Wiped them out and took their names

American historical consciousness is generally poor. Most egregious of all is the failure to recognise the colossal genocide brought about by Anglo settlement in the New World. “Gave us quite a scrap, those formidable native guerrillas, but room had to be made for our progressive white civilization,” the (Anglo-)Americans think, if they bother to reflect on the matter at all. There is no recognition that their polity is built on the systematic extermination of other peoples. Then they name their army helicopters after the brave, doomed tribes now extinct: Apache, Chinook, Comanche, etc. Morbid stuff. Vae victis.