Who kept the road open coming out of the chosen, 189 marines held 10,000 chinese to allow the First Marine Division to get out, and there were certainly Marine Security guards alive to interview who have been mistakenly left on the roof of the Saigon Embassy in 1975. Obviously, there was no one left from the 19th century, but what we did find was our forebearers were such literate people. We went into this expecting maybe wed get after action reports from the army. When the soldiers move west, maybe an officer wife kept a journal. As it turns out, every wife kept a diary, and we found them and letters, and tom, excuse me, tom, hell explain to you, at some of the libraries and historical centers, they brought out a journal in a case, and they had to turn the pages with tongs, because the oil from the fingers and there were letters from 12yearold girls who passed the train, tom was killed last by the indians, first train this year said they dug up his graves, maybe it was wolves, but we think it was indians. That kind of stuff. We felt like we were interviewing them. We got into it so much, we felt like we were living the lives with these people. That said, i have to give the dreaded back story because you cant understand red cloud without understanding the sioux nation. I think ill go to page who am i kidding, bore myself when i read. I tell you stories. The sioux nation, what was to become the sioux nation, crossed the bridge 15,000 years ago, were not sure where they started out from. Paleo linguists picked up traces of the zoo language as far south as the mississippi delta and far east as north carolina. What we know is that precolumbian sue nation, it was search tribes, the seven followed the miffs valley north and settled in minnesota. Now, in minnesota, they were the baddest in the great lakes region, and for centuries, they just made unending war on their neighbors, the creed, the ci had the chippawa. War was their ethos. They did not make pots or grow food. They did not even paint anything on their tepees or shields. War was their reason for being, and the first europeans, mostly french, who looked at the sioux, immediately reminded of the north or the huns or the mon gulls. The sioux lived to make war. That was their ethos. They were real good at it, for centuries, hundreds of years, they dominated the region. What happened was when trades ships came into hudson bay and created and the chippawa lived closer, they traded help for guns and the tables turned. The sioux, once the sioux was the hunter, now they were the hunted. Once they exposed violence for violence see, what the europeans did not understand watching, in particular, the sioux, but the American Indian culture in general, was that it was not violence for violences sake, yes, it was to gain territory and bring home booty, but the cliche, happy Hunting Ground, the sioux and the plain stripes believed there was an gaff life that was a happy Hunting Ground filled with clear running streams and game as far as you can see, buffalo, elk, deer, antelope, and beautiful maidens just waiting to be taken. What happened was they believed that you went to the afterlife in the same way you left the earth. What the europeans did not understand about the scalpings and mutilations and if you went to the if your enemy went to the happy Hunting Ground with no eyes to see how beautiful it was, if he went with no arms to draw back a bow string or with no penis to take advantage of these maidens, well, then you have suffered two endings, one or earth, and one there. Thats what a lot of this was about. When the europeans came down, of course, they did not understand this at all. They seemed to have forgotten about the inquisition and roman coliseum, and they were civilized and the sioux were not, in their eyes. They started trading guns with the other indians, and the other indians hunted the sioux still using prehistoric tools, flint rock arrow heads and knives. Drove the sioux into the swamps of minnesota, and their territory so compromised they had a choice, an existential choice. They either would die or step out on to the prairie. They stepped on the to prairie. Even on the prairie, they were still even though they kept up the warlike ethos, they were still tribes we dont think of, the mandans, the omahas, the otos, they were kicking the siouxs butt because they were mounted and the zoo were not yet mounted. One regal chiian described them as lice ridden begging. That turned again. It turned when the english came down the Minnesota River and then the Missouri River and established trade fairs. Nor they were on the edge of sioux, northern sioux territory, and the sioux were the ones, the first tribes to get weapons, to get guns, to get shots, to get ammunition, to get iron pots that would break into arrow heads. Sooner or later, the sioux took their revenge on the smaller tribes that had been almost picking them apart, the mandans, otos, and then something happened that changed the course of western history. The spanish i love this part of the book, and i love this story, but i wont go too off course here, but i will say