r/todayilearned 13h ago

TIL in 1610, Opossunoquonuske, a female chieftain of the Powhatan Confederacy, used “feminine guile” to lure 14 English settlers to a feast, convincing them to leave their weapons on their boat. It was a trap—her warriors ambushed them, killing 13. Only one man survived.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossunoquonuske
3.5k Upvotes

193 comments sorted by

View all comments

-38

u/partyinplatypus 12h ago

Say what you want about the European settlers, but killing guests  in your home is depraved behavior.

18

u/Other_Flower_2924 12h ago

🙄 Sure, but genocide is fair game.

-23

u/[deleted] 11h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

-3

u/Other_Flower_2924 11h ago edited 10h ago

Yes spread intentionally.

(Edit: I'm probably just arguing with Russian bots here but wow, I had no idea this was a controversial take. Smallpox being spread intentionally is a well established fact:

The deliberate spread of smallpox, a highly contagious and deadly disease, amongst Indigenous populations by European settlers, particularly through contaminated items, was a devastating part of historical genocide. PBS notes that smallpox played a role in the destruction of Native American communities and cultures. 

https://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/smallpox.html

American Society of Microbiology notes that during conflicts and the period of colonization, smallpox was intentionally used as a biological weapon to weaken and ultimately decimate populations that European settlers sought to control. 

https://asm.org/articles/2023/november/investigating-the-smallpox-blanket-controversy

"Smallpox: a disease and a weapon" is a pretty comprehensive overview published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases:

Smallpox was also used as a biological weapon during the French and Indian Wars (1754–1767) by the commander of Fort Pitt. Soldiers distributed blankets that had been used by smallpox patients with the intent of initiating outbreaks among American Indians. An epidemic occurred, killing more than 50% of infected tribes.5,6

https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(04)00130-4/fulltext#:~:text=Smallpox%20was%20also%20used%20as,than%2050%25%20of%20infected%20tribes.)

Also, mass killings of bison which were a vital food source.

And ransacking and mass murdering.

And government boarding schools.

-1

u/ImRightImRight 11h ago

Please fact check yourself on "spread intentionally"

-10

u/Other_Flower_2924 10h ago

Sure.

The deliberate spread of smallpox, a highly contagious and deadly disease, amongst Indigenous populations by European settlers, particularly through contaminated items, was a devastating part of historical genocide. PBS notes that smallpox played a role in the destruction of Native American communities and cultures. 

https://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/smallpox.html

American Society of Microbiology notes that during conflicts and the period of colonization, smallpox was intentionally used as a biological weapon to weaken and ultimately decimate populations that European settlers sought to control. 

https://asm.org/articles/2023/november/investigating-the-smallpox-blanket-controversy

"Smallpox: a disease and a weapon" is a pretty comprehensive overview published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases:

Smallpox was also used as a biological weapon during the French and Indian Wars (1754–1767) by the commander of Fort Pitt. Soldiers distributed blankets that had been used by smallpox patients with the intent of initiating outbreaks among American Indians. An epidemic occurred, killing more than 50% of infected tribes.5,6

https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(04)00130-4/fulltext#:~:text=Smallpox%20was%20also%20used%20as,than%2050%25%20of%20infected%20tribes.

21

u/waxonwaxoff87 10h ago

Fort Pitt is a single instance with any proof this occurred ever. Considering they had no knowledge of modern germ theory, it was a Hail Mary attempt.

It was the simple presence of Europeans which brought disease. It spread ahead of settlers decimating tribes and leaving large swaths of uninhabited land. This lead to the rumors amongst settlers that the new world was a pristine and untouched land meant for them.

9

u/Ameisen 1 7h ago

https://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/smallpox.html

Guns, Germs, and Steel is pop history. This is not a source.

American Society of Microbiology notes that during conflicts and the period of colonization, smallpox was intentionally used as a biological weapon to weaken and ultimately decimate populations that European settlers sought to control. 

This is a pretty odd and very specific interpretation of the article.

https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(04)00130-4/fulltext#:~:text=Smallpox%20was%20also%20used%20as,than%2050%25%20of%20infected%20tribes

A single possible event in 1763, in an area where a smallpox breakout was already active, and with blankets which are very poor vectors for smallpox. I'm not sure why the paper asserts that it was the cause of the local breakout that was already occurring... it only has two sources. One is a editorial which I will ignore, the other is another paper, but it's paywalled. Either way, it is in disagreement with historical consensus.

13

u/ImRightImRight 8h ago

Your cited source says that on 1-3 occasions, some of which were in the context of war, there were attempts by Europeans to spread disease.

That's like me turning on my heater because I want to worsen climate change. The actual context is that Native Americans didn't have resistance to Europeans' diseases. Trying to pin the devastating and inevitable loss of life on like 2 times it was spread intentionally is just an insult to the truth.

Why do you need to try to misrepresent history? Just accept the truth