Talk:Genocide of indigenous peoples

Neutrality

A quick word search shows that the Russians were the only ones who "savagely" "slaughtered" the natives during its conquests. Everyone else must have carried out their genocides with the utmost respect and candor, eh? The overuse of emotive language in that section (not to mention the disputed neutrality of its sources, including some odd ones such as "Inside the Ropes: Sportswriters Get Their Game On") needs to be sorted out. --Jacobfrid (talk) 10:58, 23 June 2016 (UTC)

That whole section was recetly copypasted from a different article and it has a lot of problems. I have tried to prune it a little, but really it should be rewritten from scratch.·maunus · snunɐɯ· 11:28, 23 June 2016 (UTC)

why is US section so small?

it was the biggest genocide in history--Crossswords (talk) 04:45, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

BS. Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people. Vast majority of Native Americans were in South/Central America, so US wasn't involved. Plus their deaths were caused mostly through disease. It's not genocide, it's ethnic cleansing. Genocide is intentional. By claiming that the deaths of Native Americans through foreign diseases in a 400 year period is similar to the intentional killing of Jews, Cambodians, Armenians, etc., you trivialize genocide. That's like saying the black death was a Mongolian genocide on Europeans. --Monochrome_Monitor 18:54, 3 September 2014 (UTC)

That is stupid since Native Americans are not a single people. The US have been involved in genocidal and ethnocidal policies and practices against many people in their territory. The fact that other colonial powers in Latin America have been just as bad does not mean that that excuses the US. Also the fact that the majority of depopulation was due to disease is in fact irrelevant because policies and actions with genocidal and ethnocidal intent are well documented. So no, your argument is like saying that it would excuse the Nazis if it were shown that most Jews died to malnourishment and typhoid fever in the concentration camps rather than being actively massacred. (I.e. I am not saying that that is the case, just to make sure, but showing that your analogy is wrong, because Genocide is not only actively succeeding in destroying a people, but also in simply intending and attempting to do so). But no, I dont think the US genocide against its indigenous peoples should have much more space in the article, unfortunately there are so many other terrible genocides on the same scale as the US one that also need space in the article. But it might not be a bad idea to make a separate article on Genocide and ethnocide of Indigenous peoples in the US. User:Maunus ·ʍaunus·snunɐw· 19:50, 3 September 2014 (UTC)

it's the south American indian who was killed by disease not the Indians in the US. Indians in the US was not killed by disease but directly killed by Americans. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.51.36.234 (talk) 18:44, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Categorically false; the majority of Native American deaths in what is now the United States were the direct result of various virgin soil epidemics, particularly smallpox, typhus, etc. You can read about it here [1]JordanGero (talk) 20:20, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

There's a difference between indirect and direct killing. Some Jews did die of disease (though primarily by gassing and secondly by shooting), but that's because they were rounded up and put in camps and starved. Native Americans died of diseases because they had no immunity whatsoever, not because they were injected with typhus or starved. Though the death toll of Natives was large, and the destruction of their culture tragic, this was over hundreds of years and mostly indirect deaths. I agree that America engaged in ethnic cleansing, but most scholars do not consider it a "genocide". Genocide implies intent. Though American policy was racist towards Native Americans, there has never been evidence that the US intended to destroy them as a people. --Monochrome_Monitor 01:40, 4 September 2014 (UTC)

I think you are mistaken in what most scholars believe, genocidal intent was very clearly expressed by many American state officials.User:Maunus ·ʍaunus·snunɐw· 18:20, 4 September 2014 (UTC)

There needs to be a lot more information on the Armenian genocide, considering its massive scale. A genocide with 1.5 million deaths should not be given the same weight as one with 20,000 deaths. Personally, I think there should be a category for "controversial" genocides, ie ones usually not considered genocides. Ie Mao's Great Leap Forward (famine was not genocide though it was created artificially through communist policy), Stalin's gulag's (more aptly considered politicide), and colonization of the Americas. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Monochrome Monitor (talk • contribs) 01:45, 4 September 2014 (UTC)

