Shocking documentary about Native Americans

[BMD]

great idea, and I have now updated the transcript of all four of David Yeagley's appearances in the propaganda video at www.badeagle.org.

Tuesday Tomorrow) I will add another article with more details about Yeagley being hired by the film company in the first place, and also a response to his half-baked "retraction" now appearing on his own white supremaicist site, in his lame attempt to now distance himself from his own stupidity.

Till then, good night all.

[Barnaby_McEwan]

Thanks for your work on this, Brent. Meanwhile, do I detect the sound of aneurysms popping Down Under?

An invitation to the future
The apology to the Stolen Generations may not alter the lives of Aboriginal people. But it is a crucial step for all Australians.

Millions marched for this cause. Sorry Days were held, with extraordinary town hall meetings where many wept, and Sorry Books filled with individual Australians' own apologies. There was at the heart of the reconciliation movement a sense that it offered all Australians a necessary and cathartic rapprochement that might enable the nation to finally go forward.

But for 11 years it did not happen.

John Howard, willing to apologise to home owners for rising interest rates, would not say sorry to Aborigines. He refused to condone what he referred to as "a black armband version" of history, preferring a jingoistic nationalism. He promoted a revisionist school of history that claimed the suffering of Aboriginal Australia had been grossly overstated. He went so far as to install one of that school's leading proponents, Keith Windschuttle, on the board of the Australian Broadcasting Commission.

[BMD]

John Howard, willing to apologise to home owners for rising interest rates, would not say sorry to Aborigines. He refused to condone what he referred to as "a black armband version" of history, preferring a jingoistic nationalism. He promoted a revisionist school of history that claimed the suffering of Aboriginal Australia had been grossly overstated. He went so far as to install one of that school's leading proponents, Keith Windschuttle, on the board of the Australian Broadcasting Commission.

yes. it's time everyone start calling this selective amnesia what it is, indigenous holocaust denial. it's in all three places this film focused on: the U.S.A., Greenland, and Australia. It's an effort to simply forget and move along, forget the past atrocities in order to preserve the current status quo free of guilt, no longer any moral need to take responsibility for the past, etc. It is denial of the holocaust, in support of the caste systems that resulted from the holocausts.

[educatedindian]

The good news is that this letter I sent is being passed around quite a bit. The Green Party in Sweden reposted a translated version.

http://mp.se/templates/Mct_78.aspx?avdnr=18951&number=145107

The original:


An Open Letter to Poul-Erik Heilbruth and Ingmar Persson:


Dear Mr. Heilbruth and Mr. Persson,

 I am Dr. Al Carroll. I am a history professor for the Alamo Community College District in San Antonio, Texas, in the United States. I have written books and articles on American Indian history and am American Indian myself. My ancestry is Mescalero Apache, as well as Mexican and Irish.

This letter to you both will be posted online and sent to as many media sources as possible, in both the United States and Scandinavia. I want everyone to know just what a travesty the two of you have foisted upon the public by making and broadcasting your racist film, doing enormous damage to indigenous peoples worldwide by your promotion of outright cultural genocide.

I have just seen your documentary "Prisoners of the Past" online. As a historian, I have never seen such a poorly done work filled with one falsehood and distortion after another. It is as appalling to watch your film as it is to see a Nazi rant about Jews. Both are equally filled with lies.

There are so many falsehoods that it is hard to know where to begin. But to start with, the biggest error in your film is this:

YOU USED THREE WHITE SUPREMACISTS AS SOURCES.

David Yeagley, Barbara Lindsay, and Keith Winschuttle ARE WHITE SUPREMACISTS and on the extreme Far Right of the political spectrum.

Two of them, Yeagley and Lindsay, are open members of white supremacist groups.

What you did is as insane as using Nazis or the Nation of Islam as a source on Jews.

I have to ask: Did you KNOWINGLY use white supremacists as your sources?

Are you white supremacists yourselves?

Or did you just do such a poor job of research that you did not know?

If you did not know, then I urge you in the strongest possible terms to apologize for your mistakes, withdraw the film, and hopefully reshoot it with the voices of actual Native people instead.

Let me provide with the proof you SHOULD have known about long BEFORE you started filming, that Yeagley, Lindsay, and Windschuttle are openly racist, white supremacist extremists.

Barbara Lindsay:

Barbara Lindsay is a leading member of the white supremacist group One Nation. She claims to have a small amount of Cherokee Indian ancestry, but is not a member of any tribe. She was expelled from a Cherokee heritage club.

David Yeagley is NOT American Indian at all. He is an imposter who POSES as Indian. His stepmother was Comanche Indian, and based on that he was mistakenly enrolled.

