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i have been on or thru alot of reservations the last month. was very interesting & sad.
now i understand why we were moved out further west..especuialy to arizona & new mexico!! there isn’t anything out there!! …except rocks & cactus.
seemed like some reservations were nice yet others there isn’t anything.
have came to conclusion why people didn’t want to listen to or like the indians way…it all pertains to being greedy,power & money.
😮 😡
My brother-in-law lives in Arizona and I can understand your comments. We traveled with him from the Grand Canyon to Tombstone and found the same results as you did. It seems to be a beautiful place to live in some areas and so extremely harse in others.
malisa wrote: have came to conclusion why people didn’t want to listen to or like the indians way…it all pertains to being greedy,power & money.
😮 😡
That’s a lot of it. But I think there’s something more, too. Going back even into the Puritan era in the NE Atlantic region and into more modern times even on the GReat Plains… Even after a rescuing army appeared, the majority of Causcasian captives chose to remain with their Indian captors, usually having been adopted into the tribe. Why? There was a lot more personal freedom among the Indians than among the European societies. That was a threat to the authorites, both religious and civil.
After the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, the USA government of the “land of the free” just couldn’t have its citizens opting to remain in a truly free society outside of the influence of the USA government. That greater level of freedom in Indian society was viewed as a threat by the government authorities. This probably contributed to the official government positions, fitting under the “power” issue mentioned by Malisa.
I agree with this train of thought….. I would just add that The Church was only too willing to abet in crushing the “woman power” often found in the more “primitive” societies.
Another important reason that captives remained in place is that captives were routinely adopted into a family. They likely had lost their original family in whatever warfare was taking place, but that family was replaced as they were adopted into their new tribe. Why leave? To go where?
“why we were moved out further west..especuialy to arizona & new mexico”
I have lived in New Mexico for 35 years. None of the tribes here or in Arizona were “moved” here, they are all natives, who have been here for thousands of years.
I think you are referring to Oklahoma, which was once called “Indian Territory”…….
Don Collins
Yes, any tribe moved to an alien territory would suffer, whether its the Cherokee from Georgia or the Modoc from Oregon who where sent to Oklahoma.
People from lusher areas may see the desert and rock landscapes as desolate, but I have lived in the harsh Great Basin desert. A rocky scab flat can be a grocery store of edible roots that didn’t even have to be planted or farmed.
spilleddi wrote: Yes, any tribe moved to an alien territory would suffer, whether its the Cherokee from Georgia or the Modoc from Oregon who where sent to Oklahoma.
People from lusher areas may see the desert and rock landscapes as desolate, but I have lived in the harsh Great Basin desert. A rocky scab flat can be a grocery store of edible roots that didn’t even have to be planted or farmed.
Things are not always as they appear…where I live people call the reservation Mississippi swamp land, but to me it is so beautiful in all seasons. I drive through the rez when I travel out of town and many times have to stop and watch pelican, eagle and hawk. In fact just today I went to visit my son in the Twin Cities and on my way North an eagle passed over as I went thru the rez and again in the same spot on my way back, I felt very blessed!:)
If you get a chance read “Neither Wolf Nor Dog,” On Forgotten Roads With An Indian Elder, by Kent Nerburn. The Elder refers to Pine Ridge and the cars laying around…please excuse my paraphrase, “The Indian used everything from the earth and when they were finished it went back to the earth.” So when I see junk cars and such I think of this Elder’s words and I can see how this would be….
Shirley
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