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Colorado
resolution compares Indians' deaths to Holocaust |
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By COLLEEN SLEVIN
The Associated Press
Wednesday, April 30, 2008; 6:08 PM
DENVER -- The Colorado Legislature passed a resolution Wednesday comparing the
deaths of millions of American Indians to the Holocaust and other acts of
genocide around the world.
The nonbinding measure passed 22-12 in the Senate and 59-4 in the House after
some lawmakers protested that it unfairly condemned all Europeans for injustices
against Indians.
The resolution says Europeans intentionally caused many American Indian deaths
and that early American settlers often treated Indians with "cruelty and
inhumanity."
It specifically mentions the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation in 1838 and
the 1864 Sand Creek massacre in Colorado. It also refers to deaths due to
disease that were intensified by forced migrations, food deprivation and
enslavement by Europeans.
"Colleagues, this resolution is a recognition that up 120 million indigenous
people have died as a result of European migration to what is now the United
States of America," said sponsor Sen. Suzanne Williams, D-Aurora, a Comanche
Indian.
Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, said the resolution
painted all Europeans with a broad brush.
Sen. Paula Sandoval, D-Denver, said the resolution wasn't meant to blame all
Europeans.
Members of a group of American Indians who came to the Capitol to watch the vote
said they wanted recognition of what happened to their ancestors.
"It's nothing personal to the people of today but we have to recognize the
past," said Theresa Gutierrez, who works with American Indian students at the
University of Colorado in Denver.
A resolution formally apologizing to American Indians for centuries of
government mistreatment was passed by the U.S. Senate in February but has not
cleared the House.
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