Selfishness, Falsehood, and Treachery-- Oh My!

In December of 1890 and January 1891, Frank L. Baum wrote two editorials about Native Americans for the Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer. The first of these was written about Sitting Bull, a Lakota Sioux holy man. Baum refers to Sitting Bull as “... the greatest Medicine Man of his time...” He says that he shares the white man's spirit of hatred and need for vengeance on those who wronged him or his people. The white man is referred to as his natural enemy upon whom it is only natural to feel a need for revenge and burning fiery rage.


Baum says that by the justice of civilization are the masters of America, and whose best safety can only be achieved by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indians. Natives have no glory, their spirit is broken, their manhood effaced, and they would be better off dead than live the miserable life they are now living. This is why we are not to regret their extermination.

The second editorial was written to follow the Wounded Knee Massacre. The only thing I really pulled from this text is, “Having wronged them for centuries we had better, in order to protect our civilization, follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth.”

No only did he realize this was wrong, he encouraged continuing anyway. This is a sure sign of prejudice and ignorance. His feelings are further driven, in my opinion, by insecurities in being able to protect his family and himself (if there was even a need). He would rather wipe out an entire race of people who had already experienced horrible trails, and death.

This The Wizard of Oz writer, is much the witch to the Native American's Dorothy.