there was no the horse was not endemic to the western hemisphere. There had been in prehistoric times, a horse, the size of a big dog, some had toes instead of hoofs, and they died out. When the spanish brought the tough little mustang into south america and mexico, it was a match made in heaven. Unlike the big lumbering Northern European war horses or plow horses, these mustangs started out on Central Asian steps, followed the trade routes through the middle east, along northern africa, had interbred with desert horses, and when the moors invaded spain, they were right at home on the plains. They could run forever. They could eat weed. Eat bark. Once again, when the spanish brought them to the new world, they were right at home in the new world. What happened was is the spanish, as they conquered and forcibly converted at the indians up into what is now the United States, they made deals with them. You worship our god who you dont understand. Were basically going to enslave you. You grow our crops, but in exchange, we have horses, and were going to practice you from your ageold enemy, the apache. They raided rancheros, and they got horses. They didnt know how an apache rode a horse until it died, and then hed eat it. They didnt know how to breed it. The pueblos, you slaved us, worship some christian god we know nothing about, and your enof the deal was to protect us from the apache . You cant do that now. They drove the spanish back into old mexico. The spannish ran so fast they left everything behind, and so the pueblo ate the cattle, the sheep, but they were not a horse tribe. They just let the horses go, and this was the beginning of the great horse expansion in the Northern Hemisphere of the United States. The horse gradually made its way along ancient trade routes north. The camanche were the first true, true horsemen on the plains. They were straggly. They came from wyoming, but they bred horses, made rudimentary saddles, winds, empire, the summer moon, a tremendous book, and tom and i argue about who were better horsemen, the camanche or sioux, and by territory, you have to go with the sioux. Thats what we tell sam. The horses made their way north to kansas, and the pony in nebraska. All the way up to the creed in canada, and, of course, the cheyenne and the sioux took to the horse naturally, and much like the early apache raid, now they could spread out more. They conquered what remanents of the smaller tribe, the otos, the mandan, and then the big boys and pushed the pony out. They pushed the kiowa out of the black hills. They pushed the you out of the River Country up into the rockies. They controlled, basically, minnesota to montana to the great shake and Great Salt Lake through lower colorado. It was just it was an empire. The sioux were still seven nations, seven tribes, sitting bull, you heard of him, he was a hump papa, crazy horse was an ogallal, and red cloud had an ogallala mother and sioux dad. They were shattered into frabs, bands and clans speaking the same language and same culture, but they were not united. They did not fight each other, were not enemies, but they were not friendly. They were just waiting for someone, if someone would come along and unite them. In 1821 on the banks of Blue Water Creek in what is now the stubby panhandle of nebraska, two nights before, a meteor shot through the sky leaving a giant red swath of cloud across the sky, and in 1821 by the banks of Blue Water Creek, a baby was born, and his father name him red cloud, and red cloud was the man who would eventually unite the people, and tom will tell you about that. My turn. [laughter] as bob said, red cloud was born may of 1821, and he theres so many stories we heard of in history of people, men and women, who had very difficult childhoods and had to rise above them, and the resiliency and strength gained from their experiences made them into leaders, tougher than the rivals, and that was red clouds situation. He was born in 1821. He his mother, younger brother, little spider, eventually. When he was five, his father died. He did not die of, you know, war or anything, but of alcoholism. Were talking about the mid1820s, and heres a sioux man dying of alcoholism, and when the traders, some of the explorers, but the traders, the early migrants, people working their way west, there were three powerful diseases brought with them, smallpox, cholera, and alcohol. They did not have immunity to any of the diseases. They were failed by the hundreds. Red cloud, thus, had to grow up without a father. An advantage he had is that his mother went back to her ogallala band that was one by the head man there named old smoke, who she calls brother. Now, we dont know were they bilogically brothers or just the relationship that they had, a brothersister relationship, but in any case, old smoke took in this woman and her two young fatherless children. Red cloud was not given anything. You know, he didnt have a father who was going to bring him up the ladder so to speakic like crazy horse and sitting bull had. He had to earn everything. He had to be the best rider. He had to be the best