The destruction of the Indians of the Americas was, far and away, the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world.

David E. Stannard (historian), American Holocaust: Columbus and the Conquest of the New World

The "genocide" is a pure liberal lie....Historians are yelling that there was actually NO attempt by the US government to exterminate the Native Americans, but liberals are using Hollywood to run over their works.

David Cornut (history buff), posting on FreeRepublic.com, 3/15/06

Glorifying the Boy General
Another Stereotype of the Month entry:

Rob's comment
Brigitte is entitled to her opinion, of course. Based on the quotes from the site in question, I'd say her opinion is justified.

On the "Offences" page, David Cornut, the site's owner, claims he's heeding visitors' complaints. Nevertheless, I wrote David the following message:

The following exchanges ensued:

>> Sorry, but the purpose of my site is not to show (or to invent) maid's and Custer's bad images. It is to find the truth. And the truth, it is not Custer transformed into devil. <<

The truth is that Custer massacred about 100 innocent Cheyenne Indians at Washita, cementing his legacy as an Indian killer. You're not interested in the truth if you ignore this fact. You're interested only in whitewashing Custer's immoral acts.

>> If you want "to balance" the site, give me articles on the main big Indians of this period. <<

Posting material on Sitting Bull or Crazy Horse won't correct the falsehood that Custer was solely avenging "mutilations." But my Indian colleagues may point you to some good sites. Or they may continue trying to shut you down.

>> Saddened, I do not spend my life on Internet. I can not make everything, I have activities close. If the persons want to give their opinion, they can make it on the forum. <<

I don't spend my life on the Internet either. But as far as I can tell, you haven't done anything. How much time have you spent researching the facts about Custer and America's Indian policies? Zero?

Try a quick search for "Custer" and "Washita" at www.google.com. Result: 2,540 hits. Many if not most of them are relevant. Elapsed time: 0.33 seconds.

The first hit, http://nativenet.uthscsa.edu/archive/nl/9603/0214.html, has enough facts for you in its first paragraph. No need to look it up. I'll quote it for you:

You talk about posting "opinions." The Washita massacre isn't an opinion, it's a historical fact. Are you searching for the truth or aren't you? Search no longer; it's here in front of you.

I'm guessing you haven't even tried to find the truth about Custer. Your site is completely upbeat about him, which means you either don't know the truth or are covering it up. Custer didn't kill Indians because they mutilated a few white interlopers. He killed them because he was following the ethnic cleansing policy of the United States government, a policy fashioned long before the so-called mutilations you list prominently.

>> And they cannot delete my website. <<

They can have Tripod delete it. But if you're not worried, why are you promising to fix your site? Because you're just doing the right thing? Then post the facts I gave you on Washita.

>> My website is protected by the DSIT, the European police of Internet. <<

People think your site is racist, and French law supposedly forbids racist sites. I don't know if they're right about French law, but in my opinion, they're right about your site. It's racist to portray Custer as an angel and Indians as devils.

That's not to say you personally are racist. I have no knowledge about that. But whether it was inadvertent or intentional, you created a site that struck many of us as racist. When a site defames an entire race as people who do nothing but massacre and mutilate, that's a textbook example of racism.

The debate continues....
>> That's not a 100% pro-Custer site, poor man.
It's a website about thruth a word you cannot know. <<

You're right..."thruth" is a word I don't and can't know. <g>

But which site are you referring to...yours? No, your site isn't 100% pro-Custer. It's only about 98% pro-Custer, which is almost as bad.

We'll see whether you acknowledge the truth available on thousands of websites at the click of a mouse. Your inability to address the facts about Washita tends to prove my point. Whatever you're interested in, it doesn't seem to be the truth.

By the way, I surveyed a few typical Americans on what they knew about Custer. All they knew is that Indians killed him. Based on this survey, your claim that most Americans know Custer's negative side and need to hear the positive side is false.

>> I have written that Custer was an angel and that the Washita wasn't a massacre ? <<

You didn't even mention Washita and the other assaults Custer participated in. By presenting an overwhelmingly positive picture with no negative notes, you implied he's an angel.

>> I KNOW THAT WASHITA IS A MASSACRE. I KNOW THAT 89 CHILDREN AND WOMEN DIEDED. <<

Then put it on your site.

>> For this massacre, Custer is not all responsible, but he's ONE OF THE RESPONSIBLE <<

If he's even partly responsible, then put it on your site, again. What you "know" is irrelevant unless it's plain on your site.

>> (the other responsibles : your poor gouvernment in Washington, the populations who want to have the West teritories), the generals Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan (with the orders : "kill all Indians warriors and human who are dangerous and kill the horses). <<

Tell me something I don't know. If you want a truthful site about Custer, you'll post the facts, both positive and negative. You haven't done that, so you must not want a truthful site.

Your country suffered from Nazi depredations. If you think Custer was just following orders, you should know that "following orders" isn't a legitimate defense for immoral actions. Custer is responsible for his actions whether he was obeying orders or not.

>> The DSIT isn't a police of France... it's a police of your poor stupid country <<

You're the one who called the DSIT "the European police of Internet," but whatever. French law bans racist uses of the Internet, which is why they've stopped Yahoo from auctioning Nazi items in France. Your site may fall into the same category.

>> I regret that Custer fought for your little stupid country. <<

Wow, what a mature rejoinder. How old are you, anyway...14?

I regret that Custer fought for us too, since he killed a lot of innocent Indians.

Let me know when you're prepared to deal with the truth about "the Boy General." You clearly aren't yet, judging by your inability to address my arguments.

