Harvest (You Reap What You Sow)

[H2O Man]

"Earth is my birthplace.
I love my world.
I love my time.
I love my growing children.
I love my old people.
I love my ceremonies."
-Ganio’ dai’io’

Most agrarian societies had "harvest festivals." They would celebrate the success of their crops. Those people who lived in areas where a harsh winter followed, would be particularly thankful if they had a growing season that allowed them to stock up on food. The agricultural societies are able to be more settled and to support larger populations than the hunters & gatherers’ society. Their accumulated goods could result in a concept known as "wealth." This tends to lead to stratification of the growing populations.

Thus, the harvest festivals tended to include fairly large groups of extended families, often from different communities. There are a number of reasons why that was functional. First, by being generous and sharing, people decreased the risks of people from two communities away being tempted to do a raid to steal one’s supply of food. It also helps organize relationships, so that young adults can meet other young people. In the northeast, this included having contests, such as lacrosse, where the young men could display their skills that would otherwise be likely to be channeled into those raids and battles.

This Thanksgiving, like every other one in recent times, people discuss some specific relations between Native Americans and Euro-Americans, including one harvest festival with the Pilgrims. The discussions created some friction on DU. In part, this may be because most of us want to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, perhaps with our extended family, and not focus on the "down" side of it. In our culture, we tend to focus on that positive side, and that is a good thing. However, those who are uncomfortable with a one-sided view are not wrong to put this holiday into a proper context.

It is interesting, for example, to research and find out what the first Euro-American official based his decision to call for a celebration was so happy about. It wasn’t the Pilgrim experience that the later US officials base our holiday upon.

Others have pointed out that what happened to Indians wasn’t unique. History has numerous examples of people stealing from others. This viewpoint was expressed in a more extreme way by John Wayne in a May, 1971 interview: "I don’t feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them, if that’s what you are asking. Our so-called stealing of this country from them was just a matter of survival. There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves."

Perhaps it is that type of selfishness that keeps Indians and others focused on their experience instead of giving thanks that John Wayne’s ancestors were so willing to share. Or it might be that it makes perfect sense to take an objective look at the actual experiences that served as the source of the holiday in our society. It is okay to include the larger topic of displaced people around the globe, although because it is Thanksgiving, it makes sense to focus on Indians.

I read where some Cherokees are lobbying to have more information on the Trail of Tears included in their local school districts. Many students are unfamiliar with that ugly episode in US and Cherokee history. It does not mean that they should have to include expanded discussions about the Irish being subjected to similar horrors a few decades later. But, if they did, I think the Cherokees would want it taught that the Choctaw, poor and displaced as they were, headed up a drive among traditional Indians to buy food for the starving Irish.

We also see more discussions of JFK’s being killed in Dallas around Thanksgiving. Considering that it happened on November 22, it probably makes sense that DUers would think of it near Thanksgiving. I do not think any reasonable person would demand that DUers include every example of a leader being assassinated in a discussion of JFK. On the other hand, there are advantages to comparing other examples.

Young Americans will not be damaged by having serious discussions about both the good and bad that is part of this nation’s history. I think it is more upsetting to some older folks. But I’m confident that they will be okay in the long run, even if they are confronted with the realities of the Trail of Tears. It might even help people to understand the history of the tribes of that land we call "Iraq." Goodness knows our elected leaders don’t seem to get it.

I found myself thinking about this during the Thanksgiving holiday. This draft business that Rep. Charlie Rangel was the topic of much discussion in my household. It has been on DU, too. One of the things I thought of was how I enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday in the town where I went to high school. Every year, the school’s football season is coming to an end, and the basketball season is beginning. There is an annual "alumni" basketball game, which isn’t that different from the lacrosse games of the past.

I know that Rep. Rangel is correct in that the current volunteer military results in certain classes of young people carrying the load, while an elite class class rarely suffers and dies in Afghanistan and Iraq. It’s probably this way in every village, town and city across the country. I’ve seen it with the way that different kids are treated in high school. The attention for a championship team might be shared, but the scholarships aren’t. It isn’t based on grades per say, either. The "upper class" takes care of its own.

In my family, we are able to send our sons and daughters to college. All of my nieces and nephews who are interested in furthering their education are able to, without the help of that "upper class." But I know that it isn’t the same for all the kids that my sons went to school with. Some families simply cannot offer their children the same choices.

There are a couple "open spots" on the alumni teams, because a few young men entered the service. These are wonderful young men. In some cases, it is a family tradition. Maybe a father fought in Vietnam, and a grandfather in WW2. These are patriotic young men, who are the victims of the Bush-Cheney administration’s lies.

One of my sons’ and nephews’ friend was killed in Iraq. I knew him casually, they knew him very well. His death upsets me. His family suffer this loss, and for what? It surely isn’t because of 9/11 or al Qaeda or WMD. I think it is so that we can access the Iraqis’ accumulated wealth, meaning their oil reserves.

