Lorettal Tuell Objects To Nickname "geronimo"
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WASHINGTON – The top staffer for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee is objecting to the U.S. military's use of the code name "Geronimo" for Osama bin Laden during the raid that killed the al-Qaida leader.
Geronimo was an Apache leader in the 19th century who spent many years fighting the Mexican and U.S. armies until his surrender in 1886.
Loretta Tuell, staff director and chief counsel for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said Tuesday it was inappropriate to link Geronimo, whom she called "one of the greatest Native American heroes," with one of the most hated enemies of the United States.
"These inappropriate uses of Native American icons and cultures are prevalent throughout our society, and the impacts to Native and non-Native children are devastating," Tuell said.
Tuell is a member of the Nez Perce tribe and grew on the tribe's reservation in Idaho. The Senate Indian Affairs panel had previously scheduled a hearing for Thursday on racial stereotypes of native people. Tuell said the use of Geronimo in the bin Laden raid will be discussed.
Steven Newcomb, a columnist for the weekly newspaper Indian Country Today, criticized what he called a disrespectful use of a name revered by many Native Americans.
"Apparently, having an African-American president in the White House is not enough to overturn the more than 200-year American tradition of treating and thinking of Indians as enemies of the United States," Newcomb wrote.
After bin Laden was killed, the military sent a message back to the White House: "Geronimo EKIA" — enemy killed in action.
"It's another attempt to label Native Americans as terrorists," said Paula Antoine of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.
A White House spokesman referred questions about the code name to the Pentagon. A Defense Department spokeswoman declined to comment.
Jefferson Keel, president of National Congress of American Indians, the largest organization representing American Indians and Alaska Natives, said, "Osama bin Laden was a shared enemy."
Keel said that since 2001, 77 American Indians and Alaskan Natives have died defending the U.S. in Afghanistan and Iraq. More than 400 have been wounded.
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"Michael Martin Murphy Geronimo's Cadillac lyrics"
Well they put Geronimo in jail down south
Where he couldn't look the gift horse in the mouth
Sergeant, sergeant, don't you feel
There's something wrong with that automobile
Governor, governor, isn't it strange
They didnt have no cars on the Indian range
Warden, warden, please listen to me
Be brave and set Geronimo free
Whoa boys, take me back
I want to ride in Geronimo's Cadillac
Whoa boys, take me back
I want to ride in Geronimo's Cadillac
Warden, warden, don't you know
Prisoners have no place to go
They took old Geronimo by storm
Ripped off the feathers from his uniform
Jesus tells me I believe its true
The red man is in the sunset too
Took all his land, now they won't give it back
And they sent Geronimo a Cadillac
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