The debate digresses....
In a subsequent message, David Cornut blathered on about Brigitte and her "minable" [sic] plea. Why that crossed his mind after several months, I don't know. Meanwhile, I heard from Xavier Cornut:

>> I have read the message you sent to the webmaster of the official website of George Armstrong Custer. <<

Naturally, because he's your baby brother or something. Maybe you can tell us how old you both are. David seems barely capable of understanding English.

>> I wonder if your site, "the peace party" is not your vision of peace <<

Disentangling your syntax, yes, it's my vision of peace. That's one way of putting it, anyway.

>> you fight aigainst a site of Custer <<

I'm just noting the stereotypes, and disputing David when he claims he's seeking the truth. I wouldn't call that fighting against the site. I leave the real fighting to others.

>> ( and the webmaster say to you that he doesn't make that site to fight the Indians memories ) <<

Since Indian people have visited his site and said the site does disparage their memories, David's opinion is hardly relevant. Why don't you and he follow their opinions if you care about their memories? They know their own history far better than you do.

>> you say you show to him the right way ( is it not a word of God.... ( !!! ) <<

I say I've given him some facts about Custer that he refuses to post on his site. If he doesn't want to post facts, then he's lying about seeking the truth. Because what happened at Washita isn't an opinion, story, or legend, it's a historical fact. Look it up in any reliable source in the world—but not on David's one-sided site.

By the way, whom do we contact to verify that this site is "official"? For all I know, you're making that claim up. If it is official, whoever gave you permission may be interested to know how you insult visitors in Custer's name.

>> so I can tell you to fight aigainst sites they REALLY give to us violence !!! Pedophily, pornography and other violents websites.... If you make that, you make peace... <<

I've posted a lot of material criticizing America's violent culture on my website. That's the best thing I can do to "make peace." Fighting violence, racism, and lies about Custer are all part of the package.

As Professor Russell Banks put it:

Custer is a key player in America's racist and violent past, so correcting the errors and omissions about him helps to achieve peace. Because peace comes from knowing the evils of history and not repeating them.

Indians not all saints
>> Don't forget that Indians were not peaceful men whent they fought aigainst each other of themselves. <<

I haven't forgotten that. Don't forget Custer led the massacre of a few dozen innocent Cheyenne at Washita.

>> Your peace party is a Native peace party. <<

Yes, but everybody's invited to this party. <g>

>> You want to defend Indians and accuse White men without thinking that maybe Indians are not angels too, that white are responsibles but Indians fight and kill white women and children too. <<

I want to defend Indians when they deserve it and accuse white men (such as Custer) when they deserve it. No one said Indians are angels, so that isn't the issue. Your buddy David blamed Custer's actions entirely on Indian massacres, which is a gross falsification of history. I'm correcting his position by telling you the facts: that Custer and other whites were responsible for their own genocidal actions.

If you want to see me criticize Indians, you can find several examples on my site. My critique of a gun-loving Comanche is a good one. So is my critique of the Navajo position in the Hopi-Navajo land dispute.

My site proves that I don't consider Indians "angels." Where's your proof that you don't consider Indians "devils"? Give me the URL of the page on your site that explains the Indian side of the Indian Wars. I'd like to see it.

>> You defend Indians very badly... <<

That's not what I hear from the visitors to my site. Read some fans' opinions for evidence of that.

>> The action of Brigitte is dumm, and so ridiculous... <<

Which action is that? I hope it's not as "dumm" as your spelling of "dumb."

>> Try to think that a war produce violence and sad human person in each camp. Not only in the camp you defend... <<

You try to think it. Let me repeat what you and David clearly don't understand. Your site blames the Indian Wars completely on the Indians, labeling Custer's attacks solely a response to "Indian massacres." I'm correcting this falsehood by telling you the facts. Namely:

The United States adopted an unofficial policy of genocide against the continent's first inhabitants. In response the Euro-Americans slaughtered, enslaved, raped, pillaged, and relocated Indian people. Custer was one of many who implemented that government-sanctioned policy. After many Euro-American massacres and atrocities, the Indians fought back and occasionally massacred people also. (News flash: War is hell.)

When your site reports that, then you'll have a balanced presentation of the facts. You don't have a balanced presentation now. Sorry if you don't like my publicizing your lack of balance.

Again, if you think Indians were "sad" in their camps, tell me the URL where you report their sadness. Exactly where on your site do you say anything about why Indians went to war? Put up or shut up...now.

Epilogue
In their usual fractured English, the Cornuts finally admitted Custer wasn't an angel:

With several pages of Custer facts and photos, one page on massacres of Indians, and one of mutilations by Indians, the site is still unhelpful. It offers no cultural or historical context to explain why these killings happened. But by mentioning Custer's flaws, the site has achieved a semblance of balance. That's all we can hope for.

Rob

Disclaimer
All the statement on this page are personal opinions unless otherwise noted. Any claims about the Cornut brothers and their website came from a close inspection of that website at the time of this writing. As noted above, they corrected the worst of the problems after receiving criticism from people like me.

Other than my comments about their Custer website, I have no opinion about the Cornut brothers or their work.

The facts about Custer
Custer Not a Person to Honor, Celebrate

Related links
Scalping, torture, and mutilation by Indians
Genocide by any other name...

Readers respond
"[Y]ou have 10 days to delete the comments on your website or you will have to deal with a lawyer."
"[It's] useless also to treat people of racists if they are just pointing the historical facts."
"[A]nyone who would despise Custer for the attack on the Washita has a deep desire to hate...."
"I get the impression that the kid got his info from some American white supremacy activist who tries to organize the skinheads in Europe."
"[Custer] was by no means the prototypical racist."

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