Santos Hawk's Blood

Activist Takes AIM at How History is Taught
Hawk’s Blood visits Brookdale for lecture on American Indian issues
BY KAREN E. BOWES
Staff Writer



“Twenty-six million people do not disappear into thin air.”

That was the message Santos Hawk’s Blood, a Chiricahua Apache American Indian, brought with him to Brookdale Community College last week.

“In Germany, they know more about the American Indian holocaust then we do. And here, we know more about the Jewish holocaust,” said Hawk’s Blood during the Nov. 23 lecture.

American Indians, once the sole inhabitants of present day United States, now comprise less than 1 percent of the total population. However, with only 50,000 full-blooded Indians left in America, the ratio of teenage suicide and infant mortality are the highest in the country, according to Hawk’s Blood.

“People are still dying on the reservation,” said Hawk’s Blood. “My son, he’s 22, tried to take his own life several times. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He’s too smart for his own good, has too much of a brain.”

Hawk’s Blood, a former Atlantic Highlands resident, is currently living in Pipe Creek, Texas, where he’s worked as an actor is such films as “Autumn in New York.” He is a founding member of the American Indian Movement, (AIM) an activist group that fights for Native American civil rights.

“We hear all about the Jewish holocaust and black slavery,” said Hawk’s Blood. “Why are they ignoring something that happened here? You can’t be more of a minority if your numbers are less than 1 percent. We’re a dying race, it’s safe to say.”

Hawk’s Blood gave examples throughout America’s history of the systematic murders that eventually decimated the American Indian population.

“[Lord Jeffrey] Amherst discovered that American Indians didn’t do too well with smallpox and the measles. He would have them contaminate a blanket and send it into the villages,” said Hawk’s Blood. “And they named a college after him.”

According to Hawk’s Blood, in 1973, American Indians were the fastest-growing population in the country. Around this time, the federal government began to require that all American Indians receive a vaccine to ward against common illnesses such as the flu. It was later discovered that the vaccine was actually a sterilization drug and that many women were unwillingly sterilized as a result.

From 1972 to 1976, the estimate of total sterilizations was around 3,000 per year for four years, according to a report by Charles R. England, available on the Internet.

Hawk’s Blood also used the opportunity to clear up common misconceptions about American Indians.

“Casinos do not represent reality,” Hawk’s Blood said. “The poorest place in America is on the reservation. Yes, the Pequots [American Indian people of eastern Connecticut] have done well, but most native people still don’t have much.”

As for religion, the population is split down the middle, with most American Indians choosing to practice Christianity and a small percent still acting as traditionalists.

“I’m sure Christ didn’t say, ‘Go to America and kill Indians,’ ” Hawk’s Blood said.

Although a critic of the practices of the American government against his people, Hawk’s Blood considers himself a patriot, having served in the Vietnam War and with plans to travel to Iraq in the near future.

“We love our country,” said Hawk’s Blood. “We love our people — it has nothing to do with the government.”

Still, it’s not always easy being an American Indian in the Southwest.

“No one else has to carry a card that shows the percent of blood [in them], why should we?” he asked. “Anything under an eighth disqualifies you from any benefits from the U.S. government. And the benefits are a joke.”

Hawk’s Blood ended his seminar by singing a traditional song while playing a drum his grandfather made in the early 1900s.

“There are only 50,000 full-bloods left in the United States, and I’m one of them. I’m proud of it,” said Hawk’s Blood.

For details on upcoming American Indian events at Brookdale, call Professor Jess Levine at (732) 224-2975.