Yeagley is a member of or tied to the following white supremacist and extremist groups:

John Birch Society (anti Semitic conspiracy theorists)

National Alliance (white supremacist)

Stormfront (Neo Nazi skinheads)

Gene Expression (eugenicists)

VDARE (self described as "white nationalists")

Windschuttle is not a conservative, he's outright racist, and often makes up "facts" to support his racism. His take on history so bizarre and filled with lies he can't find an academic publisher and has to go to vanity publishers.

But he and his supporters seem to imagine that because he's clearly seen as racist is somehow proof that academia has been taken over by leftists. In fact most historians tend to be quite conservative, certainly in the sense of cautious.

See for yourselves what far better historians have to say about an open racist like Windschuttle.

http://blogs.usyd.edu.au/thinkingculture/2006/08/australias_racist_cultures.html
"Further, you can find a very thorough analysis of the various ways in which racism manifests in Keith Windschuttle's self-published (as opposed to 'serious academic') research in 'Whitewash: On Keith Windschuttle's Fabrication of Aboriginal History', Black Inc. Agenda, 2003. The book contains contributions from scholars across the Australian academy."

Windschuttle is pretty racist towards Asians too, imagining them "taking over," that whites are "endangered", and that being racist is central to white Australian identity.

http://www.borderlandsejournal.adelaide.edu.au/vol5no1_2006/perera_raceterror.htm

"22. Anglo-Australian men as an endangered species in the law are only a part of Fraser's apocalyptic vision of the future. In an article, "Rethinking the White Australia Policy" (a review of Keith Windschuttle's book, The White Australia Policy), Fraser asserts:

Within two or three decades, it is not unreasonable to expect that Australia will have a heavily Asian managerial-professional, ruling class that will not hesitate to promote the interests of co-ethnics at the expense of white Australians. (Fraser 2005b).

23. Fraser supports this statement with the fantastic notion, as recapped by Windschuttle, that "Europeans ... evolved in a cold climate to support non-kinship forms of reciprocity and thus to welcome strangers," while "Chinese and Japanese businessmen operate within mafia-like, extended family clans that are bound by shared genes to support one another" (Windschuttle 2005)....

Despite their internal differences, however, Windschuttle, Fraser and Duffy represent an institutionalised and politically powerful configuration of contemporary Australian nationalism that exists on a continuum with assertions of race pride that are usually disowned as extremist....

30. The most distinctive feature of the formation represented by Duffy and Windschuttle is its foregrounding of Anglo-Australian achievement and white racial pride. Its platform is premised on a whitewashing (Manne 2003) of Australian history, especially of the violence directed towards Indigenous people and their ongoing resistances."

Your film's premises blame the victims throughout, and show a lack of understanding of the most basic facts.

I can only hope you made these mistakes because you did not realize that you were being told lies by white supremacists.

Again, I urge you to admit your mistakes, apologize, and withdraw this awful, racist film you have made.

Thank you,
Dr. Al Carroll
Alamo Community College District
San Antonio, Texas, USA

[BMD]

20 HALF-BAKED RETRACTIONS BY DAVID YEAGLEY
from the Bad Eagle journal (www.badeagle.org)

White supremacist David A. Yeagley is feeling the heat, and is suddenly wanting to retract the videotaped statements he so enthusiastically provided for the propaganda video: Historiens Fångar ("prisoners of the past" or "history's prisoners").

But the explanations Yeagley now gives, are just as inaccurate as the videotaped ones, and must largely be considered as mediocre attempts to backtrack and keep an imagined favor with Indian people. For two reasons, Yeagley’s retractions are simply half-baked: A. he is not regarded in any positive way from Indian people so there is no logical reason to backtrack at all; and, B. he is not actually retracting anything important.

Let’s take a closer look at the basic twenty points that Yeagley hopes to pass off as Historiens Fångar retractions, and why those rationalizations fail miserably.   READ MORE ...

[Defend the Sacred]

Heyyy, the film is on the Internet! See if this works:

http://svt.se/svt/road/Classic/shared/mediacenter/index.jsp?&d=13276&lid=puff_492362&lpos=extra_0

The video at the above link now is "Sami nieida jojk". In order to see "Prisoners of the Past" (sic), you now have to go to the menu on the right and click on the second program, "Historiens fångar".

I've been offline with the flu, but finally got a chance to see this wretched piece of propaganda. I've blogged about it on blogspot and LJ, posted it to the CAORANN list (reposted Al's open letter in all three places), and written Poul-Erik Heilbruth and Ingmar Persson.

I really hate the way they exploited the indigenous people they did talk to. I wonder if they had any idea how their stories would be used. 

