Dr. Whitman...deaf or a very focused reader?!?
The Whitman "Massacre" took place on November 29, 1847 near present day Walla Walla, Washington. The Whitmans (Dr. Marcus Whitman- "led" the first wagon train on the Oregon Trail in 1836...see Moses Harris) were accused by the Cayuse (Liksiyu) Indians of killing nearly 200 Cayuse who were under their medical care.
Chief Tiloukaikt
Dr. Whitman had declared himself as a "medicine man" as a way to undermine Cayuse doctors/ cultural traditions and failed in his treatments. In Cayuse culture, when a patient who was being cared for by the doctor/ healer/ medicine man died, the relatives had a right to "revenge" by killing the healer.
The Whitman Mission
The Cayuse felt that Dr. Whitman had failed in his treatment. In addition, they felt The Whitmans were evil, arrogant, culturally insensitive (repeatedly referred to the Cayuse as ignorant savages), and had purposefully withheld treatment from these "American diseases". To the Cayuse (and me), the Whitmans were not "pioneer heroes" or "innocent good-hearted missionaries"...this could more properly be called "The Whitman Judgment".
Were these "explorations" really exploitations..."discoveries" really exterminations... Today, less than 200 Cayuse are living in America.
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