Perhaps, enterprising Iraqis can make a little money by selling buttons and stickers that say "Custer Had It Coming" (e.g.. <http://www.aics.org/bumper.html> and <http://www.bumperart.com/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=2004021913&productID=1893>), following American Indian activists.
<blockquote>The National Day of Mourning was launched in 1970 after prominent activist and Wampanoag leader Frank B. Wamsutta James was invited by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to a state dinner celebrating the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrims' arrival at Plymouth.
Wamsutta James, known in the community for his wide-brimmed black hat and outspoken nature, prepared a powerful statement for the event.
"Time and time again, in the white man's society, we Indians have been termed 'low man on the totem pole'," Wamsutta James wrote. He referred to the Thanksgiving harvest festival as "the beginning of the end."
Wamsutta James was asked to rewrite his speech before presenting it, which he refused to do. Instead of attending the dinner, James formed a gathering of Wampanoag and other tribes to declare the day of thanksgiving one of mourning instead.
The leader, whose name means "a kind and loving heart", was a retired music director and vibrant man who drove an old Corvette with a bumper sticker that read "Custer had it coming" - a reference to George Armstrong Custer, who was killed by Plains Indians in 1876 while commanding the 7th Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, in what is now the U.S. state of Montana. (Leila Day/Inter Press Service, "Native Groups Mourn on Thanksgiving Day," <http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/1121-03.htm>, 21 Nov. 2001)</blockquote>
Speaking of Custer, the most fascinating movie about him has to be Marco Ferreri's Don't Touch the White Woman (1974):
<blockquote>Don't Touch the White Woman a k a Non toccare la donna bianca; Touche Pas a La Femme Blanche! 1974 - France/Italy - Satire/Military Comedy/Anarchic Comedy/Political Satire
Type: Features Rating: NR (Violence/Not For Children/Adult Language/Adult Humor) Running Time: 108 minutes Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Marcello Mastroianni, Philippe Noiret, Michel Piccoli, Ugo Tognazzi Directed by: Marco Ferreri
PLOT DESCRIPTION Marcello Mastroianni stars in this French farce, an absurd "western" set in Paris, with Mastroianni as the incurably vain General George Armstrong Custer. Richard Nixon is the American president, but everyone is costumed appropriately for the previous century. Buffalo Bill (Michel Piccoli), the famous scout, is here portrayed as a limp-wristed bungler. Ugo Tognazzi plays one of Custer's Native American opponents; he runs a curio shop selling Native artifacts made in sweatshops by white women. The climactic battle is held in a large construction excavation where Les Halles market used to be. The language the two sides use to justify their conflict is lifted from that used in the then-current Vietnam War. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
<http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=89789>
<blockquote>Color, 1974, 109 mins.
Directed by Marco Ferreri
Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret, Alain Cuny / Written by Marco Ferreri & Rafael Azcona / Produced by Jean Yanne / Music by Philippe Sarde / Cinematography by Etienne Becker
Format: DVD - Image / Sceneries (MSRP $24.95)
Letterboxed (1.75:1) / Dolby Digital Mono
This movie is nuts! Marco Ferreri's bizarre modern "western," Don't Touch the White Woman (Touche Pas La Femme Blanche), was never given an official U.S. release, and it's easy to see why. Taking political commentary to radical extremes, Ferreri presents the familiar story of Custer's Last Stand, now set in mid-'70s Paris. Some characters wear period clothes, while others are garbed in sweatshirts or business suits. Indians remain in native clothes and wander around the outskirts of Paris while Custer (a fabulously self-indulgent performance by Marcello Mastroianni) plots their extermination. Characters constantly refer to President Nixon (whose portrait appears with amusing frequency in the background) as the force behind the white men's plot, making this a sort of twisted allegory for American colonial corruption extending into the Watergate era. Last but not least, the whole disorienting experience climaxes with an elaborate, spectacularly gory recreation of Little Big Horn that comes off like Soldier Blue as reinterpreted by Mel Brooks at the end of Blazing Saddles.
General George Armstrong Custer is called in to lead the American troops in a mission decreed by God to wipe the Indians from their native land and claim the territory for the white men. A patriotic, well to do young woman (Catherine Deneuve) flirts with Custer and eventually goes to his bed the night before battle, while Custer's disgruntled Indian sidekick (Ugo Tognazzi, a Ferreri regular) constantly attempts to make passes at Deneuve and picks up white prostitutes to satisfy his strange porcelain lust. Custer often utters the title phrase to discourage his "lowly" Indian, leading to a sick little punchline during the finale. Meanwhile, Custer is antagonized by the flamboyant Buffalo Bill (a scene-stealing Michel Piccoli), and French singers continuously warble C&W tunes in the background to add to the surreal effect. Obviously this is not a film for all tastes; even viewers accustomed to Ferreri's bizarre pacing and visual quirks may find this tough going, as the film outstays its welcome by a good 15 minutes at least. However, from a satirical standpoint, Don't Touch is a fascinating, idiosyncratic work that could only have come from Europe during the '70s. The cast seems to be having a ball, though Deneuve has far too little screen time. Philippe Sarde's eccentric score, which ranges from romantic to incredibly disturbing, is unlike anything else in his musical canon.
Image has done as good a job as can be expected with this film, which is presented full frame except for the letterboxed (1.75:1) opening and closing titles. Aside from a few close ups, the cropping does little damage to the film, and the color is surprisingly vivid and clean. The yellow subtitles are burned onto the image, unfortunately, and are consistently clear and legible. While this film has probably not been preserved under ideal conditions over the years, the Dolby Digital mono soundtrack is surprisingly sharp and distortion-free. Since this is probably the only time this film will ever be available in the U.S. (and it's a miracle we even got this), European cinema followers would be wise to pick it up before the limited pressing runs out.
<http://www.mondo-digital.com/ferreri.html></blockquote> -- Yoshie
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