The Northern Plains Native American Wars of Resistance Against the Occupation Forces of the U.S. Army, Settlers and Miners

My poems titled: “The Battle of the Little Bighorn River” and “Massacre at Wounded Knee” are dedicated to my father, James S. Robinson, Jr. a Dakota Sioux, a member of the Council of Three Rivers Pittsburgh PA, American Indian Center, Inc. (Russell Sims, Executive Director). My father served as Executive Director of the famed Hill City Municipality, Pittsburgh, PA, was Superintendent of Police of the Friendly Service Bureau of the City of Pittsburgh and was the Executive Director of the Paul Lawrence Dunbar Community Center in Butler, PA. My poems are also dedicated to all the native indigenous descendants/ancestors who fought gallantly, courageously, bravely, heroically, ferociously and with honor-----the Arapaho, Blackfoot Sioux, Brules, Cheyennes, Lakotas, Hunkpapas, Minneconjous, Oglalas, Rosebud Sioux, San Arcs, Tetons, Uhiapapas. Special tribute to Chief Crazy Horse, who was never defeated in battle by the U.S. (occupation) Army, and to Chiefs Sitting Bull, Gall, Two Moon, Crow King, Comes-In-Sight and Rain-In-The-Face. Also, great recognition must be given to Red Horse, Low Dog, Iron Thunder, Kill Eagle, Hapehe Onatte, White Bull, Brave Bear, American Horse, Crazy Heart, He Dog, and Swift Bear and to all the other warriors, women and young boys who assisted in the Battle of the Little Big Horn River.
I must note that one African runaway slave, Isaiah Dorman, who was appointed as an interpreter to Lieutenant Colonel Custer, was killed by the native warriors who also killed all the Crow and Arikara scouts/interpreters who were attached and fought for the Seventh Cavalry. Dorman found refuge with the Sioux and took a Sioux wife. His adopted people called him Azimpi which means “teat” but sounds like Isaiah in the guttural Dakota-Sioux pronunciation. It has been reported that moments before he died, it is said the Hunkpapa leader Sitting Bull recognized the Black man and gave him water. After the battle, the Sioux women and children mutilated all the troopers’ bodies to deny them passage to the Afterworld. They left Azimpi’s body intact. Unfortunately, Mr. Dorman, the Crow and Arikara Indian scouts were fighting on the wrong side of history and would be perceived today as being “sellouts” and in those days were considered traitors and disloyal. (The Crows and the Arikaras were mortal enemies of the Sioux and the Lakotas and may not have considered themselves as traitors).
June 25 and 26, 2008 mark the 132nd anniversary of the Battle of The Little Big Horn River, which was the greatest victory of the Northern Plains Native Americans over the U.S. Army and the obscure Lt.Col. George Armstrong Custer of the Seventh Cavalry. The Native American forces of Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Lame White Man and Gall rendered the most devastating defeat of the U.S. Army occupation forces on the Northern Plains. All interested persons travelling in the Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana are encouraged to visit the National Little Big Horn Battlefield and the National Monument located in Crow Agency Montana 59022, sponsored by the National Parks Service, U.S. Department of Interior.
My heart goes out to the descendants of Big Foot and Black Coyote and all the other Native American descendants of the victims who were brutally murdered at Wounded Knee, South Dakota on December 29, 1890. A national monument should be erected with all the names of the Native American men, women children and babies who were slaughtered at Wound Knee.

The Battle of the Little Big Horn River-----June 25, 1876

As the Robins will Fly
Under the Powder Blue Montana sky
Chief Crazy Horse said,
This is a good day to fight
And a good day to die.

Native warriors gathered in full Force
And attacked Custer’s Troops
And showed little Remorse,
The hapless troopers were fighting on their knees
As the fierce native warriors charged like a swarm of bees
General Custer’s troops were Beaten
Like Chopped Liver
At the Battle of The Little Big Horn River.

The Native Tribes
Had their special
Day in the Sun
But Chief Crazy Horse Said
Our Struggle has just Begun
Fleeing into the Dakotas
On the Run.