That would require some sources describing Armenians as an indigenous people. I think the case could be made that they were/are an indigenous people in Turkey, but they do not generally appear as such in the literature. Again the argument that most deaths were indirect is irrelevant, because evidence of genocidal intent and massacres of specific ethnic groups abounds. One thing is the question of whether the decline of the native population was due to genocide, but even it if was not that does not mean that the round-valley war, the destruction of the Natchez, the trail of tears or the Apache wars were not genocidal. Ethnocidal (cultural genocide) policies have been standard up untill the mid 1950s in American indigenous policy. User:Maunus ·ʍaunus·snunɐw· 18:20, 4 September 2014 (UTC)

The U.S. section appears proportional. In reply to the other posters, there are disputes about the definition of genocide, which could exclude the mass murder of indigenous peoples, since unlike for example the Holocaust, forced assimilation and deportation were also used. However, that is an issue about what the topic should be named, not whether the U.S. should be included. The victims mentioned by Monochrome Monitor are not considered "indigenous peoples." The term is mainly used to refer to peoples in countries colonized by Europeans, although there are some exceptions. TFD (talk) 02:15, 4 September 2014 (UTC)

If you want to call the general holocaust of Native Americans across both continents from the time of Columbus' arrival, then it would certainly be the largest genocide in history. However, if we are talking about the total number of Native Americans killed or misplaced by the US government in territory that was or is under US jurisdiction, then it doesn't even come close to the amount of people killed in some other genocides. The European powers had been colonizing the Americas for nearly three centuries for the United States came into existence. During this time, they had already decimated the initial population numbers at the time of Columbus' arrival through wars, disease, and misplacement. When the British colonies rebelled and formed the nation-state that is the United States of America, the initial population of Native Americans on both continents had already dwindled to a fraction of what it was upon initial European contact. So no, the United States as a nation-state is not responsible for the deaths of millions of Native Americans that happened at the hands of disease and the European colonial powers. The US government did commit genocide against the Native population within its borders and conquered territory, but the numbers don't come close to the Nazi holocaust of 6+ million. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Chrono85 (talk • contribs) 22:55, 28 May 2016 (UTC)

Smallpox Blankets

Is there any credible historical source that the U.S. army or government officials distributed smallpox blankets to Native Americans in 1837? The article or the sources doesn't mention any specific tribe or area or really any details at all (which by itself should be problematic). If it's referring to the claims of Ward Churchill that the U.S. army gave out smallpox blankets to the Mandan in 1837, those have been debunked. That was even mentioned in a past version of this article but it was removed for some reason. --Clintville (talk) 05:13, 3 January 2016 (UTC)

Are you asking about what started the 1837 Great Plains smallpox epidemic? I believe it was the Mandans that were hardest hit. As for "claims of Ward Churchill", I don't think he's old enough to have been there in 1837, so whatever "claims" he repeated weren't his to "debunk". Did you mean to say that Native American claims about responsibility for the smallpox epidemic were debunked? Xenophrenic (talk) 16:02, 3 January 2016 (UTC)

The claims of Ward Churchill regarding the US distributing smallpox blankets to the Mandan have been debunked (Churchill himself admitted to fabrication).[2] As it stands I can find no credible source regarding US authorities distributing smallpox blankets to Native Americans. The only historical mention of this is in the context of Pontiac's War where a British military official (Amherst) authorized the use of biological warfare against Native American combatants who were performing a siege on Fort Pitt.JordanGero (talk) 20:26, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

That is incorrect, on both counts. Churchill's citing of the 1837 smallpox epidemic was never "debunked", and Churchill never claimed to have "fabricated" it. In fact, a University investigation determined: Our investigation has found that there is some evidence in written accounts of Indian reactions in 1837 and in native oral traditions that would allow a reasonable scholar who relies heavily on such sources to reach Professor Churchill’s interpretation that smallpox was introduced deliberately among Mandan Indians near Fort Clark by the U.S. Army, using infected blankets. His sourcing was sloppy, however. And it's not "his claim", as others have documented it before Churchill. As for Amherst, any native who defended their land from Amherst's encroachment was a "combatant", including women, children and elderly - so I fail to see your point. And I don't see which sources you are citing. When it comes to the genocidal wiping out of a people from the "New World", Amherst says it best: You will Do well to try to Innoculate the Indians by means of Blanketts, as well as to try Every other method that can serve to Extirpate this Execreble Race. Xenophrenic (talk) 07:00, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

