Editing George Armstrong Custer (section)

====Attacks on Indigenous peoples====

Sharply criticizing the self-styled "Indian fighter", U.S. Indigenous people's organized movements have emphasized Custer's role in the U.S. government's treaty violations and other injustices against Native Americans.

Standing Rock Sioux theologian and author [[Vine Deloria Jr.]] made a comparison between Custer and [[Nazi Germany|Nazi]] [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] officer [[Adolf Eichmann]], referring to Custer as the "Eichmann of the Plains" in a 1996 ''Los Angeles Times'' interview.<ref>Patricia Ward Biederman, "Symposium Will Take a Closer Look at Custer," ''Los Angeles Times,'' August 8, 1996.</ref> In his 1969 book ''Custer Died for Your Sins,'' Deloria condemned Custer's violations of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty that established the Black Hills region as unceded territory of the Sioux and Arapaho peoples.<ref>Vine Deloria Jr., ''Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto'' (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1969).</ref> Custer's violations of the Fort Laramie Treaty included an 1874 gold expedition and the 1876 Battle of Greasy Grass (Battle of the Little Bighorn).<ref>Kimbra Cutlip, [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/1868-two-nations-made-treaty-us-broke-it-and-plains-indian-tribes-are-still-seeking-justice-180970741/ In 1868, Two Nations Made a Treaty, the U.S. Broke It and Plains Indian Tribes are Still Seeking Justice], ''Smithsonian Magazine'', November 7, 2018.</ref>

Critics have also highlighted Custer's [[Washita Massacre|1868 Washita River surprise attack]] that killed Cheyenne non-combatants including mothers, children, and elders. Custer was following Generals William Sherman and Philip Sheridan's orders for "total war" on the Indigenous nations. Describing total war methods, Sherman wrote, "We must act with vindictive earnestness against the Sioux, even to their extermination, men, women, and children...during an assault, the soldiers can not pause to distinguish between male and female, or even discriminate as to age."<ref>Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, ''An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States'' (Boston: Beacon Press, 2014), 146.</ref> There is credible evidence that, following the attack, Custer and his men sexually assaulted female captives.<ref>Jerome Green, ''Washita: The U.S. Army and the Southern Cheyennes, 1867–1869'' (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004), 169.</ref> Another historian writes, "There was a saying among the soldiers of the western frontier, a saying Custer and his officers could heartily endorse: 'Indian women rape easy.'"<ref>Nathaniel Philbrick, ''The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of Little Bighorn'' (New York: Viking, 2010), 139.</ref>

Indigenous criticism of Custer's posthumous legacy may have begun immediately after Custer died. Good Fox (Lakota) recounted:
<blockquote>"I was told that after the battle two Cheyenne women came across Custer's body. They knew him, because he had attacked their peaceful village on the Washita. These women said, 'You smoked the peace pipe with us. Our chiefs told you that you would be killed if you ever made war on us again. But you would not listen. This will make you hear better.' The women each took an awl from their beaded cases and stuck them deep into Custer's ears."<ref>Peter Matthiessen, ''In the Spirit of Crazy Horse'' (New York: Viking, 1991), 170.</ref></blockquote>

In 1976, the American Indian Movement (AIM) celebrated the centennial of Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho victory in the Battle of Greasy Grass, performing a victory dance around the marker of Custer's death.<ref>Grace Lichtenstein, [https://www.nytimes.com/1976/06/25/archives/custers-defeat-remembered-in-entreaties-on-peace-custers-defeat.html Custer's Defeat Remembered In Entreaties on Peace], ''New York Times'', June 25, 1976.</ref> AIM continued protesting there, demanding the official renaming of the "Custer Battlefield," finally winning this demand in 1991.<ref>Bruce E. Johansen, ''Encyclopedia of the American Indian Movement'' (Santa Barbara: Greenwood, 2013), 94.</ref>

In May 2021, the United Tribes of Michigan unanimously passed a resolution calling for the removal of a Custer statue in Monroe, Michigan. The resolution stated in part:
<blockquote>
"(It) is widely perceived as offensive and a painful public reminder of the legacy of Indigenous people's genocide and present realities of systemic racism in our country... Custer is notoriously known as the 'Indian Killer' [...] Custer does not deserve any glory, nor the right to further torment minoritized citizens 145 years postmortem."<ref>Blake Bacho, [https://www.monroenews.com/story/news/2021/05/28/united-tribes-michigan-support-removing-custer-monument/7467487002/ United Tribes of Michigan approve efforts to remove ‘Indian Killer’ Custer monument], ''The Monroe News'', 28 May 2021.</ref>
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