By Ronald B. Saunders
June, 1998







Massacre at Wounded Knee------December 29, 1890

Defenseless Men, Women, Children and Babies
Were slaughtered,
And murdered like cattle,
Now you have the gall,
To rewrite History,
And call it a Battle.
It was a massacre at Wounded Knee
In your so-called stolen land of the free.
Was it because of the color of my skin
That you destroyed my Culture and me
In your so-called stolen land of the free.
But I still have hopes and Aspirations
That one day we will all be free,
Even with a few of us remaining
At Wounded Knee.

By Ronald B. Saunders
December, 1998

America's Number One Influential Right Wing Conservative Endorses Hillary

Hillary’s endorsement by Richard Mellon Scaife, owner of the Pittsburgh Tribune Newspaper is quite frightening and alarming and should scare the hell out of organized labor and all working people throughout the Commonwealth. Richard Mellon Scaife is the complete antithesis of all working class men, women, Catholics, seniors, African-Americans, Hispanics and middle-class Whites. How can you misguided souls in organized labor be totally misled by deceitful Mellon-Scaife and the Clintons which is further evidence of whom Hillary Clinton is in bed with----corporate America and their lobbyists. When will the voters of Pennsylvania wake up and critically, study, evaluate and investigate the purported link between Hillary Clinton and Richard Mellon Scaife with the Christian political organization known as “The Family”.
Birds of a feather flock together and indeed the whole country knows that Mr. Mellon Scaife is an avowed elitist.

Tabloid Democratic Presidential Debate in Philly----Gotcha Debate

I have been watching presidential television debates since the great Nixon-Kennedy debates of 1960.. The Gong-Show spectacle held on Wednesday night, April 16th between the salivating Hillary Clinton and the unbelieving Barack Obama was the worst moderated political debate in modern history. Indeed Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos borrowed and adopted some of the same Neo-Nazi tabloid, soap opera tactics of the right wing media like Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and CBS in a vain futile attempt to smear Barack Obama. Mr. Joseph Paul Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s propaganda minister, would have been very proud of your performance, Mr. Gibson and Mr. Stephanopoulos, and the only thing missing from your attire was the absence of the brown shirts.
Furthermore, Gibson and Stephanopoulos were both unprepared and unprofessional in their relentless racially charged questioning of Mr. Obama on such issues as wearing the American flag pin on his lapel, Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his patriotism, Mr. Obama’s “bitter” comments and with Mr. Obama’s association with Bill Ayers, a former “Weather Underground” leader. ABC News and moderators Gibson and Stephanopoulos failed miserably in this debate and gave an appearance that they were in bed with the Clinton camp. Mr. Obama’s campaign should have refused to debate knowing that a former Clinton castoff, George Stephanopoulos would be one of the moderators. Why did the Obama campaign permit this horrific blunder of having Stephanopoulos as a moderator.? This was a major foul on the part of ABC news, and I will personally refuse to watch any and all ABC news programs and hopefully all like-minded individuals will follow my lead and vigorously boycott ABC and their sponsors.
The bodacious moderators were deliberately trying to distract the American voters from the real pressing issues such as a failing economy, escalating gasoline and food prices, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, lack of universal health care, global warming/energy policy, U.S. missile defense system in Eastern Europe, failure to capture Osama Bin Laden, nuclear proliferation, free and fair trade agreements, high cost of higher education, mortgage foreclosure crisis, genocide in Darfur, boycotting the opening ceremonies for the Olympics and a whole host of other issues. The inept moderators spent about 45 minutes talking about soap opera tabloid issues that were not relevant to the voters of the Keystone State. This was yellow journalism at its best. The question from the woman from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, who appeared to be the female version of Archie Bunker, inquired to Mr. Obama on why he refused to wear the American flag pin on his lapel which that line of questioning bordered on the absurd.
How can one rate this debate when it was obviously biased and slanted towards the sleazy Hillary? Barack had to fight three opponents on Wednesday night as they pummeled him on the ropes. Barack fought hard off the ropes, but the deck was stacked against him because he had to fight the two referees, Gibson and Stephanopoulos plus the combatant Hillary.
This Gong-Show debate was a total farce. But I give the victory to Mr. Obama because the two biased referees, Gibson and Stephanopoulos were disqualified along with Hillary who constantly hit below the belt. Perhaps Hillary promised the moderator Stephanopoulos the position of press secretary in her administration which I would not put pass the Clintons. Mr. Stephanopoulos apparently learned his lessons well while in the Clinton administration. That’s why he was so effective in working in concert with Hillary in their “kitchen sink” strategy.