You are incorrect on both subjects. This is the University of Michigan study's abstract regarding Churchill's claims of the US Army distributing blankets infected with smallpox in 1837 to the Mandan: In this analysis of the genocide rhetoric employed over the years by Ward Churchill, an ethnic studies professor at the University of Colorado, a "distressing" conclusion is reached: Churchill has habitually committed multiple counts of research misconduct—specifically, fabrication and falsification. While acknowledging the "politicization" of the topic and evidence of other outrages committed against Native American tribes in times past, this study examines the different versions of the "smallpox blankets" episode published by Churchill between 1994 and 2003. The "preponderance of evidence" standard of proof strongly indicates that Churchill fabricated events that never occurred—namely the U.S. Army's alleged distribution of smallpox infested blankets to the Mandan Indians in 1837. The analysis additionally reveals that Churchill falsified sources to support his fabricated version of events, and also concealed evidence in his cited sources that actually disconfirms, rather than substantiates, his allegations of genocide.

In response, Churchill is specifically quoted saying So, I glad-handed things a bit. Mea culpa., a direct admission of fabrication. You can read the full study, abstract and all, here. I'm not sure whether you were being serious out of ignorance or attempting a gross minimization of Churchill's academic dishonesty when you said "his sourcing was sloppy"; the study concluded that the preponderance of evidence shows that the events Churchill spoke of never happened, and Churchill himself admitted to fabricating evidence in support of these events.

Secondly, your statements regarding Amherst also prove misleading and are in direct contradiction to the context of his discussion of smallpox blankets, that context being "Pontiac's War"; the "disaffected" tribes Amherst spoke of were the confederation that participated in the rebellion, and his quotation on the "Execreble Race" was in reply to a subordinate informing Amherst on his plan to use biological warfare in the form of smallpox blankets against the rebelling tribes. See this summary for more information [3]. The article in question here is specifically about genocidal intent, and military strategy encompassing biological warfare against rebelling tribal communities does not meet that definition, regardless of how vitriolic and repugnant the language is.

Lastly, given that the sources provided do not support the information presented, there is no further need for me to provide you with "others available." If you wish to provide reputable sources that meet Wikipedia's policies and support the deleted statements, I would be more than happy to evaluate them. While you're at it, I would love to know who the "others that have documented" Churchill's claims are. As I stated previously, I can find no credible source supporting the distribution of smallpox blankets to Native Americans by the United States government. Can you please share your wisdom on these "others" who have "documented" these events?JordanGero (talk) 07:58, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

I've already read Thomas Brown's essay (Not a "University of Michigan study", by the way), many times - and so has the University of Colorado, before issuing their findings. There was no "debunking".

In response, Churchill is specifically quoted saying So, I glad-handed things a bit. Mea culpa., a direct admission of fabrication.

Incorrect. Please read Churchill's statement more carefully this time (Brown links to it), including what he really said "mea culpa" to, without Brown's (and now your) misrepresentation, and you'll see that not only did he not admit fabrication, but he reiterated that he was correct about the 1837 event all along. Get your facts straight, please.

your statements regarding Amherst also prove misleading and are in direct contradiction to the context of his discussion of smallpox blankets.

Which statement of mine, exactly, is misleading or a direct contradiction? Please be specific.

given that the sources provided do not support the information presented

But they do, and you've provided no evidence to the contrary. Amherst did so order the use of pox-laden blankets against the natives, and that's what the sources say. Now your personal interpretation that Amherst's genocidal intent was somehow justified because he was "at war" with them, so it doesn't belong in this article, well, that's your personal opinion, and you seem reluctant to provide sources to support it. On the otherhand, the existing cited sources note:

Several other letters from the summer of 1763 show the smallpox idea was not an anomaly. The letters are filled with comments that indicate a genocidal intent, with phrases such as:
•"...that Vermine ... have forfeited all claim to the rights of humanity" (Bouquet to Amherst, 25 June)
•"I would rather chuse the liberty to kill any Savage...." (Bouquet to Amherst, 25 June)
•"...Measures to be taken as would Bring about the Total Extirpation of those Indian Nations" (Amherst to Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of the Northern Indian Department, 9 July)
•"...their Total Extirpation is scarce sufficient Attonement...." (Amherst to George Croghan, Deputy Agent for Indian Affairs, 7 August)
•"...put a most Effectual Stop to their very Being" (Amherst to Johnson, 27 August; emphasis in original).

