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Chief Joseph, he was, I believe, probably other than the seinal, probably one of the last Native American chiefs to succumb to the US government and surrender. I believe he was taken hostage. Uh, it was either Wyoming or Montana territory, almost got to the Canadian line to cross over somewhere in that area. They put him back to a fort. They, they, they bottled him up and they decided to put him on a reservation.

Well, during all this hubbub, he, like most chiefs, wore a medicine bag around his neck. It was very, very normal. Nothing real big, but it was around his neck. This little leather pouch. One of the soldiers took that away from him. And inside the bag, there's a lot of stuff, but the one thing that was really unusual, a little 1 in x 1 in clay square, and it had lettering on it, and the lettering happened to be cuneiform. Now, cuneiform was in full usage around 3000 BC in the Fertile Crescent. Hittites used it, the Babylonians used it, the Akkadians used it, the Sumerians used it, and the Hebrews knew how to use it because that was the language of the day if you wanted to do business.

So the first question is, what is an Indian in North America doing with a little square cuneiform tablet in his medicine pouch? Well, asking him what this was, and he repeated, "This is something from my ancient ancestors, and that's why I hold it dear." And they asked him, "Can you read it?" and he said, "No." So you don't know what it says? He says, "No, I don't know what it says." That cuneiform tablet is at West Point today; you can go there and see it. Now, I've been there twice. The first time it was on display; the second time it had been removed, and if you ask for it, and if the curator of the day is in a mood, he'll let you see it. Uh, sometimes, you know, that happens. They say, "I'm too busy," and they won't pull it out. But they do have it. So, it still exists, thank goodness.

Now, what's interesting, it was translated, and I don't have the actual translation here to read to you, but it was a bill of sale or like a receipt for sheep or goats or both. And it took place around 2040 BC. Uh, and they mention Ur; it mentions the Babylonians. I mean, this is wild. And then in 1963, Mrs. Hearn, she's near Columbus, Georgia. I don't remember the exact town she was in. An old lady out doing her garden, and lo and behold, up turns a little square cuneiform tablet. Well, it got passed along to the proper authorities, and it too is a receipt for sheep or goats, and it dates at 2042 BC. All this has been the transcribing and the interpretation all done by professional academics in the universities.

So how do you explain that? I don't know what to say, but there it is; it's here in North America, and it's not supposed to be here, but yet it is.