What’s wrong in ‘Geronimo EKIA’
Last Updated : 06 May 2011 11:50:02 PM IST
The recent cryptonym or codename used by the United States’ military force to designate their operation to raid and kill al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is of striking importance. After killing Osama at Abbottabad in Pakistan, the military sent a message back to the White House: “Geronimo EKIA” — Enemy Killed in Action. Decoding ‘Geronimo EKIA’ shockingly decodes the very American mindset which has not changed in the past 200 years, of targeting Native Americans as enemies of the United States, that too despite having an African-American president in the White House. Geronimo, an outstanding Native American leader of a group of Apache Native Americans, fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades. Embittered by the death of his mother, wife, and children at the hands of Mexicans in 1858, Geronimo joined revenge attacks on the Mexicans and later against the United States. He became known for bravery and daring deeds and was honoured by the Apaches as a warrior with spiritual powers. History says, in 1886 Geronimo was eventually tracked down by US authorities and surrendered and was never allowed to return to the land of his birth. By the time Geronimo died as a ‘prisoner of war’ in, 1909 he had become an Apache icon, who had fought against the invasion of his country and the oppression of his people and horrific atrocities committed against the Apache.The Apaches are already up in arms against the US military codenaming Osama, ‘Geronimo’ and it is reported that the Fort Sill Apache tribe in the US has demanded an apology from President Obama for the same. Also, it is reported that Loretta Tuell, staff director and chief counsel for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, has condemned this act, saying, “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.”In a statement, Jefferson Keel, president of the National Congress of American Indians, has noted, “To associate a Native warrior with bin Laden is not an accurate reflection of history and it undermines the military service of Native people. It’s critical that military leaders and operational standards honour the service of those who protect our freedom.” It is this pain and insult, felt by the Native Americans that is evident in the words of Tom Holm, a former Marine, a member of the Creek/Cherokee Nations and a retired professor of American Indian studies at the University of Arizona, who says “I was celebrating that we had gotten this guy and feeling so much a part of America. And then this ‘Geronimo EKIA’ thing comes up. I just said, ‘Why pick on us?’ Robert E Lee killed more Americans than Geronimo ever did, and Hitler would seem to be evil personified, but the code name for bin Laden is Geronimo?”Decoding the codenaming of Osama as ‘Geronimo’, therefore, unveils what Steven Newcomb explains in his book Pagans in the Promised Land the “cognitive unconscious” of the United States. Newcomb says, “Certain ingrained traditions of thought, both conscious and unconscious, have been used for generations by US government officials. Such thinking has resulted in the development of predominantly anti-Indian US federal Indian laws and policies.” He further says, “one of the normative American metaphors throughout the history of the United States has been ‘Indians are enemies’. We’re talking about a US tradition of dehumanisation and dominance used against our nations and peoples.”
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