Guest guest Posted November 29, 2001 Report Share Posted November 29, 2001 In a message dated 11/29/01 12:49:31 AM Pacific Standard Time, deva writes: << My own ancestor, Chief Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea), was educated by Sir William Johnston, who married Brant's sister Molly. (The Mohawks were Christianized early and then all had two names - one was the Christian name - an English name, of course.) >> Thank you for the fascinating history, Dharma, and for, as always, your clear and thoughtful voice. Hey, wish l had some lndian blood in me. ) love, jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 29, 2001 Report Share Posted November 29, 2001 Jerry & Friends, "The only good indian is a dead indian." Sure sounds like a prescription for genocide to me. yours in the bonds, eric , GCWein1111@a... wrote: > In a message dated 11/26/01 5:00:21 PM Pacific Standard Time, editor@j... > writes > > There was *far* more to the > government-sponsored genocide > than disease, although I'm > sure that was a major factor. > > > Not "A" major factor, Bruce. Disease was THE major factor -- BY FAR. > Your use of the word genocide is entirely wrong, in that it refers to a > systematic killing of a people. There was no program by the US government in > the 1800s to kill off all the Native Americans. The program was, as you know, > to take as much of the land as possible, and if Natives were there, too bad > for them. And yes, they were subsequently persecuted culturally and > spiritually as well. This was all bad enough, but it was not genocide. We've > seen enough cases of true genocide in this century to know what it really is. > > > On that we disagree. There > is a *huge* commonality that > can be learned from, if we're > not too offhandedly > dismissive. > > Who's being dismissive? Not me. l've long felt deeply about what > happened to Native Americans. l say it has nothing to do with what happened > on Sept 11. > > > I think the malaise to which > both historical facts point > is very much the same: the > dehumanization of ones > perceived foe in the name of > a deeply held belief in the > unconditional righteousness > of ones cause under the > auspices of a "the end > justifies the means" sort of > mentality. Many nineteenth > century Americans believed > in the superiority of their > way of life and its destiny > to prevail by the grace of > God, as do Bin Laden and > those who follow and/or > support him. > > > Yes, out of both arrogance and ignorance 19th century Americans > shamefully took from Native Americans. They were hardly alone. lt happened to > the native inhabitants of Mexico, South America, Africa, Australia and other > places at the hands of European powers. How many indigenous cultures have > survived on this planet, Bruce? Not many. lt's a shame. But that's what the > world was like in past centuries. That doesn't justify what was done here, > but that's what the world was then. There was no United Nations. There were > no Human Rights committees. There was hardly what would now pass for > civilization. You use fuzzy words like *commonality* and misuse the word > *genocide* in trying to link what was done by people from a bygone era to the > acts of fundamentalist, hate filled fanatics who have shown a desire to kill > endllessly in order to achieve a goal of global warfare between lslam and > the west. l find that a most unfortunate and untenable exercise. > > jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2001 Report Share Posted December 1, 2001 Hi Jerry, << My own ancestor, Chief Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea), was educated by Sir William Johnston, who married Brant's sister Molly. (The Mohawks were Christianized early and then all had two names - one was the Christian name - an English name, of course.) >> > Thank you for the fascinating history, Dharma, and for, as always, your clear and thoughtful voice. Hey, wish l had some lndian blood in me. ) Well, You never know, Jerry! )) Another of my ancestors is a woman with the last name of Cornflower or something similar. I have to wonder about her too. When I was a kid, my Dad mentioned the chief somethimes, but he said he didn't know why an Indian would be called Chief Brant - so he wondered if he might have been a white trader who was just called that. It wasn't until I looked into Iroquois history that I found out who he was and why he had an English name. Love, Dharma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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