hunter. Eventually, he had to be the best warrior. Overtime, even as a teenager, theres a section in the book, he wefnt into the first battle at 16 years old, and there was great excitement in the village as the war party was put together because for the first time red cloud putting on the paint, preparing for battle, and red cloud comes as he made his way on the horse to join the war party, and so at a very early age, he showed qualities and tenths that were superior to most of the people in his tribes. In the 1830s, 1840s, he became he rose up the ranks, became a leader, a warrior, and being a great warrior was very important because we likened it to what was going on in the great plains like gang warfare. You know, the tribes, the sioux, the arapaho, cheyenne, always at war with each other, and it was not just a war, like, okay, we want to defeat you and conquer you. It was, well, we want this Hunting Ground, okay, but we know its for you, not for long, constant fighting to steal horses, lands, obviously, if you had the best Hunting Ground, your tribe had a better chance of survival because there were more buffalo, more elk, more antelope, and one of the things red cloud kiss played not just great courage and strength and, you know, all kinds of warlikabilities. He demonstrated great intelligence, and empathy. When he came back from a successful hunting raid, for example, he didnt just keep everything for himself. He made sure that the elders got some of what he brought back. He made sure that some families that had not were struggling to take care of themselves got some of his bounty that he brought back. He made sure the people who were in power in the tribe all spoke and the other elders, that they were taken care of, and in this way, he started to gain a kind of respect that he might not otherwise have gotten being a fatherless person. So into the 1850s, he began to be viewed by the ogallalas as not chief. Thats important. Its important thing we found out in researching the book, and im glad bob brought up the Research Process because that was fascinating to be taking these trips, sort of being on the trail of red clouding you know, flying into omaha and renting a car, spending who knows how much time you needed to drive 2,000 or 3,000 miles in the dakotas, wyoming, nebraska, and, you know, where red cloud was born in nebraska, and how he ended up with the other states, and as bob said, going through these research facilities, i think probably my favorite was the one in sheridan wyoming, and i dont know how many are familiar, but its a small library, a small county public library, but it has amazing History Collection of original documents. You know, the diaries, the journals that the wagon masters wives were keeping. You know, that was just to go on his trail and to sort of re to visit how he worked his way up the ranks, and getting him to the 1850s, he was not seen as a chief. There was no there was no chief. You know, were used to somebody who is an authority in native american circles, being a chief, but that was actually a white man invention, and some of this we detail in the book, you know, for example, when the army would be, accompanied by officials from washington, there might be certain territories that indians had that we wanted, so we would propose, okay, heres a treaty were drawing up, and it says that youre going to give us this, this, and this, and well give you this, this, and this. Now, the indians did not have that concept of that they ownedded what these officials coveted, so they thought the whole thing was curious to begin with. The other thing is that they had no central figure who spoke for everybody, and the white officials had to have someone on the document, yeah, well give you 300,000 square miles and designated somebody and said, yeah, you, youre a chief, youre in charge. Okay . Me . Sure, okay. What do i have to do . Well, touch the pen. That means that there would be a table, document would be written, a clerk there with a fountain pen, feather pen, whatever, and, of course, a chief spotted tail would not just write out spotted tail, and they would touch the pen meaning they agreed, and then suddenly, the treaty was valid, and transfer of ownership took place. He became head of the warrior cede, and he was observing what was going on, and the tribes spent time they were noticed there were more and more white people showing up, and there was a weigh station before they would stop in fort laramie, drop off supplies, change horses, whatever, and they they went on. That was the oregon trail. They would go to oregon or up to other places. Certainly when gold was discovered in california, the emigration accelerated across the west going through, and they would use every part of the buffalo, and white imgrants used part of it, and whatever was left, the horse died , leave the car cues there on the trail, and it would rot. They were seeing that, and also red cloud anticipateed the heart of everything that is, the sioux name for the black lills is pasapa, and thats the heart of everything there is. The black hills was the heart of their existence. Thats