Free The Chameleon Soldier: NOW AS AN ALIEN BLUE HE CANNOT DIE. by D.B. Silvis Page A

Indians. Kip had been distraught over the government’s decision to set up, and sponsor a program of boarding schools for Indian children. Kip knew it was badly run and harmful to the children, and the family structure of the Indian nation. A second point which had been a thorn to Kip was that some states, like New Mexico and Arizona, deemed the Indians ineligible to vote. They argued that Indians did not have the right to vote because the Indian reservation lands were not taxable by the state. The state of Arizona interpreted a 1928 trust doctrine to mean all Native Americans were now under “guardianship” and therefore not allowed to vote. These and other issues had spurred Kip’s desire to return to Virginia, and run for congress.
    In the past, Killian had been torn over his past dislike for the Navajo Indians. That had been fueled mostly by Lupan and his followers, who had been blessed by the Star Warriors, but harbored great hatred for the white man. However, after his conversations with Kipling regarding the mistreatment of the Indians, he now had mixed emotions. Kip had told him that since 1879 the Bureau of Indian Affairs had created considerable trauma among the Native Americans due to the government-sponsored boarding schools program. The United Stated government had even debated how best to remove the Native Americans from their land by extermination or civilization. Its answer had been to pay Christian churches or military personnel to run the boarding schools as a civilizing alternative. Indian children had been taken forcibly from their families at the age of five; parents who resisted were jailed.
    An Army captain who had no experience in education or running a school had been selected to open the first of many boarding schools. His motto was “Kill the Indian and save the man”. The boarding schools had proved the first step in destroying the link between Indian children and their families.
    From time to time, Killian had heard stories about atrocities in some of the boarding schools. He had heard that abuse was rampant; that children were severely punished for speaking their native language or practicing their religion. Killian had often wondered what the Star Warriors thought of this, and why they didn’t intervene. He was troubled. He couldn’t believe the United States government would allow church and school officials to torture Indian children. Alongside the unscrupulous priests and missionaries there were untrained Army personnel, who had retired to take government pay, and run an Indian boarding school in a strict militaristic environment, where the boys were badly beaten and young girls were repeatedly raped. He had also heard rumors the children were actually murdered by the way of starvation, beatings with leather straps, hanging, electric shock, and other forms of brutality. He had had a difficult time comprehending that the United States government was turning a blind eye to what was happening at these schools.
    When Killian learned of a particular incident, in Arizona, he decided to find out the truth. The word was that two missionary brothers had stirred up the Navajos with their unruly and unscrupulous behavior. Killian packed and drove his Chevy pickup to Arizona. By the time he arrived at the boarding school things were out of hand. The military was trying to quell the anger of a hundred white people, who had massed, by the burning embers of the school, which had been set ablaze by the Navajos the night before. Killian learned that a group of Navajo men had come to the school, removed the children, set fire to the building, and taken the two missionary brothers captive.
    Knowing the area, Killian stepped back into his pickup, and drove toward a known Navajo territory. Once there he parked, and strode into the woods. He slowly began transforming into a Navajo Indian. After walking for about a quarter of a mile he heard chanting and mournful screams. He found the source of the noise in