Quote:
Originally Posted by Got Stripers
This board has no sense of humor, but I'm pretty sure written laws didn't need to be on the books, for most to understand the native Americans got a royal screwing courtesy of the uninvited boatloads of immigrants coming to their country. Our ancestors are lucky they didn't have better planning and better weapons.
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My ancestors didn't have to be lucky. They came here much later. Your ancestors were the ones who did the royal screwing. But they didn't have to feel guilty about it. It was the way of the world. Who knows what the first so-called Native Americans found when they migrated here from who knows where for whatever reason--being screwed there or because they were chased away because they were screwing others. Or because they just sought a better life.
And when they continued their trek into here it wasn't a great kumbaya between the old and new "natives." There were fights over territory which continued for centuries and the more advanced developed civilizations that had to be protected from or prey upon other "native" populations, and various religious and superstitious rituals including human sacrifice and tribal wars were normal. It's far more complex than the evil white man screwing the innocent red one meme. But there was undoubtedly some or a lot of that.
You're entitled to feel guilty for the sins of your ancestors. I don't want any part of that. My ancestors were screwed over for centuries, but I'm sure they weren't completely innocent. And I can neither hold a grudge over it nor even care about it. It's all that water under the bridge thing. The past has its important lessons, from which we better learn, and provides the pleasure of studying it. But I'm focused mostly on doing the best I can in today's world.
Hey, maybe the ancestors of the "Native" Americans should feel lucky that an advanced civilization saved them from the short hard life of scrounging for food and from the ravages of disease and age that the amenities of the modern world affords them.
I'm just joking. That sense of humor thing. It would be interesting, though, if the tribes that live on reservations actually reverted to the ancient ways and lived off the land without the aid modern technology. I believe their lives would be more "meaningful" than the lives of most Americans today. But it would be a LOT tougher for them, and most would probably want todays American conveniences with an infusion of their version of old beliefs, customs, and rituals. Of course, if all the old tribes made a comeback and lived as they used to, there would probably be a lot of wars among each other to spice up the tough harsh life.