Your source "pushes it" in Volume I, Book I, Chapter I, Paragraph 1.... :-)
League of the Ho-dé-no-sau-nee Or Iroquois By Lewis Henry Morgan, Herbert Marshall Lloyd
Posted on 10/08/2007 10:11:47 AM PDT by William Tell 2
Columbus Day was originally celebrated Oct. 12, the day Christopher Columbus landed in the New World, but it is currently celebrated the second Monday in October.
However, in some quarters, "celebrate" is not the appropriate term.
Since about 1992, Columbus Day has been not only a celebration by Italian-Americans, but a day of protests by some - not all - Native Americans and by those who describe themselves as "multiculturalists."
It is important to note who these "multiculturalists" are: people who think Western civilization is an evil culture. They want to portray the European/American culture as uniquely causing death and destruction.
As is usually the case, these protesters are not motivated by altruism. The invective directed at Columbus is really directed against the American system of capitalism and democracy. Columbus is nothing more than a proxy to attempt to discredit our government by attempting to demonize our historical roots.
Despite Columbus Day being celebrated since at least 1866, it became a target for the American liberal on the 500th anniversary in 1992. It was excoriated as a day that began the advent of slavery. It was deemed a day in which the destruction of the utopia created by Native Americans in what we now call the Americas commenced.
For example, in 1993 a leaflet was distributed to a Philadelphia elementary school class by a teacher. It was titled: "Gifting the White Man ... Despite the Betrayals. "
The document stated: "Far from being the savages Christopher Columbus described in his log, native peoples of the Americas were advanced in many ways - and were more civilized than their discoverers. From the moment Europeans set foot in the West, the world has been enriched by Indian achievements and wisdom. In return, native peoples have been paid back with five centuries of cruelty, betrayals and relentless attempts to take their lands and destroy their culture."
The paper then lists in two separate columns: "Indian Gifts to White Men" and "White Man's Gifts to the Indians." Included among Indian gifts is government.
According to the leaflet's authors, "The American federal system derives not from Europe - whose nation's knew nothing of democracy - but Indian tribal organizations."
This leaflet distributed to schoolchildren claimed Europeans knew nothing of democracy, a concept and word created by the ancient Greeks.
Perhaps the most egregious example of the political perversion of history occurs in Denver. For over a decade now, the annual Columbus Day parade has been disrupted by groups allegedly representing Native Americans who say Columbus brought slavery, war and destruction to America. According to them, America was paradise of peace, freedom and individual rights before the Europeans arrived.
The suggestion that Europeans and Americans were unique in conquest of other peoples and lands is absurd. The idea that the true history of European conquest and American conquest needs to be taught if there is any fairness or balance to history is deceptive.
If the "multiculturalists" wanted to be fair and balanced about teaching history, then they should teach about the practice of human sacrifice by the Aztecs and cannibalism by the Caribes. (The word "cannibal" is derived from the mispronunciation of the name Caribe by the Spanish.)
If "multiculturalists" wanted to present a comprehensive history of the New World, they should mention that the Taino Indians of Cuba had conquered and enslaved the Ciboney, who had displaced the Gauanhatabey. The Tainos in turn dreaded the Caribs, who had already conquered the Igneri.
If multiculturalists really want to educate students about slavery, then they should teach not only about the enslavement of Native Americans and Africans by Europeans but about the enslavement of Native Americans by other Native Americans, as well as the enslavement of Africans by other Africans. They should teach that slavery was practiced among the Aztecs, the Incas and the Mayas as well as Tlingit, the Haida and other tribes. But this would be counter to their objectives.
The Roman statesman Cicero once said, "The first law of the historian is that he shall never dare utter an untruth. ... There shall be no suspicion of partiality in his writing, or of malice."
Multiculturalism is merely the attempt to elevate some cultures at the expense of others. Until multiculturalist historians heed the words of Cicero, the PC torchbearers will continue to the divide rather than unite.
Michael P. Tremoglie is the author of the conservative novel "A Sense of Duty" available at Barnesandnoble.com and Amazon.com.
Well, there is some basis in fact here. The original 5 tribes had a confederacy based at Onondaga that was founded before Europeans got here (when exactly is a matter of debate). It was a representative system in which chiefs from the 5 tribes and from the various clans were specifically appointed to 1 of 50 different slots in the Roll Call of Chiefs at the great Council at Onondaga. Then there was one chief called the Thadodaho who presided "first of equals" over the whole thing.
But to say it was a democracy or even a federal government...mmm...that's pushing it. The Mohawk during the 1650s were continually at odds with the rest of the League, and at one point they were at war with their fellow League members the Seneca. Moreover, when consensus could not be reached between the Five Nations, the central fire would be covered and every nation was, in essence, free to go on its own. It was really much more like a loose version of the Articles of Confederation.
Admiration for some aspects of the Iroquois League is nothing new in American History. They weren't called "the Romans of the West" in the 1800s for nothing....but the degree to which some academics will go to deny--in the face of flat-out documentary evidence--that the Iroquois practiced ritual cannibalism, enslaved conquered peoples, and brutally tortured their enemies is really beyond the pale.
Moreover, there were plenty of European models of representative government for the Founding Fathers to choose from: Rome, Greece, the Italian Republics. The U.S. government is firmly in that tradition. We did not have horns of office, roll calls of chiefs, clan representation, elder brothers and younger brothers, condolence ceremonies between the states, etc. There is no Federal Keeper of the Wampum. ;)
Exactly. I should have read your comments down further before I posted.
FYI, here’s one of the seminal books on the Iroquois League, written before political correctness. :)
Your source "pushes it" in Volume I, Book I, Chapter I, Paragraph 1.... :-)
League of the Ho-dé-no-sau-nee Or Iroquois By Lewis Henry Morgan, Herbert Marshall Lloyd
Thorvald Ericson!
Too few people realize that Tor was the first European to be buried in North America. I learned about this in elementary school back when there still were some good teachers around.
Well whaddya know!
I will happily stand corrected by Morgan.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.