Thanksgiving?
What is Thanksgving? Legend tells us it is the time when the people at Jamestown and the Indians, the Powhattan to be exact, came together for a great feast in which the Indians showed the new settlers some of the native bounties of the land. Corn, turkey, other crops, etc. In fact the Indians helped the Jamestown settlers survive by showing them how to live off the land they they were now inhabitting. How did those settlers repay the Powhattan? They killed them years later in a bitter war.
Then along came the Cherokee. The Virginia colony was alarmed to find that a large group of Rickahockans (as the Cherokee were known by the Powhatan tribes) had settled at the falls of the James River near the present site of Richmond. You see the Cherokee were not afraid of the whites. They had lived peacefully with the Spanish for a long while. Although the Spanish did exploit them by taking their gold, the Cherokee had no use for it so they took what the Spanish gave them and allowed the Spanish to live among them. But what did the Virginians do? They attacked the Cherokee at Richmond. The Virginians lost the battle. The Cherokee were not a warring people they had had enough of that for thousands of years with the other Indian nations but they were fierce in battle.
The whites did not let them alone they discovered that the Cherokee were peaceful. They instead exploited the Cherokee through trade and soon a viable trade network was set up. Next, however, they used what we call, and is against the Geneva Convention, Germ Warfare. Unintentional or not in two sepperate epidemics started by the English, over 2/3 of the Cherokee died of Small Pox. Then if that was not enough they drove them back and back and back. The Cherokee were proud to coexist with the Whites even adobting an Alphabet, the first Indians to do so.
Then Desotos gold was found on the little chunk of Cherokee land that remained. So, even defying the Supreme Court, the state of George and President Jackson decided it was time for the Cherokee and all the tribes for that matter to move and the Indian Removal Act was passed. I do not need to go into the Trail of Tears other than to say that one in four Indian died on the the trip to the new lands in Oklahoma.
Other tribes faced simular as the Inians were blocked off on Reservations throughout the U.S. Ever been to a reservation? Not just off the highway,not the casinos, but have you really been to one? They make the slums of the big cities look like Beverly Hills. Even today in 2007 they are bad bad bad. Many do not have central heat and air and some do not even have indoor plumbing on the Res.
The Indians were thrown on land no one wanted. For many years if it was decided someone wanted the land they just moved the Res or shrunk it. Such as Black Hills in the Dakotas where Gold was found. However, we outgrew that. People realized Indian Genocide was wrong, right? Maybe.......
With the invention of the automobile and the use of natural gas we became dependent on petroleum products. What does the song say...Black Gold, Texas Tea. When oil was found in Oklahoma, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, etc. on Indian land we were better people and instead of making them move or shrinking the small reservations the U.S. instead paid for the rights to harvest that commodity. Of course the prices were exploited but every bit helps and the Indians needed the money so they took it.
Just a few years ago, time frame 1980s, the trust set up by the government ran out. The Indians both tribes and individeuals ceased getting the money the desperately needed from these rights. It seems the moneys for years had been mismanaged and they were all gone. So they stopped paying. No notice no nothing. So what did the Indians do? They sued of course.
This battle has been on for many years. The Indian attorneys fighting it out in court. Documents being "lost" by the federal government, etc. A big cover up. Yes a big cover up. This is not conspiracy theory look it up. I did and was shocked. So finally the Indians, who estimate the debt conservatively at 480 billion dollars offered to settle for only 24 billion. Pennies on the dollar right? The feds were not happy with that offer.
So here we are today. This is 2007, Thanksgiving. A new proposal up in the Senate. Proposed by none other than Presidential hopeful McCain proposes that the moneys be reappropriated and that the settlement be way under even the 1 billion dollar mark. Yes not even pennies on the dollar. He seeks to rob the Indians once again. Check it out it is the Indian Trust Reform Act of 2005. I admit there are a few good things in there like reappropriating the money and fixing the problem from here on out. However what about almost 20 years of defaulted payments. The bill does not address the amount to be exact but estimates are at 500 million. That is not even 1 of the 480 billion that is owed.
The Indians had hoped it would die in Congress and be resurrected when a more reasonable Democratic Party took office. However, Bush recently mentioned among things he wants done before he leaves office is "that Indian thing." Yes "that Indian thing." And the white press did not pick it up and somehow the Democrats have not called him on it.
So to cut this rant off. As you all sit around the table enjoying the Thanksgiving feast I want you to think about what it represents. The Indians who came before the whites in this country even helping the whites survive. Think of the turkey, the corn, the cornbread stuffing, green beans, etc. Without learning of these the Jamestown colonists would not have survived to kill and exploit the Indians further. Then after you think about it enjoy your meal but then get up, get on the computer, and right your Congressional reps in the House and Senate and urge them to resoundingly defeat this Indian Trust Reform Act of 2005.
Then when McCain, who hails from the great Indian state of Arizona by the way, runs for President remember this bill. If he will exploit the Indians, my people, what will he do to the rest of America?
