Revisiting the past to build a better future
History is an interesting thing to reflect on. Who writes our history? The answer is usually those who have won great conflicts. What I am about to say here is not to be taken as me bashing our country. I love America. Our history is rich, interesting and I believe divine intervention can be seen throughout. I truly believe the good Americans have done has far outweighed the bad. However, there are dark parts of our countries past that should be recognized and learned from.
As I drove through the great plains, I wondered about what it looked like before it was cleared for farming. How many buffalo were there in these vast open prairies and Oak savannas? I have heard accounts that there were tens of millions of buffalo. The reality was that these great beasts sustained the life of many Native Americans. The Indigenous were good stewards of the land and used every part of a buffalo if they harvested one. Even the tails were kept as fly swatters. Unfortunately, for the most part the buffalo are gone because as America grew and spread, we killed them off.
You see, we needed land and all the rich minerals and resources that it contained. The culture at the time believed the Indigenous stood in the way of American expansion. I was saddened to learn the Union Soldiers and Prospectors knew that the Buffalo sustained the Indigenous and they targeted them because it was recognized to control them. The thought was killing the buffalo and get rid of the Indigenous that depends on them. As the railroads expanded passengers would shoot buffalo as their trains rolled by and the carcasses were left to rot and waste. It was a way to diminish the Indigenous greatest resource and terrorize them.
On this trip we visited the Native American Tribe of Yurok visitor’s center. It was filled with beautiful artwork and crafts. Among those were some displays explaining their history from their perspective. It was hard to read that the settlers targeted their language as a way of controlling them. They set out to abolish the language which would eliminate the culture. They set up English schools for Indian children half of which did not survive trying to educate them into the ways of the invading culture. It is brutal to think that that happened due to our expansion through the west.
Reading that was surprising because when I was in school this topic was broached but not nearly as plainly stated as I learned from visiting and learning from the perspective of the other side. I’ve also reflected on the mindset of the loggers in this area who had cut down over 95% of the redwoods that were originally here. I asked did they not care? I think the simple answer is they didn’t have the capacity to think otherwise. They were motivated by money and greed to cut down or take as much land as possible. Their vision was clouded and couldn’t recognize the wrong that was happening. The culture painted the Indian as savages that sought to kill settlers. I must ask, if someone took my children and put them in a camp that they died in would I too not become a warmongering savage? Without hesitation I can say yes, I would seek revenge at the end of my days. The narrative has been manipulated and flipped.
I think this is a sobering lesson for us all to reflect on. We should pause to ask, is what I am doing right? Will what I am doing help others? Is the way I am using a specific resource the actions of a good steward? It's easy to get caught up in the moment, culture or blinded by tasks at hand and demands of the culture around us. Let’s acknowledge the hard truths of history and not repeat it leaving a legacy of destruction and misery. Let’s all live lives that nurture, preserve and build others up. Sometimes that requires stopping and asking hard questions. Is what you’re doing today going to be for the greater good of tomorrow? This is what I think was at the core of our founding fathers’ motivations that forged this great country. It is what is meant in the pledge when it states, we are a land for liberty and justice for all. It’s the truth held in the constitution that all men (and women) are created equal so that we can pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
~Jeremy