[olefos]

I am really surprised that anyone can get away with such productions today. It tells me we've still got a way ahead of us to get out of the backwaters of deliberate negative stereotyping, or might one say social darwinism?. It is so ill produced that it must be some kind of political agenda behind it. How can one get hand on just these "experts" without an agenda? The other replys in this forum is telling about that.

[Freija]

I got a call from a person who had phoned Swedish TV and talked to them.  They said they had been flooded with complaints and were pretty shocked about the reactions. This had made them look through the film again, but could see no signs of "racism" - it was merely a film that looked at the problems from a different perspective. Basically, they did not understand the reactions at all and as for the professor.....well, he was a professor....therefore he could not be racist. (huh?)

[frederica]

Saying he is a professor, therefore excluded is like saying Joseph Mengele was a Doctor. I don't think Mengele followed the Hippocratic Oath. They need to look at the alliances. Really pretty ridiculous.

[V Hawkins]

I just wrote a real witty message only for it to say I'd timed out. So I relogged in and hit "send" again and it said I was sending an empty message. So I hit the "<-" key back to the message and hit "send" again. A Message came back saying I'd already sent it.  . . .whew . . . darn . . .

. . . story of my life, in a nutshell.

ANYHOW, I live in Southwestern Oklahoma. I've never heard of this guy. I think (not positive) tribal membership requires 1/4 Comanche blood. Something about this story seems . . . hmmm . . .

I am in Lawton at least once every month or 2 for one reason or another. Their tribal headquarters is half way between I 44 and Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. During the Dust Bowl dad helped build tose dams, campsites, and trails in the CCCs, that are in the refuge. I just ran a half a marathon last fall (not bad for a 55 year old) through that area. We used to hold family reunions in the wildlife refuge when I was a child. This is my home.

I couldn't imagine him actually visiting REAL Comanche's -- I have a lot of experience with frauds, and they usually stay away from the TRUE homeland of their obsession. I suspect he'll never come back here, but for the rest of his life will talk about the "real Indians" he's seen . . . but if he could run for office, seems lie he must have been at least 1/4th Comanche. I mist be overlooking something, or missing something.

When did this Comanche election take place? I'd like to search the "Lawton Constitution" -- local newspaper -- and see what it has in it. If I have the date this election took place, it should be easy to find.

vh

[Didgebaba]

If you are interested in understanding some of the ideology behind Kieth Windschuttle this article may help:

Doing it for the Kids
On the pretext of a child sexual abuse crisis in Australia’s Northern Territory the Howard government passed emergency legislation and prepared a land invasion of aboriginal areas by police, doctors and the army. Elizabeth Povinelli locates this latest state of exception in a wider neoliberal project to impose work and austerity. Images and text box by Benedict Seymour

In July 2007 I was living in a small remote aboriginal community called Bulgul, on the coast of Anson Bay, Northern Territory, with a group of aboriginal men, women and children. Most of them were living in tents. These people had been driven out of their homes in another indigenous community called Belyuen located about 300 kilometres from Bulgul. Wielding axes, chainsaws, pickets, and rocks, other members of the community chased them into the scrub on 15 March. Then they ransacked their houses and stole their goods. Initially no one was charged. The police investigation seemed minimal at best. Without any prospect of housing in Darwin, and not wishing to live as part of the urban poor, these exiled people had been promised housing at Bulgul where they could live on land that belonged to their pre-colonial ancestors. Under Australian property law this land is currently defined as ‘aboriginal freehold’.[1] Months later they are still living in tents, hauling water and firewood, while, just kilometres away, non-aboriginal people live in houses on aboriginal freehold.

Fullt Article Here: http://www.metamute.org/en/Doing-It-for-The-Kids

[educatedindian]

Good news I got in an email from a Green Party member in Sweden:
 
"I have spoken to one of the directors on SVTs department for documentaries and issues of society.
 
He was, at first, both agressive, hurt and defensive...couldnt understand the massive criticism they have recieved, after showing this film.
 
he told me: - You should be very careful before you call these people
( "selfproclaimed experts?" ) in the film: racists. And then went on :- show me some proof! of these allegations."

Even if the director is being deliberately clueless, he doesn't help his own case. The "documentary" had Windschuttle himself admitting he's widely viewed as a racist. And the proof that Yeagley and Lindsay are racists is overwhelming. Yeagley is even proud of the label.

The next part is pretty good news:
 
"We are in the process of forming a "Scandinavian Forum for Indigenous Peoples
Rights". The founding members are of Saami and Mapuche heritage.
Discussions is now going on, regarding what steps we can take, to further act
on this situation. A complaint has been made to the "Gransknings nämnden" for TV a department that investigates the content of TV shows and films, to see if there are violations against any group of people, human rights, inaccuracies etc."

