Part of the traditional narrative of the North is the myth that Northerners never needed slaves; instead, the clean North was infected by the dirty South, where US slavery began.

The story of First Nations enslavement has been ignored and suppressed. This includes the Pequot war in Connecticut in 1637. One of the objectives of this war was to capture indigenous men and sell them in Barbados, where African slaves could be purchased for servitude in the North.

Romans frequently used the strategy of killing the men and enslaving women and children, while building their vast empire. Mormons used a similar strategy in the Fort Utah War of 1850, as reported in the Salt Lake Tribune on July 24, 2026 (“Pioneer Day”).

Brigham Young proclaimed “This is the place” on July 24, 1847. Utah did not become a state until 1896. In the intervening years, Young and his followers handled matters as they saw fit, with little or no oversight.

Forrest Cuch, a Ute elder, author, and former director of the Utah Division of Indian Affairs, explains that the LDS settlers attacked the Ute tribe in early 1850, killing 40 to 100 Ute men, and one or two Ute women. Others were captured, and some of them were sold as slaves to serve the LDS settlers, including children. More than 400 First Nations children were “adopted” (indentured until age 20+) in LDS households between 1847 and 1900.

History should not be suppressed because it is inconvenient, or appalling. The truth will set you free.