where they believed their ancestors came from, and it was sacred land to them, and it could not be given away. It could not just be occupied, could not be taken advantage of by the white explorers, settlers, and the army, certainly. Red cloud became increasingly concerned that that the indians were going to have to make some kind of stand, and they protect what they had, and he was not a warlike person in the sense that he had the he had to wage war against other tribes, but, again, that was for survival, food, for family. He was married to a woman named pretty owl. They were married for 59 years. They had a family and family to support, but he saw that coming. He saw this clash, and bob mentionedded the word empire before, and there was a growing empire of the east, and there was this empire that red cloud was basically become the head of because he was this intelligent, charismatic man and other tribes respected him, some feared him, but respected him, and he could see that they were going to clash against each other. Something interrupted what he saw, and that was the civil war. When the civil war broke out in 1861, obviously, you couldnt have the kind of force and Army Presence in the west that you had because many everybody was needed back east, and it was like a hiatus for the indians of the plains because the white people were back east killing each otherment they didnt have time to kill and fight indians because they were too busy killing each other. It was a respite there, and that lasted 18611865, and when the civil war ended, suddenly, there was a big change because this sense of manifest destiny goads right back into full swing, and enormous increase of people started making their way west again, and the whole coveting of the great plains and the black hills started all over again. Back over to bob. Yeah. Not too much longer. As tom said, during the civil war, too, gold was discovered all over the west, montana, idaho, the front range in colorado, and so the miners started pouring in, and red clouds lifetime, there were four treaties broken. The whites just kept coming, okay, well stop here, sign the treaty, touch the pen, and gold discovered, now, that does not count, heres the new one. Red cloud did not trust the whites as far as he could throw them, but with all the gold all over the west, he knew it was inevitable he was going to have to fight them, and so he started attacking the miners, and he started attacking the wagon trains on the oregon trail and in cooperation with during this hiatus that tom talked about, he had become such a great name in the planes that even though he was in ogallala, warriers from other sioux bandsmented to ride with him, fight with you, hunt with you, and so he had developed kind of this intertribal facility that now he was going to use and turn it on the whites, and what he did that no indian had ever done before, he cooped other tribes like the cheyenne, aarapho, washington, officials back east, the war department, they had fought mohawks, cherokee, but not fought at once. It was a gorilla war, and they would attack and pick off a wagon train here and there, and they appealed to washington who started to send soldiers west. Civil war was over, sending soldiers, our battle hardened soldiers to pick off the savages, prehistoric savages, mop them up, be not take long, and red cloud was winning. The more soldiers that came out, the more indians were attracted to his warrior thiefdom, and he was back. The u. S. Officers, the army officers, they couldnt figure it out. Here was a man, indians, American Indians before had never red cloud would set up three different attacks on a fort here, on a supply train 200 miles away, and then on a wagon train 300 miles from that. This never happened beforement he would attack, and instead of celebrating as was the American Indian custom of habit, he would attack the next day and the day after that, and then his warriors would just disappear into the plains. It was true gorilla warfare, and we didnt know how to handle it. We sent out more and more soldiers and more and more soldiers, and the soldiers were just, they were not used to this. They had seen hard figging in the civil war, but they were not used to coming across a supply train where everyones penis was hacked off, where the dead soldiers or live soldiers in some cases had been tied together and bacon was a staple of the frontier and barrels of bacon poured over them and lit on fire, brained gouged out, eyeballs gouged out, tom found a journal, might be the first time u. S. Soldiers made a pact to kill each other rather than be captured by the indians. I mean, this is how foreign this war was to them. Finally, general grant and general sherman said enough is enough. Were going to send out were going to send out an army to fight red cloud. They were not going to fight on that, and they sent out thousands of mounted infantry. From the movies, its calvary, and it was a mounted infantry, they were learning how to ride on the fly, and that was another advantage the sioux had. In the summer of 1865 alone, 3,000 soldiers combed, combed