Ward Churchill's lies in his Recent Speech

Vanity | 2/12/05 | Soliton

[Soliton]

Ward Churchill said in his most recent speech that Wall Street was named because of a wall that had once been part of a holding pen for slaves. He also said that the Wappinger tribe only thought they had rented a portion of Manhattan to the Dutch and that when they contested the sale the settlers massacred them, cut off their heads, and played kickball with the heads at roughly the site of the Twin Towers.

The facts are easily googled.

“A century before, Dutch settlers had built a wall to protect themselves from Indians, priates(sic), and other dangers.” - The History of the Stock Market

"The name of the street derives from the fact that during the 17th century, it formed the northern boundary of the New Amsterdam settlement where the Dutch had constructed a crude wall of timber and earthwork in 1652. The wall was ostensibly meant as a defense against attack from Lenape Indians, New England colonists, and the British, but it was never tested in battle. The wall was dismantled by the British in 1699." - Wikipedia

And as far as the kick ball reference:

This was a little more difficult to pin down. The reference is to the “Pavonia Massacre”. It took place in Pavonia, now Jersey City in 1643, 17 years after the purchase of Manhattan and it had NOTHING to do with purchase of Manhattan. The Wappinger who sold the island were actually fleeing another Indian tribe, the Mohicans:

"For obvious reasons, the Dutch had restricted the sale of firearms to the tribes near their settlements on the lower Hudson. The Munsee could get guns from the Swedes, but the Wappinger were ill prepared to resist the Mahican. In the winter of 1642-43, 80 heavily-armed Mahican warriors came to the Wecquaesgeek villages demanding tribute. The Wecquaesgeek refused, and in the melee which followed, 17 were killed and many of their women and children captured. To escape the Mahican, the Wecquaesgeek fled south to what they thought was the protection of the Dutch settlements. After a two-week stay on Manhattan, they moved across the Hudson to the Hackensack villages near Pavonia (Jersey City) and Corlear's Hook. Because of their recent confrontations with the Dutch, the Wecquaesgeek were not especially friendly, and there were incidents. At this point Kieft ignored the advice of his council and decided to exterminate the Wecquaesgeek to set an example to the other "Wilden" (wild men). On February 25th, 1643 the Dutch made a surprise night attack on the sleeping Wecquaesgeek villages killing 80 at Pavonia and another 30 at Corlear's Hook. Dutch soldiers reportedly brought the heads of their victims back to Fort Amsterdam and played kickball with them." – Delaware History http://www.tolatsga.org/dela.html

Fort Amsterdam was located on the southernmost tip of Manhattan Island. The Twin Towers are located north of Wall Street and although fairly close to the site of the fort by today's standards, it would have been outside of the settlement that the wall demarcated.

As with other references made by Churchill, he has slanted the facts or, outright lied, for political reasons. By associating Wall Street with slavery, he attacks capitalism. By associating the Twin Towers with a famous massacre of Native Americans, he justifies his call for more 9/11’s. Fortunately, neither association holds up to even amateur historical research.

[kennedy]

then all of a sudden Disney's Pocohantas is the Holy Grail of Indian Movies

What, the cartoon that looks like a Playboy Magazine Vargas Girl?

[shellshocked]

This is exactly why Churchill MUST be fired from the university: No professor should be allowed to tell lies to students. Having a differing opinion is certainly what universities are about, but not lies. Universities seek the truth, not communist propaganda.

[ArmyTeach]

Churchill isn't lying. He demonstrates on a regular basis that he's just arrogant, illiterate, ill-informed, and generally stupid. IMHO.

[CitizenM]

When Churchill dies - his headstone should read: Here "lies" Ward Churchill, as always.