'Geronimo' Code Name For Osama Bin Laden Offends Native Americans

The demise of Osama bin Laden is being hailed as a triumphant moment for the Obama administration, but one group isn't quite feeling the glory.

Navy SEALs confirmed the death of bin Laden in Pakistan with the now-iconic transmission: "Geronimo EKIA," or "Geronimo, Enemy Killed in Action." But as the Washington Post is reporting, the use of "Geronimo" -- also the name of a legendary 19th century Apache chief -- in connection with the Al Qaeda leader's death has offended Native Americans, who call the decision both painful and insulting.

“I was celebrating that we had gotten this guy and feeling so much a part of America,” Tom Holm, a former Marine, a member of the Creek/Cherokee Nations and a retired professor of American Indian studies at the University of Arizona, said. “And then this ‘Geronimo EKIA’ thing comes up. I just said, ‘Why pick on us?’ Robert E. Lee killed more Americans than Geronimo ever did, and Hitler would seem to be evil personified, but the code name for bin Laden is Geronimo?”

As NPR is reporting, some uncertainty about whether Geronimo was being used as a code name for the mission or for bin Laden himself remains. But many say they are offended by the overall context. "Embedded within it is a message that an Indian warrior, a symbol of Native American survival in the face of racial annihilation, is associated with modern terrorism and the attacks on 9/11," writes Lise Balk King at Indian Country Today. "It equates being Native American with being hated, an enemy to the world, and someone to be hunted down and killed, and re-casts one of their heroes into a villainous role."

Adds Jefferson Keel, president of the National Congress of American Indians, in a statement: "To associate a Native warrior with bin Laden is not an accurate reflection of history and it undermines the military service of Native people. It’s critical that military leaders and operational standards honor the service of those who protect our freedom.” Meanwhile, the leader of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe has gone an additional step by asking for a formal apology from President Barack Obama, according to the Associated Press.

Though the U.S. military has strict formats for official code names and nicknames for designated targets, the results are sometimes more goofy than intimidating, the Washington Post reports. Whether or not officials considered Geronimo's history -- the chief eluded capture for more than a decade after being hunted by some 5,000 troops following his raids on U.S. settlers -- remains uncertain.

Comments

[eskatyt]

07:21 AM on 05/12/2011

I understand why this might seem offensive. I mean, imagine if they'd called him Ghandi.

But I wish the blogger had gotten a statement from the White House to clarify this. Was Geronimo the man or the mission? If the man, then what was meant by it? Was it because he was a warrior who was good at hiding? Did they choose the code name on opposite day?

Maybe they should have used a fictitious person, like Robin Hood. I kind of think giving bin Laden any real person's name would have offended someone. He was a bad guy. No one wants to be associated with a bad guy.

I know it's a radical call these days, but I think I'll reserve judgment until I hear more.

[deminmo]

02:19 PM on 05/11/2011

dickn200b,
I am saying there is evidence that the first Indian may have been genetically related to Asians,
I am saying that American Indians have protested the use of names like "red skins" or "braves"
for sports teams and American Indians have been living in areas of Oklahoma, Arizona,
and Mexico for hundreds of years after being pushed out of North and South Carolina, Georgia,
Ohio, Virginia ect. As far as where I live- in the heart of the US. Born of American Indian,
English, Irish stock with heritage connected to the founding of the Virginia Colony.

[WhereSheStops]

07:34 PM on 05/08/2011

I had thought (per NBC news) that "Geronimo" was the code word for mission success - that it meant the UBL had been killed or captured.

But on the 60 Minutes interview airing now, Obama himself said it was the code name for Osama.

I stand corrected.

[Hontas Farmer]

12:23 AM on 05/08/2011

Equating a American Indian defending his homeland from encroachment by the US government to a murdering terrorist is beyond bad taste. An honor is only an honor if the person/people so honored feel it is honorable. Yelling someones name when you jump out of a plane does not give you a right to their name.

I know my history and my family tree very well. Speaking from my native american roots, as my first name should make plain, I was taken aback by that code name. I am not really all that hurt by it, it just felt really insensitive.

As for the whole "jackpot" was his code name thing... Statements made in major media interviews with high ranking officials make it sound like Geronimo really was his code name. I really wish the administration would just say a little sorry for this. Afterall Prez Obama has apologized to countries we were once at war with for going to war with them. Why not apologize to the first Americans over this?

