Colorado resolution compares Indians' deaths to Holocaust
DENVER (AP) — 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.
