Articles
“Just one problem with the Oneida Indian Nation’s Yellow Brick Road Casino: A decade before Baum wrote one of this country’s most celebrated children’s tales, he campaigned for a Native American genocide.
“The Whites, by law of conquest, by justice of civilization, are masters of the American continent, and the best safety of the frontier settlements will be secured by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indians,” he wrote in late 1890 for the Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer in South Dakota. “Why not annihilation? Their glory has fled, their spirit broken, their manhood effaced; it’s better that they should die than live the miserable wretches that they are.”
Two weeks later, Baum, the newspaper’s publisher, reiterated his point in an editorial written after the slaughter of as many as 300 Sioux at Wounded Knee. He demanded that the U.S. government “wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth.”
– Washington Post, Tribe fighting Redskins name plans ‘Oz’ casino despite author’s racist past.
“That brand identity is so absolute that the Oneida Indian Nation, which has led the movement to change the Washington Redskins’ name, plans to build a $20 million casino that pays homage to the work of Baum. Some Native Americans have blasted that decision because, before Baum wrote one of this country’s most celebrated children’s tales, he campaigned for a Native American genocide.”
– Washington Post, Cashing in on Wizard of Oz mania: What you can buy in L. Frank Baum’s hometown.
Download
Download the 18″x24″ poster (.pdf), Indian Country 52 #6 – Follow Genocide.
Close Ups
Indian Country 52
Indian Country 52 is a weekly project by David Bernie that uses the medium of posters that promote issues and stories in Indian Country.
Creative Commons License
This work by David Bernie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