[sillyfrog]

04:13 PM on 05/07/2011

A little off target but I found this in Indianz.com
America's favorite sweetheart, former Alaska governor and former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, is looking for a new job! Here's the word from Glossy News:

The Membership Council of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) announced this morning that they were reviewing an application for membership from Sarah Louise Palin.

But wait, you say. How is that possible? Sure, Sarah is married to Todd Palin, who is Alaska Native, and her children and grandson are tribal members.

Well it turns out that Sarah is Native too!

“Yes, correct, I am not a Negro, but I am a person of color. I am a member of the Ahtena, Copper River, Indian Tribe.”

But leave it up to the Ahtena (Ahtna) Tribe to disagree. Tribal leaders are saying Sarah got it wrong and she wasn't really adopted. So no Obamacare for her!

[pkgoal51]

01:02 PM on 05/07/2011

For those interested in Geronimo , the movie," Geronimo An American Legend", starring Matt Dameon, Wes Stutee (?), Jason Patric and Rober Duvall is excellent and historically pretty accurate.

[sumogirl]

12:53 AM on 05/07/2011

Geronimo and the Apache tribe were among this nations first homeland security experts. When invaders came, they did what they could to protect themselves from the original "terrorists." Obviously it didn't quite turn out the way they would have liked. To this day, the first peoples in these United States serve proudly and are well represented in the armed forces from countless native tribes. I can see how referring to Bin Laden as Geronimo is perceived by Native Americans as an insult. However, I'd like to believe the code name was meant to refer to the mission as a whole since Geronimo (the terrorism expert) was a fierce warrior who did whatever it took to protect his people from those who sought to annihilate them. Today's elite warriors such as those on Seal Team Six are trained to protect US interests and lives not unlike Geronimo and warriors from all the Native tribes.

http://www.cafepress.com/+homeland_security_white_tshirt,46700110

[sillyfrog]

11:12 PM on 05/06/2011

Maybe Obama will apologize by giving Leonard Peltier a pardon.

[wdw808]

11:57 PM on 05/06/2011

no need for an apology

[sillyfrog]

12:36 AM on 05/07/2011

You said you didn't care about this why haunt?

[JamesSimon500]

05:10 PM on 05/10/2011

Doubt it: freeing a guilty unrepentant cop killer like Leonard Peltier would be a travesty of justice and would leave a permanent stain on Obama’s presidency. As for usurping Indian names, Peltier is a repeat offender. By encouraging comparisons between himself and Chief Crazy Horse, a true Indian warrior, Peltier hopes to hide his true persona: a sniveling, cowardly, sociopathic poser and murderer who excels at fooling unsuspecting activists in search of a cause. Read the truth at americanindianmafiadotcom. Don’t get fooled again.

[sillyfrog]

07:04 PM on 05/10/2011

I will read it.

[Marc Thibault]

01:57 PM on 05/17/2011

Just that quote alone: "In the wake of the AIM legacy and continued governmental failures, the Pine Ridge Reservation suffers from many social malignancies such as unemployment near 90%, life expectancy of approximately 56 years, rampant alcoholism, and widespread child sex abuse." That's what one would call a distorted view. Take off AIM and you can apply this to most of the native Indian reservations, including the ones in Canada. I have no issue with a former FBI agent offering his view of a very troubling time in American History, I have one when it is sold as "the" truth. Especially when providing Richard Wilson such legitimacy. This guy and his vigils bear more responsibility in the misery of affecting the Pine Ridge Reservation that anyone involved in the unrest of the time. If you try to connect the dots here, you might realize this is a one-sided version ... so is the letter provided under "Wounded Knee" an signed by Richard Wilson's daughter.
And here is a quote from the former AIM member Trimbach refers to: "So as we got more involved and we became more present in the community there with the AIM office, (...) Some of the most important activities that we were doing at the time had to do with community service, helping families, employment, prisoner services, things of that nature. So this is the large part of what we were involved with in the beginning.

[gregory57]

09:32 PM on 05/06/2011

A bunch of WWII paratroop trainees saw a western one night. The next day one of them decided to shout Geronimo as he jumped out of a perfectly good airplane. Thats was how the word "Geronimo" entered the military lexicon.

