I cannot understand what could posses people to do such things. I am not Lakota but the Dine' were also at war with the U.S. government and we share a common history in such things. Evil was in the hearts of these men.
I do not dwell on the past but look to the future. I use what I have learned from the past to ensure that the future does not witness these things. As a proud American I will be ever vigilant agianst these forces of darkness.
"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
I also believe it should be expanded to read:
"Those who do not remember--or understand--the past are doomed to repeat it."
Those who revise their history are doomed to repeat it
I can understand somewhat what you're feeling, I was born a German and reading about the Death Camps does the same to me. I could never in a million years understand how people could let that happen.
What many fail to comprehend is that the North American tribes had been decimated by European disease before many whites had even arrived. Entire villages perished, and in many cases it happened so fast they did not even have time to take care of their dead.
This was an important factor in the adoption of Christianity by the surviving Indians. They attributed the wealth and prosperity of the white man to the 'medicine' of the white man's religion, and in desperation, many adopted it.
It was desperation that later led them to reject it, and turn to the Ghost Dancers, whose ceremonies sought to revive the 'lost' Spirits, and prosperity of the past. They had come to the conclusion that Christianity was not as strong a force for them as it was for the newcomers.
I tend to forgivness when it comes to the crimes the Natives and Whites inflicted on each other. In a larger sense, they had enemies in common -- such as diptheria and smallpox. My Mom and her brother were the only two kids out of seven who lived past the age of 14, in a homesteader's house outside of Cheyenne.