Indian leaders defied British logic and proved effective against a string of British forts; these were the enemy that nearly succeeded in driving the British out, and became the target for British genocide.

I would love to know who the "others that have documented" Churchill's claims are...

That's not a quote of mine. Re-read, then rephrase your question, perhaps?

Xenophrenic (talk) 09:21, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

I provided you with a direct source regarding Churchill's fabrications, including his admission of said fabrication. For your convenience, and to spare you the added exertion of shifting your eyeballs two inches upward, I will insert the relevant material here as well:

"In this analysis of the genocide rhetoric employed over the years by Ward Churchill, an ethnic studies professor at the University of Colorado, a "distressing" conclusion is reached: Churchill has habitually committed multiple counts of research misconduct—specifically, fabrication and falsification. While acknowledging the "politicization" of the topic and evidence of other outrages committed against Native American tribes in times past, this study examines the different versions of the "smallpox blankets" episode published by Churchill between 1994 and 2003. The "preponderance of evidence" standard of proof strongly indicates that Churchill fabricated events that never occurred—namely the U.S. Army's alleged distribution of smallpox infested blankets to the Mandan Indians in 1837. The analysis additionally reveals that Churchill falsified sources to support his fabricated version of events, and also concealed evidence in his cited sources that actually disconfirms, rather than substantiates, his allegations of genocide."

In response, Churchill is specifically quoted saying

"So, I glad-handed things a bit. Mea culpa.

, a direct admission of fabrication. Instead of addressing it this, you simply discounted it and reaffirmed your previous thesis, which was categorically demonstrated as incorrect. Again, a detailed study of Churchill's publications found that Churchill fabricated and falsified data, including omitting data to the contrary, regarding the US Army distributing smallpox blankets to the Mandan in 1837, an event that likely never occurred, i.e., it was debunked. Given that you failed to address the evidence I presented against your position substantively, you have conceded this point. Moving on. If you would like to reengage on this question, I again invite you to provide me with the "others" you mentioned that have "documented" Churchill's claims before Churchill did.

Churchill admitted fabrication following the investigation of his publications on the smallpox blankets; his attempt at minimizing his extreme academic dishonesty by characterizing it as "glad-handling" does not change this fact. I suggest you take your own advice and read Churchill's statements, along with the University of Michigan study, before you continue grossly misrepresenting the conclusions which were reached. If you had indeed read Brown's essay, you would have found that he concluded that Churchill indeed fabricated support for his "genocidal rhetoric"; were you aware that the study I cited was written by Brown?

It should be well apparent to you which statements of yours regarding Amherst are misleading, therefore your call for greater specificity here is unwarranted. Out of courtesy, I will refresh your memory: you intentionally decontextualized Amherst's quote, implying that he intended the smallpox blankets to be used for purpose of perpetrating a genocide against Amerindian communities; this is false. The quotation, when read in context, makes clear that the discussion regards use of biological warfare against rebellious tribal communities during Pontiac's War. Do you understand now why your previous statements are grossly misleading?

No, the sources provided do not support the content in the article that was deleted (recently restored, pending consensus in the talk page). This article is about genocidal intent, and engaging in biological warfare through blankets plagued with smallpox against enemy combatants does not definitionally qualify for genocide. This is not a personal interpretation in the slightest- it accords to the common meaning of the words "genocide" and "combatants". I understand that you have your own personal interpretation of this being genocide, but that alone is not enough to overcome the prevailing definitions of words, and neither is your attempt at painting your interlocutor as supporting a "personal opinion" successful at deflecting from your own subjectivity. As far as the quotations you posted are concerned, I already addressed this in my previous response: regardless of the vitriol or repugnance of the language, the fact remains that Amherst's statements were levied against indigenous combatants during Pontiac's War, with any use of biological warfare intended against the rebelling tribes. Still waiting on support for the US Army distributing smallpox blankets to the Mandan, preferably support that has not been discredited as being falsified.