Here, read this:
http://www.b-westerns.com/geronimo.htm

[First American]

06:44 PM on 05/06/2011

Latest headline related to this thread reads:
NM Sen. Denounces Geronimo Connection To Bin Laden Senate Addresses Stereotyping In Thursday's Hearing

The link is: http://www.koat.com/politics/27794353/detail.html

When a duly elected United States Senator denounces this fiasco I applaud his voice. BRAVO!

[harmlesstree]

05:37 PM on 05/06/2011

"As far as calling them "Americans" is concerned, do I even have to point out what an insult this is? ... We steal their hemisphere, kill twenty or so million of them, destroy five hundred separate cultures, herd the survivors onto the worst land we can find, and now we want to name them after ourselves? It's appalling. Haven't we done enough damage? Do we have to further degrade them by tagging with the repulsive name of their conquerers?

You know, you'd think it would be a fairly simple thing to come over to this continent, commit genocide, eliminate the forests, dam up the rivers, build our malls and massage parlors, sell our blenders and whoopee cushions, poison ourselves with chemicals, and let it go at that. But no. We have to compound the insult.

I'm glad the Indians have gambling casinos now. It makes me happy that white people are losing their rent money to the Indians. Maybe the Indians will get lucky and win their country back. Probably they wouldn't want it. Look at what we did to it."

George Carlin

[norskenr]

09:57 PM on 05/06/2011

We have a bit of a problem here. Unless some intrepid linguistic historian can provide us with a name for this continent that was prevalent among multiple indigenous tribes - and I'm not sure they were even aware this was a continent, (we weren't until Lewis & Clark returned) - we have no collective term other than "Native Americans" or "Indians" and the latter perpetuates a five-century-old mistake by Columbus. It's not our fault that there were so many different tribal groups, many of whom fought with each other before we ever showed up. How many of them, by the way, acquired their territorial rights through conquest of their neighbors? They were no less human than we are!

[mikesw]

10:28 PM on 05/06/2011

The concept of continent is a European creation. The invention of that concept doesn't give the descendents of the inventors the right to steal other people's lands.

[wdw808]

11:59 PM on 05/06/2011

well said

[RoYaz80]

10:26 PM on 05/06/2011

Thank you very much, I am from the Navajo Tribe and I appreciate your open mind.

[Dimplezzz2002]

01:06 PM on 05/06/2011

If it's offensive to Native Americans then it's offensive.

[Edward Standley]

06:59 PM on 05/06/2011

Considering the warrior ethos of the SEALs, I doubt they would intentionally insult a famous fellow warrior like Geronimo. But you are right, if it's offensive, it's offensive.

[KRoach]

12:38 PM on 05/06/2011

Weren't there ever ANY Cherokee Grandfathers?

[Sarge617]

07:03 PM on 05/07/2011

I am not a bigot, just stating a fact, the white race has stolen many things from the indian, and in case you were wondering, I am Indian, or as we prefer, NATIVE AMERICAN.......

[freddsky]

12:35 PM on 05/06/2011

From now on all SUCCESSFUL MISSIONS must be nicknamed KOCH, CHENEY, or TRUMP.
Don't worry, as the 2010 elections have proven, the inherent irony will be lost on most Americans.

[BarryWolk]

12:21 PM on 05/06/2011

Naming the successful completion of America's most important military mission in many,many years after one of our GREAT Native American Warrior Chiefs is an unparralled HONOR to our Native American brothers and sisters.

As CrankyGal states below: Osama wasn't code named: Geronimo, only the successful completion of the mission was named Geronimo!

There is NO hint of racism in this naming protocol.

[sillyfrog]

10:49 PM on 05/06/2011

Yes he was. Look into it.

[GayRialtoCholo]

11:14 PM on 05/06/2011

I agree. But sometimes it's hard for people to back down and admit they over-reacted in a snap judgement. It seems that it was erroneously reported by some that the code name Geronimo referred to Bin-Laden himself. Although he could have just as easily been coded as "Shirley Temple", "Terminator", or "Eisenhower". It nows seems that the code name referred to the misson itself or the successful comletion of the mission.

Either way, your views on Geronimo the person depend on your outlook. Being of Mexican ancestery, I find the fact that he systematically murdered defenseless Mexican families to be indefensible regardless of his motives. It reeks of just as much evil as the genocide attempts of the white settlers upon the Native population. Both Geronimo and the whites felt they had their reasons for what they were doing. Both thought they were doing if for the betterment of their own races. But that doesn't make it right. Geronimo still wanted to exterminate every Mexican within his reach. I can't find that something to admire or look up to.