What is Thanksgving? Legend tells us it is the time when the people at Jamestown and the Indians, the Powhattan to be exact, came together for a great feast in which the Indians showed the new settlers some of the native bounties of the land. Corn, turkey, other crops, etc. In fact the Indians helped the Jamestown settlers survive by showing them how to live off the land they they were now inhabitting. How did those settlers repay the Powhattan? They killed them years later in a bitter war.
Then along came the Cherokee. The Virginia colony was alarmed to find that a large group of Rickahockans (as the Cherokee were known by the Powhatan tribes) had settled at the falls of the James River near the present site of Richmond. You see the Cherokee were not afraid of the whites. They had lived peacefully with the Spanish for a long while. Although the Spanish did exploit them by taking their gold, the Cherokee had no use for it so they took what the Spanish gave them and allowed the Spanish to live among them. But what did the Virginians do? They attacked the Cherokee at Richmond. The Virginians lost the battle. The Cherokee were not a warring people they had had enough of that for thousands of years with the other Indian nations but they were fierce in battle.
The whites did not let them alone they discovered that the Cherokee were peaceful. They instead exploited the Cherokee through trade and soon a viable trade network was set up. Next, however, they used what we call, and is against the Geneva Convention, Germ Warfare. Unintentional or not in two sepperate epidemics started by the English, over 2/3 of the Cherokee died of Small Pox. Then if that was not enough they drove them back and back and back. The Cherokee were proud to coexist with the Whites even adobting an Alphabet, the first Indians to do so.
Then Desotos gold was found on the little chunk of Cherokee land that remained. So, even defying the Supreme Court, the state of George and President Jackson decided it was time for the Cherokee and all the tribes for that matter to move and the Indian Removal Act was passed. I do not need to go into the Trail of Tears other than to say that one in four Indian died on the the trip to the new lands in Oklahoma.
Other tribes faced simular as the Inians were blocked off on Reservations throughout the U.S. Ever been to a reservation? Not just off the highway,not the casinos, but have you really been to one? They make the slums of the big cities look like Beverly Hills. Even today in 2007 they are bad bad bad. Many do not have central heat and air and some do not even have indoor plumbing on the Res.
The Indians were thrown on land no one wanted. For many years if it was decided someone wanted the land they just moved the Res or shrunk it. Such as Black Hills in the Dakotas where Gold was found. However, we outgrew that. People realized Indian Genocide was wrong, right? Maybe.......
With the invention of the automobile and the use of natural gas we became dependent on petroleum products. What does the song say...Black Gold, Texas Tea. When oil was found in Oklahoma, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, etc. on Indian land we were better people and instead of making them move or shrinking the small reservations the U.S. instead paid for the rights to harvest that commodity. Of course the prices were exploited but every bit helps and the Indians needed the money so they took it.
Just a few years ago, time frame 1980s, the trust set up by the government ran out. The Indians both tribes and individeuals ceased getting the money the desperately needed from these rights. It seems the moneys for years had been mismanaged and they were all gone. So they stopped paying. No notice no nothing. So what did the Indians do? They sued of course.
This battle has been on for many years. The Indian attorneys fighting it out in court. Documents being "lost" by the federal government, etc. A big cover up. Yes a big cover up. This is not conspiracy theory look it up. I did and was shocked. So finally the Indians, who estimate the debt conservatively at 480 billion dollars offered to settle for only 24 billion. Pennies on the dollar right? The feds were not happy with that offer.
So here we are today. This is 2007, Thanksgiving. A new proposal up in the Senate. Proposed by none other than Presidential hopeful McCain proposes that the moneys be reappropriated and that the settlement be way under even the 1 billion dollar mark. Yes not even pennies on the dollar. He seeks to rob the Indians once again. Check it out it is the Indian Trust Reform Act of 2005. I admit there are a few good things in there like reappropriating the money and fixing the problem from here on out. However what about almost 20 years of defaulted payments. The bill does not address the amount to be exact but estimates are at 500 million. That is not even 1 of the 480 billion that is owed.
The Indians had hoped it would die in Congress and be resurrected when a more reasonable Democratic Party took office. However, Bush recently mentioned among things he wants done before he leaves office is "that Indian thing." Yes "that Indian thing." And the white press did not pick it up and somehow the Democrats have not called him on it.
So to cut this rant off. As you all sit around the table enjoying the Thanksgiving feast I want you to think about what it represents. The Indians who came before the whites in this country even helping the whites survive. Think of the turkey, the corn, the cornbread stuffing, green beans, etc. Without learning of these the Jamestown colonists would not have survived to kill and exploit the Indians further. Then after you think about it enjoy your meal but then get up, get on the computer, and right your Congressional reps in the House and Senate and urge them to resoundingly defeat this Indian Trust Reform Act of 2005.
Then when McCain, who hails from the great Indian state of Arizona by the way, runs for President remember this bill. If he will exploit the Indians, my people, what will he do to the rest of America?
dsphoto:
Can you tell I am Cherokee with this blog?