US PRESIDENTS CELEBRATING

By the time the US army was created , scalping and mutilating bodies had become a ritual that was officially performed. . And while future US president William Harrison was inspecting the army after 1811 so called victory over the Natives ,he had some of the victims mutilated in front of him , then came the turn of late Native Chief: Tecumseh and this is when the souvenir hunters rushed to snatch whatever piece of flesh they could get or whatever piece of the famous Native chief head scalp. Author John Sugden-in his book about Tecumseh- relates how the US soldiers- in their enthusiasm- peeled off the chief’s skin from his back down to his thighs and how one of them took one piece of flesh and turned it into small pieces to be used to tie the razors and how others rushed and fought over getting a piece of his head scalp even though some couldn’t get a piece larger than a one cent coin with a tuft of Tecumseh’s hair on it. And when in 1886 -or 75 years after the event - an interview took place with one of the lucky ones who were present at it, the interviewed person spoke proudly about this historical instant holding between his two fingers his heroic souvenir. As for US president Andrew Jackson- who has his picture on the twenty dollars bill- he was a great fan of body mutilations and he used to order to count the numbers of victims by counting their mutilated noses and ears and he had personally attended the mutilation of 8 00 Native Indigenous among them chief: Red Sticks and this is how author David Stannard relates how Mr. Andrew Jackson celebrated his victory over the Creeks by having his soldiers mutilate the victims among Native men, women and children by cutting their noses in order to count them and then scalp their skins to be used in manufacturing braided horse reins .
Adapted from Munir Akesh

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