Hillary, McCain and Veterans

Thanks to Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, McCain and Hillary Clinton we have an estimated 300,000 veterans among nearly 1.7 million who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan who are suffering from depression, post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), and delayed battlefield fatigue syndrome. According to the Rand Corporation who conducted the study on the 300,000 returning veterans, the vast majority are slipping through the cracks and are not receiving adequate care or treatment. The report further states that there is a strong possibility that most of these veterans without proper care or treatment will suffer for the rest of their lives unless comprehensive legislation is passed that will meet the needs of all of our veterans. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and cohorts—McCain, Hillary Clinton and all the members of Congress who voted for the use of force and authorization for war against Iraq should have fifteen percent deducted from their remaining paychecks and pension plans to pay for each one of the 300,000 returning veterans who may be in need of medical and mental health treatment for the rest of their lives.
John McCain and Hillary Clinton were only 2 of the 13 senators to vote against adding four hundred and thirty million dollars for inpatient and outpatient care for veterans (S. AMDT 3642 to HR 4939 Vote 98, 4/26/06). How can Hillary Clinton and John McCain look in the eyes of any veteran who has suffered as a result of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan with any sense of compassion, understanding or empathy? Shame on you John McCain and Hillary Clinton!

Hillary and Bill's Baggage

Yes Hillary, you and Bill have more baggage than the entire fleet of UPS and Fed Ex trucks can haul. Perhaps some of those UPS and Fed Ex trucks had some of the important documents and papers relating to Vincent Foster’s death and material that was relevant to Ron Brown’s purported indictment. Guess what Hillary, all of your baggage has not been thoroughly rummaged through by your opposition. Does anyone remember the questionable circumstances surrounding the deaths of Vincent Foster and Ron Brown? Why the silence of Susan McDougal who risked her own freedom by going to jail? For what and for whom is Susan McDougal covering up?
If Hillary is the Democratic candidate, the Republicans will bring up all of the old baggage that has not been thoroughly rummaged through. Perhaps there is someone out there who will give Susan McDougal a million dollars to write a “tell it all” book with no holes barred.

Hillary Represents Mediocrity at Its Best

America needs a change in the presidency, but we certainly don’t need a bombastic Hillary Clinton who would present enormous problems beyond our comprehension. Hillary is not an agent for change. She is all about maintenance of the status quo. Her mandatory health care proposal is more reminiscent of the programs that Adolf Hitler forced on the citizens of the Third Reich. Hillary’s massive retaliation remark in the April 16th debate could ultimately trigger a larger global conflict that could involve other super powers in the caldron. This massive retaliation remark by Hillary has revealed how little depth, understanding and knowledge she has on the overall situation involving Middle Eastern politics. It’s unfortunate that the political pundits and foreign policy experts have chosen not to critically condemn, expose and follow up with more thorough questioning of her knee-jerk reaction to the very complicated issues involving all nation states in the Middle East. Hillary’s retaliation remark further shows how unqualified she is to be commander in chief of the United States of America. It appears as though she would be more suitable as acting as a host in serving tea and cookies to dignitaries (Northern Ireland). The Democratic choice for president on April 22nd should be clear to anyone who chooses to see it that Barack Obama is the more suitable, prepared, qualified candidate to be our next President of the United States.

Now Hillary Wants to be One of the Good Old Boys

Hillary looked like a buffoon and an unsavory character out on the stump drinking Crown Royal whiskey in a tavern in Indiana solely for the purpose of wooing the voters in Indiana and Pennsylvania. Hillary’s behavior in the tavern was ridiculous, absurd and scandalous as she was trying to be like one of the boys. Most God-fearing, regular church-going folks in the heartlands of Indiana and Pennsylvania have found her behavior unladylike and appalling. The next thing Hillary, Bill and Chelsea will be doing is sitting down to eat some soul food such as ribs, chitlins, hogmaws, pickled pig feet, pig ears, cornbread, black eye peas, red beans and rice, fried chicken, collard and kale greens, potato salad, corn on the cob, watermelon, sweet potato pie and some buttermilk at some down home restaurant in Way Back, North Carolina for the purpose of courting the Black vote.