White Buffalo Prayer
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Saturday, 24 December 2005 11:54 |
III
History 101
In the words of Charles Neville:
This is our history This is the way it was This is History 101
A great civilization existed in this land we call America long before the people who came to colonize even knew that the world was round.
Pima Dineh Mohawk Ojibway Lakota Creek Seminole Cree Miscasoukee Houmas Choctaw Misqualee Suquamish Duanish Pawnee Cheyenne Apache Arapahoe Navaho Mohican Seneca Tunica Shoshone
The people now called Indian
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There were varied cultures, with traditions that involved guarding & nurturing & keeping the Earth, our Mother, honoring all other living creatures
But colonists from a far land beyond the ocean arrived here seeking to own, to conquer & subdue
the wilderness & its inhabitants, to subdue the Earth, to conquer Nature.
This would require a lot of work more work than the colonists could do themselves, more work than the colonists were willing to do themselves, more work than the colonists were capable of doing themselves.
They needed laborers, they needed someone to do this dirty work for them.
And so another ancient civilization was called upon to supply the labor
Yoruba Mandinka Zulu Ibo Princes from Dahomey, Princess from the Kongo, King from Bakulu Masai Africans!
These people were brought in chains, under duress, forced to work under pain of death.
This is our history This is the way it was This is History 101
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There were cultural similarities & similarities in the attitudes of the colonists toward both of these groups of people & this gave these two groups common cause
together maybe they could successfully resist
But the colonial officials saw this danger & they took a step to prevent an alliance
Hire Indians as slave hunters, Force the slaves to fight the Indians
Create fear hatred, distrust, subjugate both peoples Divide And Conquer!
Now this strategy worked to a certain extent but in some areas Seminoles & Africans joined forces & fought to the bitter end
Houmas & Choctaws & Africans joined each other in the Southern swamps & fought
& in New Orleans, in Congo Square, Choctaws Houmas Africans
got together to express the similarities in their culture in music & dance
& to this day in New Orleans there are people who are known as Mardi Gras Indians who honor & commemorate the cooperation, respect & alliance
of the African & the Indian, the Indian & the African, African & Indian, Indian & African
This is our history This is the way it was This is History 101
4
African Americans & Native Americans, Native Americans & African Americans are strangers to each other today
we are brothers & sisters of the same blood, brothers & sisters of the same spirit, brothers & sisters from the same mud
Our Mother, the Earth
We must know each other We must learn
The thing that separates us today is lack of knowledge & understanding
This is our history This is the way it is This is History 101
3.1.666 |