the west looking for red cloud, and he would attack them, and they could never find him. In 1866, this hard charging captain, captain fedderman, germans hand picked man, find me red cloud. Kill him and every sioux male over the age of 12. Well, he gets out this, and he is of the opinion, you know, these are indians, these are salve aimings, prehistoric. I can ride through the entire sioux nation with 80 men. He tried to do that, 8 1 men, and red cloud laid a trap for him, and he rode into it, and everyone, he included, in the command, were killed. Now the americans called it a ms kier. The sioux called it a fight. It was a fair fight. We beat them, killed them. That was the beginning of what came to be known as red clouds war. Now, red clouds war went on for another two years, and there were many, many more feddermans sent out to capture red cloud and many, many more american soldiers who were killed while red cloud still remained uncaptured and undead. Timely, after two years, we needed to go. I mean, we were living the United States built up such a National Debt with the sieve war, except red cloud, come in, what do you want . Well well have another treaty. We promise well keep the treaty. We broke a dozen before, we promise to keep this one. Tell us what you want. He had one demand, a big demand. He gave it to washington representatives, and they were like, huh, and so would washington meet red clouds demand or would they not . This was the key to red clouds war. If you want to know what happened, you have to read the damn book, arent you . [laughter] tom has just one thing that stuck with both of us, and its really good stuff. Yeah, let me have that copy there of some things. Yeah, im just going to end it with red cloud became a statesman, an add advocate for indians concerns and issues, and one time when he was in washington, a very intelligent man, and he had a rye sense of humor. The white manmade me a lot of promises, and they only kept one. They promised to take my land, and they took it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your time. [applause] if you have questions, were happy to answer one. I think weve, you know, we were instructed theres marchs on either side, and if you want to ask the question, go to the microphone, did right ahead. Doesnt mean well answer. I have a quick one for you while folks come to the microphone. Sure. You mentioned touching the pen, on march 21 st theres a new exhibit here called im sorry, just slipped my mind making touching the pen. Making their mark, story through signatures. When is it that the indians stopped touching the pen and used pict ographs, like spotted horse, draw a spotted horse. That stretches back to the 15th century. Bob, come to the microphone. Most tribes had a winter count, they called it, and it stretched back to the 1600s, and it usually, well, when they got wet, it was a buffalo hyde, and deer hyde, and they would put it, and maybe it was a famine, and maybe it was a plague, but the six treaties that red cloud saw broken in the lifetime, no American Indian signed those treaties. I hope that answers. Sure. I purchased the book at the end of it, and i read it, and i want to say i thought it was a wonderful book. You mentioned the backdrop, and the history of the sioux nation, and i think this was fabulous, how you summarized it, and you brought together puzzle pieces that i read perhaps. The one man who loved the dreaded back story. I loved it. Thanks, uncle. To me, its puzzle pieces, and to pull it into one book, it just painted a nice picture. I wanted to thank you. It was a wonderful book. Very kind of you, sir, thanks. Thanks. Yes, sir . I have a question about the 18 p 4, into the heart of everything that red cloud was trying to defend, and it almost seems like there was little or no opposition to that, and, of course, it started to go rush into the black hills and ended at little big horn, but do you have any insight as to why there was no great battles for the black hills . Yeah, i can tackle this one. Im glad you brought that up, for a couple reasons. One is that the treaty that red cloud signed in 1868 to sign the war was in effect thats the ending, read the book. Well, its a good book, read it anyway. The treaty was still in effect. When gold was discovered in the black hills, and miners were prospectors, trying to flood into the black hills, and for a while, the u. S. Government made some attempt to keep them out, but they realized, you know, were not going to be able to do that, and so they appointed, got an exhibition together with customer who went in there, and kuster who went in there, and there was no battle, no resistance or opposition to going in there, but what is happening is his invasion, so to speak of the black hills, did build momentum under the leadership of sitting bull and crazy horse, that they have to stop this. They have to protect the black hills, and two years later, the result was little big horn, and the death of custer and commands at the hands of zitting bull and crazy horse, a battle that red cloud did not participate in. Red cloud had already been to