It's a national emergency!

Lol. So did I.

I'm pretty sure that a key to most american native's beliefs (as well as probably all so-called natural religions) is that every part of nature is "important". This "subduing the earth" stuff came up with the later, largely organized religions like hinduism, mediterranean polytheism (babylonians, egyptians, greek, roman) and the abrahamic religions.

Well- you can sum up many native tribes beliefs in an over simple way by saying “everything is sacred.” That includes each person too, and to disrespect any one thing including yourself is to disrespect all things. That’s not too far off from even “non natural” or “super natural” religions- Many monotheistic religions like the Abrahamic religions hold similar views and have generated many theologies that study the idea that of an all powerful god created all, what things can be changed without disrespecting their will? However in context- this particular mountain holds a special significance. There’s no clear analog- but it might be akin to if Christians seized Mecca and put a giant Donald trump where the Kaaba once was, or if Satanists seized the Vatican and erected an alter to Baal there. Not only was it particularly sacred ground- but there is a bloody history not just with white settlers in general, but over those very grounds that men fought and died to protect- and then after...

... alternating cycles of being cheated, swindled, lied to, getting fed up, resorting to violence, repeat- the federal government swindled them out of their sacred mountain, that men fought and died for, and erected a giant image of the figure heads for the loss of life, land, and culture atop a sacred site. There are plenty of mountains in America, and while as you say- many tribes and individuals wouldn’t be too happy to have this on any one of them- the black hills in particular was the site chosen of all mountains. So yeah- it’s kind of a slap in the face akin to a big statue of a middle finger in many ways. Much like Alcatraz. It represents an enduring legacy people think we evolved past centuries ago but continues and likely will until the last full blooded native is gone from the earth.

I mean- the closest real life relatable examples are things like the Soviet and Nazi iconography and statues erected in countries they conquered, or certain Japanese relics left in Korea. Symbols to remind a people that this was no longer their land, and here is a giant Joe Stallin to drive it home. You could see the appreciation and love in their hearts as most of the people of Eastern Europe quickly destroyed or defaced these monuments as soon as the USSR fell. And most of those weren’t on particularly “sacred” ground. People roll their eyes when you use the word- but we are talking about genocide. The systematic and willful erasure of people en mass. Like signing a deal to give the West Bank to Palestine and then opening a theme park that’s a replica of auschwitz with a giant Hitler, Goebbels, Adolf Eichmann bust there. Those men are villains because they lost. If they won they’d be monuments and children would learn how Goebbels “never told a lie” when he chopped down his dads tree

Yeah. Societies never evolve on their own as ready and needed. Besides- the fact that Native groups are still upset about the whole thing probably means they are really happy about how you “enlightened the savages.” I’m sure every single Native was just miserable without a strip mall and a pair of 505 jeans to call their own. But- you do realize even if we want to give any credit to your viewpoint, there are far better ways that such “gifts” could be given than through theft and genocide, the erasure of culture, language, and even genetic links? You do realize that many may not feel that trading an entire resource rich country abundant in natural beauty, their heritage, their rights, the lives of most of their people, the future of their culture and existence, for not having to “wear leaves as underwear” and being able to binge watch Gilmore Girls is not a fair trade? Ironic. It seems that even in 2019 we find a person who thinks manhattan for beads is a “fair deal.”

Two questions @guest-
1. Are you the same guest who said that women are at fault for their men cheating because they didn’t work to be “better women”? I have this odd suspicion you either are, or you two would be good friends.
2. If you are the same guest... are you... is Donald Trump on funsub as a guest...?

I did notice that lately a lot of guest commenst are almost comically racist and mysoginistic. Its like they turned the dial all the way up then broke it.

They depend on people not taking hate seriously.