The answer to the tragic situation that Bush-Cheney administration has created is not a draft. I respect Rangel, but he is wrong. The goal should not be to hold the sons and daughters of the Bush and Cheneyites responsible for their parents’ crimes. We do not need to sacrifice the younger generation to an angry oil god in this insane death festival.

As much as any generation in our nation’s history, the current group of 17- to 28 year olds are just as willing and able to serve and protect this nation. If we are attacked, I have full confidence in this younger generation’s ability to do the right thing. And that’s a good reason to teach them the truth about our common history when they are in school. We want them to know right from wrong. We don’t want them to fight, to kill, or to die for Halliburton.

[Me.]

1. I Didn't Know That

About the Choctaws buying food for the Irish. Stunning.

[H2O Man]

2. On page 21

of "The Irish in America" (Coffey & Golway; Hyperion; 1997) we read: "By 1849, the horrendous plight of Ireland was known around the world. ... From Oklahoma came a donation of $170 from the Choctaw Indians, a tribe whose own suffering and poverty were considerable."

[Me.]

3. God

No words

[Me.]

4. For The Evening Crowd

:kick:

[puebloknot]

5. Heartwarming. Thank you.

I also didn't know about the Choctaw support for the Irish, although I have Cherokee and Irish bloodlines from both sides of my family. I was 50 before I began to explore Native American history in this country, and in my own family. It took classes at a community college to wake me up to that history. My mother said that when she inquired, as a child, about our "Indian" heritage, her father bopped her on the head and told her to go play. And my Irish Great-Grandmother Fannie was "crazy." End of family history!

My paternal grandparents are said to have thrown away their letters from the Dawes Commission, awarding them land in Oklahoma. They didn't want it known that they were Indian.

You are so right that an honest discussion of the true history of this country, and the world, is valuable to our younger generations. It shines a light on the shame that attends being a conquered people, whether through actual warfare or through attitudes that continue to live from generation to generation!

[ms liberty]

6. The Art of Jerome Tiger (1941-1967)...

edited to add: The discussion of the Trail of Tears reminded me of these paintings and I wanted to share their beauty with DU. Better views, and more art can be found at the website linked below!

Probably my favorite artist of the 20th Century. I came across his art from a book I found while grazing the stacks of the art section at the library in the early 80's. I fell in love with his work, and mourned his death at the same time. If anyone gets a chance to own some of his art - don't pass it up. Some limited edition prints of a few of his paintings are still available, thru his website, which is owned and operated by his family.

From the website: http://www.jerometigerart.com/
"He was a fullblood Creek-Seminole, born in 1941 in Oklahoma. He grew up on the campgrounds that surrounded his grandfather's Indian Baptist church near the sleepy town of Eufaula. There and, later, in Muskogee he attended public schools, learned English, and became familiar with such marvels of white culture as running water, indoor toilets, and telephones. He was a high school dropout, a street and ring fighter of exceptional ability, and a laborer. He married and had three children. And he died in 1967, at the age of twenty-six, of a gunshot wound to the head. Tiger's legacy was his paintings: a body of work of exquisite beauty that revolutionized American Indian art."
on the Left: Trail of Tears on the Right: Cold, Cold Journey
<> <>

[IndyOp]

7. Thank you for this -- Rangel does not want a draft, he wants a discussion.

A very good friend of mine has repeatedly told me that he believes that greater class consciousness is necessary to move toward respect for all classes and that this is necessary to end war -- and I see those connections.

Rep. Rangel does not want a draft - he voted against his own draft bill the last time it came to the floor. He wants to introduce it to force discussion on the floor of Congress.

I believe he has done us a great good - stimulating discussion of war and it's horrible costs on DU and beyond.

[H2O Man]

8. Actually he does

want a draft. He has explained numerous times what he voted against, and it wasn't his bill -- it was the process that kept his bill from being debated. He has also said so many times that it should be impossible to deny that he absolutely wants a draft.

[IndyOp]

9. Rangel: My purpose is to remind we have lost thousands of best, brightest, bravest

Why I do not believe Rangel wants a military draft:

Rangel's bill sets the draft age to 42 for men & women and he knows that will NOT pass. I would be very concerned if someone put forth a bill that drafted only young adult males.

Rangel, "I don't expect my bill to pass; my purpose in introducing this legislation is for it to serve as a constant reminder that we have lost 2,200 of the best, brightest and bravest Americans, have had thousands more maimed, and countless Iraqi citizens killed."

Rangel, ""It is shameful for high ranking government officials who have never placed themselves in harm's way to promote military solutions as a substitute for diplomacy."

Rangel proposed the draft as a necessity IF the US goes into Iran, Syria as a warning - consider your support for such an action very, very seriously.

Rangel: My purpose is to remind we have lost thousands of best, brightest, bravest