of the people that starved us to death. A million of us died another two million in exile scattered like seeds. I hope when Myles died he reflected on that and knew he was on the wrong side of justice. May he rest in peace.

[@jeffmilum9001]

Did you know that Captain Custer arguably saved the Battle of Gettysburg? J. E. B. Stuart had taken his cavalry BEHIND the defense and was undetected and about to charge Meade in concert with Pickett's Charge, when Custer, with a reconnaissance company returned from the recon, saw the danger and charged Stuart's force. THIS would have been his "last stand." But the action caught the attention of General Meade who had just enough time to shift his forces and halt Stuart's charge. Without Custer Pickett's Charge would almost certainly have succeeded.

[@charlesbynum]

No, I didn't know that. I still don't.

[@jeffmilum9001]

@@charlesbynum Google Custer battle Gettysburg

[@charlesbynum]

@@jeffmilum9001 I don't need to Google it. I read all of the books, most of them before there was a Google.

[@jeffmilum9001]

@@charlesbynum Would you share your sources?

[@jeffmilum9001]

@@charlesbynum Have you read any books about the Battle of Gettysburg? Custer thwarted J E B Stuart and it's common knowledge, IF you have read your history books.

[@westho7314]

Custer got the point!

[@skindianu]

He also wore Arrow Shirts....

[@rono4723]

This book is a masterpiece on contemporary Indigenous issues by a student of Vine Deloria,Jr & Howard Zinn." (INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES) Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, 2015) 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 "The misconceptions about Native people in dominant White society, always say more about White society itself than they do about Native peoples." Couple of books by excellent NDN authors about the Greasy Grass fight. "Killing Custer" James Welch, Blackfoot "The Day The World Ended at the Little Bighorn" Joseph Marshall III, Lakota

[@magicsinglez]

Who knew the weatherman-character in the film, ‘Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy’ was actually based on a real person, except that the real person was actually stupider than character portrayed by Steve Carell.

[@MrJimloveuk]

Great video. The only small criticism is that you refer to Americans...many friends of mine from other countries in the Americas would object to you Yanks calling yourselves Americans.

[@MrJimloveuk]

@@BettBeat_Media they call themselves Amercians and so do I. Anyone from the US I call a Yank. In Spanish they call then USA'ers. It doesn't ring off the tongue in English like Estadounidense.

[@HooDatDonDar]

Southerners don’t like being called yanks.

[@Christopher_Bachm]

The intro draws me in, everytime. Thank you for opening my eyes. I was a sucker for the establishment narrative, from my alter boy upbringing. Much appreciation!

[@LawrenceCarroll1234]

From Johnny Horton’s 1960 song, “Jim Bridger”(minor punctuation added by myself): He spoke with General Custer and said, “listen Yellow Hair, The Sioux have a great nation, so treat 'em fair and square; Sit in on their war councils, don't laugh away their pride”; But Custer didn't listen, [&] at Little Big Horn Custer died

[@TomRivieremusic]

America is the only country that has gone from barbarism to decadence without passing through civilization. - Oscar Wilde.

[@marythompson4654]

It still continues today . It is time to stand with Native American Indians and t respect for a beautiful culture and there people. I would love for you to report on lithim Nevada in Thacker Pass that will destroy a historical Scared Site. And enough is enough to continue taking from them.

[@Warrior_Resisting_Colonialism]

Thank you, relative.

[@LesserMoffHootkins]

What culture? They were primitive, with no writing, no art, no architecture, no science, and only two “songs”.

[@Warrior_Resisting_Colonialism]

@@LesserMoffHootkins You should pick up a book sometime.

[@LesserMoffHootkins]

@@Warrior_Resisting_Colonialism One of the books published by Native Americans before 1492? 🤣

[@Warrior_Resisting_Colonialism]

@@LesserMoffHootkins If you would pick up a book you would learn that there are many settlers who visited many Indian Nations and documented who and what they saw.

[@DC-wg1cr]

Make the colonizer the victim, like the alamo

[@kenjohnson6326]

Another great book on the subject of the so-called Indian Wars is "Empire of the Summer Moon" about Comanche folks. Highly recommended.

[@jasonbrown372]

So is Louise Erdrich's "Love Medicine"

[@kenjohnson6326]

@@jasonbrown372 I'm going to check it out.

[@stephenyoung2742]

When Custer thought he had been discovered and had to push on without proper rest for his command he still sent Benteen off following Terrys orders! After Weir Point where he was no longer in view of Reno the first ford had a beaver dam below it deepening the water! Trying to scout for footing and not able to cross made them sitting ducks! Custer's last words were Damn Beavers!

[@HighRisksatx]

Child and woman killer, wasted by real warriors.

[@the-vinyl-dreamscape5084]

Amazing interview. Thank you.

[@kurts4867]

Custer's brother won the Medal of Honor twice during the Civil War....

[@danielblackburn1241]

Yes , he was a very brave soldier and died like one too

[@zhenjiu]

Cannot recall the band name (MDC?0 or the song title, but a hardcore tune from the 1980s went something like: He died full of arrows with s**t in his pants. Custer, manifest destiny, ethnic cleansing: our history is littered with garbage.

[@roblane5699]

Indeed I tremble for my country when reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever: that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possible events: that it may become probable by supernatural interference! - Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia

[@newhorizonscdc8871]

This shows the viciousness of the caucasian in contact with human beings

[@newhorizonscdc8871]

@Лоредан I am not.... Historical data indicates the offending invaders were of Caucasian groups. I apologize if I offended you. Please forgive me

[@Grendelbc]

I'm reminded of Calamity Jane from the great HBO series Deadwood. She gives a nasty little speech about how incompetent and corrupt Custer was.

[@danielblackburn1241]

In real life she probably had respect for him. Deadwood is for TV .

[@anthonyat2401]

Those poor Indians, with their advanced civilization, discoveries and peaceful existence. Never did harm to anyone.

[@mikem820]

Thank you once again Chris for your truthful telling of what the real history of this country is

[@cargotrailerkenny]

thanks Chris. you're the best in the business.