So hopefully the many protests will lead to it being more difficult for this racist film to find an audience elsewhere, or keep similar films from being made. And opposition to the film has become a rallying point.

Just the opposite of what the film tried to do!

I hope Holbruth goes broke and learns his lesson the hard way.

[V Hawkins]

Well I was hoping the Comanches would help me out here, so I wrote an email to the tribal official who seemed more apted to know about tribal requirements for enrollment, et cetera. I said --

http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=1523.0;all

I just wanted someone at the Comanche Nation to know yall are being talked about on the message board above.

I am writing you specifically because in concerns th enrollment of one tribal member. They are saying Dr. Yeagley is an enrolled member of the Comanche Nation, enrolled mistakenly because of his step-mother. I might be wrong, but doesn't the Comanche Nation require 1/4th blood quantum? I might be wrong about that. Also they talk about his roll in a Comanche election held recently. Shouldn't someone who was "mistakenly" enrolled be de-enrolled? Anyhow, I was hoping for clarification. Also I am hoping that someone from the Comanche Nation might go to the message board (link above) and clarify things there.

Thanks for your time.

Vance Hawkins

=================================

The reply was disheartening -- she sort of chewed me out, just a little . Her response is below.

----

From: Donna A. Wahnee
To: Vance Hawkins
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2008 5:07 PM
Subject: RE: Who is Dr. David A. Yeagley?

Mr. Hawkins,

I am the Director of the Enrollment Department and had taken over as so in September 07.  I cannot discuss any matters that pertain to tribal members information due to confidentiality laws.  However, you can go online to comanchenation.com and see what requirements are needed to be enrolled.  Also, I cannot and will not go onto any message board to post any information.  I am very confident about my department and their adherence to policy and procedures. 

Donna A. Wahnee

Enrollment Director
PO Box 908
Lawton, OK 73502
580-492-3775 Phone
580-492-6389 Fax
donnaw@cne-mail.com

================================

Al,  I'd thought since I live nearby I'd see about contacting the Comanche Nation. Obviously my request hit her the wrong way.  She gave a phone number so maybe I could call back -- maybe voice to voice I'd get a beter response. Maybe I could ask her if there is someone she could direct me to who might be able to discuss Dr. Yeagley? Part of em wants me to leave it alone and part of me wants to dig deeper simply because oif the tone of her response, like she was trying to scare me off from investigating it further. Why? hmmm . . . I love a mystery . . . She has me more curious than ever as to how he got his Comanche citizenship. . .

Also she said she just took over her job in September, so maybe that is when the election was? But the election might have been months earlier, so I still might be beating my head against the wall if I went to check out the "Lawton Constitutution" newspaper for articles. Maybe I coould just ask someone at the newspaper and they COULD TELL ME when it was. Why didn't I think of tha earlier?

[V Hawkins]

I just went to the "Lawton Constitution" website, hit "contacts" and they provided an email address for one of their writers on "Indian Affairs" - SO -- I wrote him/her, mentioned this message board, and hopefully he/she is curious enough to research Dr. Yeagley.

Their website also had a "search button, and they only mentioned Dr. Yeagley twice, and both references were with respect an upcoming election -- one in November one in December 2007.

I just hope the newspaper is more curious about Dr. Yeagley than the Comanche Tribal representative was. In all honesty, she didn't have any idea who I was, and her response was really what I, as a stranger to her, might have expected. It ispossible she knew just as little of Dr. Yeagley as I did.

vh

[BMD]

Wahnee — "I am the Director of the Enrollment Department and had taken over as so in September 07.  I cannot discuss any matters that pertain to tribal members information due to confidentiality laws.  However, you can go online to comanchenation.com and see what requirements are needed to be enrolled.  Also, I cannot and will not go onto any message board to post any information.  I am very confident about my department and their adherence to policy and procedures."

Hawkins — "Obviously my request hit her the wrong way.  She gave a phone number so maybe I could call back -- maybe voice to voice I'd get a better response. Maybe I could ask her if there is someone she could direct me to who might be able to discuss Dr. Yeagley?"

It does not come across in a hostile way, just in a "business" way. They probably get this same inquiry often, considering Yeagley's behavior. They might be growing tired of the inquiry, is what I mean. And have taken to giving out a "hard-nosed policy" to all such inquiries, "by the book." I also would not expect their office to want to get involved in blog boards, that seems rather anti-business in tone, as well. So my reading of this, is you received a hard policy statement, not a personal one, intentionally so. They want to perhaps keep themselves out of the fray regarding Yeagley's antics, out of something we might call "Yeagley fatigue."