washington. Yeah. He had seen the very first place they took him when he got to the town was to the navy yard and showed him the town, and so when the whites starts pouring into the black hills, sitting bull and crazy horse said, okay, time to fight again. Red cloud had kind of picked crazy horse as a teenager, making him the field commander at the age of 22 or something so they came back to red cloud, we have to do it again. They are coming again, break another treaty. By this time, red class was in washington twice, i believe, and to new york. He knew what was on the other side of the mississippi river, and he said to them, you know, you cant beat these people. Im not going to waste my im knot going to sacrifice my peoples lives. We cant win. Thats why red cloud never got involved in the custer fight. They followed the blueprint that red cloud devised, you know, ten years earlier in his war against the white people. Thank you. Thank you. Happy winter. Thanks. I wondered if during your research you had interviewed or talked to any native people. You already mentioned spotted tail and theres a lot of resources at the university, and they may have been helpful in the research, and i was just curious what those methods were, who you had talked to. Well, we both took trips out west, and both visited several sites including Research Sites like historical societies and south dakota and wyoming and nebraska, and i had the pleasure of visiting with members of the red cloud family on the Pine Ridge Reservation going through the education cementer there, and, in fact, still in touch with them. I just got a letter just recently from maryan red cloud, the great, great granddaughter of red loud cloud, to talk to them, and its interesting, though, because theres not even within the red cloud family, theres no written institutional history because they did not have a written history at the time what they know today where red cloud is buried there, a lot has been handed down from generation to generation, and so, you know, talking to them was very helpful and, but it was not like they could say, oh, yeah, here, come oh, open this closet for you, i have piles and piles of material to share with you. That was not the case. That would have been great, but that was not the case, but, yes, we both spent time traveling, different sites out there. [inaudible] yeah. A american his tore can on site. I will tell you one thing too, some people at some of the q a said to us, in particular, crazy horse was a key to the massacre, the one who led the white troopers in. Now, crazy horses great, great, great great, great nephew, tradition passed down that when fedderman stopped for a minute, said, am i going into a trap here . Crazy hors and the ten braves enraged him by mooning him, and thats not in any official trapper history, journal diary, but tom and i said, well, you know, why should i believe this frenchcanadian trapper who told a priest this and not believe crazy horses great, great, great, great, great grand nephew . We put it in the book. This is where we got the story, we said, but their tribal tradition to us was just as important as any long lost journal from white people. I might call this my awkward and perhaps unfair question. Is there a central message from red clouds life for the American Government today and especially when dealing with peoples unlike us . Well, i think there is. I a few months ago, november or december, president obama hosted a counsel of indian elders and tribal members at the white house, and he made this announcement that said that in he vowed in 20 14 he was going to visit what he called Indian Country, which sounds like an oldfashioned term, but, and we sort of said, a little tongueincheek, but theres realism to it. Well, in preparation, we hope he reads the heart of everything that is because so much of what our relationship is today with the tribes, the Indian Tribes in the country, especially in the great plains and ones out west, you could see the roots of that relationship in the story. Not to get too specific about it, but the Pine Ridge Reservation, where red cloud is buried and his family members live to this day, his great grandson oliver red cloud, was the tribal head just died last year at the age of 93. Its in the second poorest county in the United States of all the county in the United States. The Unemployment Rate on that reservation is 80 . The Life Expectancy for an oga male is 48 years old. The conditions there are appalling, and its like ground zero for the way that the i just dont want to indict just the federal government, but, you know, our society has treated the indian nations for snch ridge reservations, basically, to the point where they are, in a lot of ways, barely hanging on. Some have gone to medical school to become doctors, not painting everyone with the same brush, but its a very sad situation, and to find out how this evolved . It goes back to red cloud. Do stories like yours shake your, and i dont mean to use the word faith, but your feelings about the concept of ownership of real estate . Yeah. And second question, what do you think