I paraphrased your statements, with the meaning preserved; your deflection here is amusing, however. You mentioned that Churchill's claims were documented by "others". Again, can you perhaps provide sources for these "others"? Perhaps you would like it if I asked you a third time so you can get another chance to ignore answering the request? =DJordanGero (talk) 09:53, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

Thank you for your personal opinions. Xenophrenic (talk) 15:57, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

Thank you for conceding the argument with a standard deflection. I quoted you a direct and reputable source regarding Churchill's fabrication and admission, as well as explaining your misleading characterization of Amherst's statements. In response, you erroneously accuse me of subjectivity to avoid having to admit your sectarian slant on this topic. I consider the matter closed and will revert the article accordingly; thank you for your participation in this debate. You can continue to observe in "embarrassed silence", given how you appear fond of that expression on your talk page. JordanGero (talk) 17:57, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

Reverting again would be a mistake on your part. Ward Churchill is a red herring here, there are plenty of other scholars who have written about the Amhersts' role in the smallpox incident at the Siege of Fort Pitt and about the 1837 Mandan smallpox epidemic.·maunus · snunɐɯ· 18:10, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

No, it would not be a mistake if the information presented was indeed unsupported by the sourced material or otherwise in violation of various Wikipedian policies (e.g., neutrality). However, I read your recent edits and find them satisfactory given their wording and cited support; thank you for rephrasing the content on the Mandan smallpox epidemic so that it does not reflect Churchill's fabrications (see above); I never contested that the epidemic itself occurred, only that Churchill's account of it has been debunked as a fabrication (again- see above). Xenophrenic apparently did not comprehend this, even going to the lengths of citing support for Churchill from the very same essay that debunked his thesis (Brown's essay). JordanGero (talk) 18:29, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

I've edited a section in the article ("United States colonization and westward expansion") regarding the US distributing smallpox blankets to various Native American tribes, as well as the "authorization" of use of biological warfare in the form of smallpox blankets against "indigenous populations." According to the presented sources and others available, I cannot find credible support regarding the US distributing smallpox blankets to Amerindians, and the "authorization" spoken of by Jeffrey Amherst appears to have been in the context of Pontiac's War where biological warfare against indigenous combatants, not "indigenous populations", seems to have been granted. If there is error in these statements based on available and reputable sources, I invite those interested to discuss. JordanGero (talk) 20:32, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

I'm not seeing the error in the present sources. Can you be more specific? And you refer to "presented sources and others available", it would be great if you could provide these "others available" if they would help to clarify your concern. Regards, Xenophrenic (talk) 07:00, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

See discussion above in this subsection. Again, the sources given for the deleted material did not support its content; if you care to explain how or where such support may be found, you are free to do so. JordanGero (talk) 08:01, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

I checked again, just to be sure. The content is well and properly sourced. Regards, Xenophrenic (talk) 09:21, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

The content is now well and properly sourced, thanks to .·maunus's recent edits that removed content following Churchill's thesis (which has been debunked and discredited- see discussion above for links to Brown's essay and Churchill's admission of fabrication regarding the US Army distributing smallpox blankets in 1837), as well as moving the Amherst incident towards a more objective description. I see that you have taken the opportunity to save face by agreeing with .·maunus's edits, despite the fact that they are consistent with my position above and inconsistent with your own stance of the previous content being "well and properly sourced". It was not "well and properly sourced", which is why ·maunus deleted the mention regarding the US Army distributing smallpox blankets to the Mandan in 1837 (as stated, this has been debunked as a fabrication by Churchill in Brown's essay above, which I cited to you). Funny how you now "agree" with ·maunus's edits removing this content, yet argued the opposite against me above and in stating that the sources were "well and proper". Consider perhaps adding this incident to your colorful talk page as evidence of your difficulty in admitting error and duplicity. This has indeed been a productive discussion!JordanGero (talk) 18:32, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

• Barbara Mann has a chapter on this in the Tainted Gift. As long as the wording is cautiously sourced - noting that there is some disagreement about whether this occurred, then the sources absolutely support it, and indeed it would be odd not to mention it. The population/combatant distinction makes no sense here, since smallpox makes no such distinction when it spreads - furthermore Amhersts own statements clearly make no such distinction either, but is adamant of the necessity to "extirpate this execrable race" - demonstrating genocidal intent (see e.g. the quoted passages from the correspondence between Amherst and Bouquethere).·maunus · snunɐɯ· 14:29, 19 May 2016 (UTC)
• Agree with Maunus on both points. We can't convey in Wikipedia's voice that all accounts are in agreement, but we can state that "some accounts" indicate genocide involving the US, and only mention the likelihood rather than present it as uncontested fact, per the cited sources. I've seen the "combatant" line of apologetics before, nothing new there, and is a misapplied argument in this situation. Xenophrenic (talk) 15:57, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

