Assertion

Written In the prologue “There, there” by Tommy Orange, his main message dipicts the different hardships Native Americans had to go through to inform the people today about Native American history because many people know about the victories and accomplishments from the colonizers but not the mistreatment and defeat of the Native Americans. For example, Tommy Orange writes, “In 1637, anywhere from four to seven hundred Pequot were gathered for their annual green corn dance. Colonists surrounded the Pequot village, set it on fire, and shot any Pequot who tried to escape. The next day the Massachusetts Bay Colony had a feast in celebration, and the governor declared it a day of thanksgiving. (Orange 1) On May 26, 1637, the Pequot massacre started. Many native Americans were massacred during this time due to the conflicts between the Puritans of Massachusetts and the Pequot’s. The conflicts started to rise as the Puritans started to expand more into Connecticut. The end result of this conflict portrays one of the violent massacres that the Native Americans experienced. “At Sand Creek, we heard it said that they mowed us down with their howitzers. Volunteer militia under Colonel John Chivington came to kill us, we were mostly women, children, and elders.” (Orange 3) The Sand Creek massacre happened on November 29, 1864. Native American groups (The Cheyenne and Aparo) were attacked by the United States Army which was led by Colonel John Chivington. The Sand Creek Massacre was caused due to the desire of wanting to gain control of the Great Plains of eastern Colorado. the author speaks out about Sand Creek Massacre which informs the reader about one of the trauma Native Americans went through and how it lingers on through Native American history. I uphold that the author’s message is to portray the violence and trauma that the Native Americans had to go through because of the depth in detail the author goes into speaking about the life changing events The natives had to endure like the Mystic and Sand Creek Massacres which were main hardships Native Americans had to face.