about this red skin stuff thats going on here in washington . What red skin stuff . [laughter] yes, in a perfectly ideal world, we would all have american con cements, or you cant own the land. They would sign treaties, stupid white people, they think they can own the land, sure, well sign, they give us coffee and tobacco and blankets, so, sure, you want to own the land . Go ahead . Only the great spirit can on the land, but, i dont, obviously, see how else it would work. I mean, ive been gsh ive been overseas, and when im not writing with tom, im a war correspondent. Ive been to afghanistan, iraq, darfur, bosnia, and i see fights, and when religions not involved, it is over land. There has to be a concept of Land Ownership unless we, you know, are attacked by aliens. You know what . That would be it. If the world came together like red cloud brought intertribes together, if the world came together, wed need an outside force. I know thats probably not thee answer you were looking for, but i dont know how else to put it. I have to apologize, i have not read the book yet, but listening to your presentation, when you talk about the sioux, you mentioned the seven, but they divide up in three major divisions, the tea time being the backup, search subgroups from which red cloud is part of that, would be ogala, and i hope you put that in the book, and, also, listening you talk about the mutilations and the scalping, it sounded like there was like a common practice among the sioux, but this was something that was imposed upon them as well. [inaudible] what they did with the women, i dont want to be too graphic, but they would a perse made from womens private parts, but i dont know what you mean by imposed upon. Well, i mean, exactly what you are saying, they were things that were they were the tribes, the American Indians did this to each other wildfire they met anybody. But they were bounties put on scalps as well. Sure. The way you said it made it sound like we were the only ones doing it. Also, its great that you give credit to red cloud uniting the empire, but there were other native leaders at that time that were from the subdivisions. Well write about them next time. Its red cloud this time. He was not the only one. Okay. Yes, sir. I want to thank you for the efforts you took to write the book, i got interested in the book because i read a review about it by santiago and published by Indian Country today and indians. Com and published in the huffington post. Yes, i know what youre referring to. Yeah, and i think he is identified as the native american Journalism Society or Something Like this. Yeah, a prominent journalist, had a critique of the book. Schaving. About how you didnt interview people who were yeah, but, also, acknowledgements that you have. You talk about, you know, you worked with people in pine ridge or the red cloud family, but his critique was about how you didnt consult with basically the scholars, the historians, you know, Indian Country, who have expertise in the area. No, we did. I mean, it just was not in the acknowledgements. You must not have read the book. Speaking from experience, i know most of the Indian Tribes had tribal Historic Preservation offices. Uhhuh. And whereas you consulted with historical societies which are the states entities that are concerned with Historic Preservation, and you didnt consult with the Tribal Offices where that expertise is formalized, so, basically, your book is not that scholarly, and its not a very well we describe it as a yawn. Its a good story. Its a good story, but i expect the National Archives to give a more scholarly treatment of the subject matter because it matters a great deal to the people who youre talking about. Well, let me ask you this. Two things, one, i read that review, somebody said you got to read this thing in the huffington post, and i read it, and as bob knows, i was angry, went to the editor, saying we cant let this lie. They review the book, read it first. This guy did not do. He admitted in the review, he did not read the book. Read the blushes. Said, they were not balanced enough, they called the fight a massacre, write about the sand creek massacre. I could open to the chapter now. Its in the book. When you talk about the expertise of the try ball repositories would have, what is the expertise that they would offer us . They dont have records dating back to 1850. You know, they dont have these records. They have oral traditions that we refer to, but, again, its not like i could go to a Tribal Office. I went to the Tribal Office on the pine ridge resignation in the ogallala, they dont have a loy brair repository saying heres our view and position of what happened at that time. Our eyewitness accounts because there are none. I think he mentioned several historians. Uhhuh. And there are, theres university of colorado, university of minnesota, nebraska, south dakota, oklahoma, new mexico,arizona, they all have native historians. Uhhuh. And you didnt really find that expertise reflected in the book, which i did read, and im agreeing with the criticism was. Okay. Thank you for reading it. Thats