Mann also has a chapter on the 1837 epidemic among the Mandans, but being away from a library I cannot access this chapter on google books. It could be enough to reinstate a passage on that episode as well.·maunus · snunɐɯ· 16:04, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

Despite Mann not being one of the provided sources for the content in question, I am actually satisfied with ·maunus's latest editing of the contested information, namely because it is objectively worded and accords with the cited support (most notably it does not rehash Churchill's fabrications that were exposed in Thomas Brown's essay, cited above). The "combatant" argument I've employed here is a testament to both the subtlety that genocidal categorization turns on and contextualization of the issue in question, as opposed to apologetics (accusing someone of apologetics to avoid substantive argumentation is a form of ad hominem- fairly typical response to shut down discussion). Amherst's comments on use of pox-laden blankets were in the context of discussing modes of military response against rebelling indigenous tribes in Pontiac's War; his vitriolic and repugnant language does not change the fact that his intentions were prompted by a military conflict, as opposed to the implication of the article's wording prior to ·maunus's edits (i.e., that Amherst simply up and decided to distribute infected blankets to indigenous populations without specific provocation; the distinction is significant enough to be presented to the reader who can then judge Amherst's words, which indeed appear to have a genocidal bent in them, with all the facts present). The fact that smallpox itself makes no distinction as to who it infects is irrelevant to the classification of genocidal intent of the individual's employing it as a biological weapon. That is why the incident has significant ambiguity, ambiguity which ·maunus's latest edit incorporates and thus brings the contested content closer to being neutral, along with removing unsupported claims about smallpox blanket distribution for which Xenophrenic refused to cite support, despite being asked numerous times. When you make an error, Xenophrenic, try not to accuse others of being apologists for genocide to deflect from your errors. On top of being an extremely disgusting accusation, I could choose to pursue an incident against you for your conduct in this discussion (not simply because of such implications, but because you blatantly disregarded evidence provided to you regarding an author's fabrications, and only after another user, i.e., snunɐɯ·, edited the article appropriately did you take the opportunity to "agree" with that edit to save face over the fact that the edit is consistent with my position and adverse to yours). I understand that you are invested in your worldview (who isn't?), but the guiding principle of editing on Wikipedia is reliability of sourced material and neutrality, regardless if these two mandates conflict with your "personal opinions". JordanGero (talk) 18:22, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

I have a few problems with accusations of genocide by biological warfare by distributing smallpox infected blankets to native people. First, it's not really technically feasible to distribute smallpox by this method, and it is an urban myth that it can be. Although it was extremely contagious, smallpox was almost always spread by direct face-to-face contact. Contaminated blankets could be somewhat of a risk for hospital laundry staff, but laundering or even drying the blankets in the sun would kill the smallpox virus. Second, smallpox as a biological weapon is a double-edged sword. Yes, it appears to have had an 80-90% fatality rate among native people, but it also had a 30% fatality rate among Europeans, so trying to kill natives without killing Europeans would be extremely difficult. Third, the germ theory of disease had not been invented at the time of the earliest accusations, so the Europeans did not actually know what caused smallpox. It would be germ warfare by people who didn't know anything about germs. Apparently, at the time there was a myth that it could be spread by infected blankets, (and apparently there is still such a myth among modern people), but it wouldn't have worked even if they had tried it, and if it had, it could have infected the people carrying the blankets. And, it appears from the evidence that the natives who got the blankets were still alive for the next talks. So, it appears from the evidence that the soldiers and settlers brought smallpox to the war zones, and the natives got infected, but it had nothing to do with deliberate intent. If natives simply talked to soldiers or settlers, face-to-face, they could have gotten smallpox from them. That is most likely what happened. Blankets had nothing to do with it.RockyMtnGuy (talk) 18:05, 28 June 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for that OR, you should publish it somewhere.·maunus · snunɐɯ· 21:01, 28 June 2016 (UTC)