more than he did. Yeah, and then the other critique was about sort of the ghastly portrayal you made of tribal peoples or particularly the sioux. I think, really, theres a context there that, you know, i thought in your reference, in your portrayal of sand creek, there was kind of an idea that it was, you know, in retaliation, there was this kind of exchange of brutality, but i think maybe you you do overemphasize the native primitive salve savage, which sells book, but i dont think its fair. I could sit here and tell you all about other atrocities that were fermented by, you know, the United States government. Uhhuh. Which are not reflectedded as much in the book. I wanted to make that comment. Okay. Thank you, thank you. Thank you for reading the book. Yeah, i appreciate that, yeah. Yes, sir, over there. Maam, sorry. I just wanted to thank you for the presentation. Im very excited to be here today. My nephew who lives in minnesota has read the book, and he said its great, so he is sending me a copy, but i wanted to ask you, i read a lot and hear a lot about native americans suffering on the indian reservations, and i dont know if this is there, but do you know if the bureau of Indian Affairs, the government facility is doing anything about that . Well, i can tell you there is an officer of the inian affairs on the Pine Ridge Reservation, and they do what nay can, you know, its what kind of budget they have. Theres the human and other resources they have. One of the things that most people dont realize is when there are things like sequesters and shut downs, the first people hurt are the indians because they are dependent on federal Services Open funding, and when that stops, when that spigot is turned off, they literally, they some families have no food. They have no warmth. They have no oil for the furnaces. The local police force. The fire department. The game wardens, they are the first laid off. The first ones to be hit when there is a government shut down, so the bureau of i understand yap affairs is not blaming them for anything im sure theres people working for them who are very dedicated who do the best they can, but its what budget is allocated to them, and the other part of it, too, is that, you know, how much does the federal government respond to indian nations . What political power do they have . Thats one of the things that, obviously, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and if the nations were able to gain more political power and put more pressure, they would probably i id like to think get more response from the federal government. They were dealt a band hand from the start. They were given the worst land, and it i dont know what to say about it. Its an atrocity that we are forebearers perpetrated, and i dont know what to say about it. Okay, thank you. Is there a bureau on all reservations or just a few i dont know, i dont know if every reservation has a bureau of Indian Affairs facility on it. I would think most do, but i really cant tell you for sure a definitive answer op that one. Another story, i was in arizona, and i traveled to indian reservations, and there was representation there, but i cant answer for every single reservation. Okay, great, thank you, guys. Did you hear the line that George Custer said, dont do anything until i get back . [laughter] yeah, yeah, well and they have not. Yeah. Are there any other questions . You know, a story that i hope some people get a chance to look into, which is beyond the book, but, again, the book gives the reasons bind it, is this whole op going battle going on between the black hill tribes and the federal government over the treaty that was broken. There is literally over a billion dollars waiting in the federal escrow account for the tribes to take them and compensation for the black hills stolen, the impasses, they want the hills back. There is an impasse left for decades now, a whole fascinating story, over a billion dollars. What a difference that would make. Its a fascinating story, but we sort of dont bring the story to light. Oliver red cloud was a staunch, no, we dont want your money, but our land back, and red clouds great, great grandson just died over the past summer, and it will take the tribal counsel a year to elect a new head man, so to speak, a representative that can speak for and to washington, and it will be interesting to see where the money versus land thing ends up. Especially if the president goes to Indian Country. Thank you, all, for coming out, we really appreciate it, thank you. [applause] well see you upstairs in the archives bookstore. [inaudible conversations]. Mr. Subfives book features 134 pictures that follows mr. Nixon and his staff from the president s inauguration to his resignation in august 1974. Cspan fred j. Maroon, photographer, whatwhat went into putting together this book, the nixon years . Guest it took four years to do the actual photography. I had to get a permission first from the white house to do the behindthescenes first term of president nixon. Then i went on to do all the other segments the committee to reelect the president , the