April 28th

On this day, in 1897, the Chickasaw and Choctaw, two of the so-called “Five Civilized Tribes”, were forced to abolish their tribal government and communal ownership of land. This action made their land open to white settlement. This was the policy of President Grover Cleveland who, like every president before him, dreamed of eliminating Indigenous societies and “integrating” the natives into mainstream society as a lower class. In keeping with supposed Eurocentric traditions, every MALE Indian received a plot of land to own privately (… if they applied for it following US government regulations). The huge amount of remaining tribal land was opened to settlement by Anglo-Americans. Prior to this policy, the Five Civilized Tribes were doing quite well, but the ultimate effect of this (which, by the way, the History Channel refers to as a “sincere, humanitarian effort”) was to deprive Indigenous people of their land. A land in which the concepts of homelessness and individual greed were unknown until the arrival of Europeans.
This was yet another example of the misplaced notion of superiority of the dominant society who believed they had nothing to learn from the people of this land.

On another note, on this day in 1947, Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl launched a raft he named Kon-Tiki after the Inca sun god. The raft was constructed using a pre-Columbian Incan design and using materials available to the Inca to prove that the Indigenous people of Peru had the technology to travel to and settle the islands of Polynesia. The trip was successful and later DNA evidence appears to back up his theory.

“One learns more from listening than speaking. And both the wind and the people who continue to live close to nature still have much to tell us which we cannot hear within university walls.” - Thor Heyerdahl

April 27th

On this day in 2011 – A storm system cut across the South and Midwest spawning more than 120 tornadoes and killing 316 people. Over the course of 3 days, a record-breaking 358 tornadoes touched down. (The previous record was 148). Scientists view this as clear evidence of climate change and have recommended actions that we as a society should take in order to preserve the environment. However, there are a number of people with deep pockets who have a financial interest in keeping things as they are. They have gotten Congress to exclude them from things like the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, in order that they can make huge profits from activities such as fracking (hydraulic fracturing of the Earth by pumping water and chemicals into the ground at high pressure, polluting the water table and causing earthquakes as a by-product). Indigenous people were able to maintain the environment here for CENTURIES, by taking the next seven generations into consideration when making decisions. These fat cats, and their paid cadre of less-than-reputable pseudo-scientists, don’t even care about the next seven days. These are the same folks who go around screaming that the government is too big. Primarily because OUR government occasionally gets in THEIR way when they find ways to make a buck at the expense of the rest of us. They want to dismantle all the agencies that protect us from them. Bigger storms are on the way…

April 26th

On this day in 1607, English invaders from three ships landed in the Powhatan Nation on what is now known as Cape Henry. They worked their way upriver and several weeks later broke ground for a town they named Jamestown in honor of the English king. A few years later, these intruders, feeling blessed for stealing land from the indigenous inhabitants, brought stolen people over from Africa and forced them to provide free labor to build their colony and work the farms to provide with food. Today, some of their descendants look back at those “good old days” and say things like “We want OUR country back”, the country they feel that they have worked so hard to build. This is the attitude I see among many of the privileged class, who feel “entitled” due to the hard work of their ancestors, hard work like genocide and slavery… Even some of the more enlightened acknowledge the dark past, but are not feeling any need to correct the situation. It’s like they are telling you “I realize that I am rich and you are poor because my grandfather stole your grandfather’s wallet. I do apologize for that, but I’m keeping the money and will continue to delude myself that you are poor because you are lazy.”

April 23rd

On this day, April 23, in the year 1791, Future President James Buchanan was born in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania. Buchanan, who was the son of wealthy immigrants, became a lawyer and entered politics. He is remembered today for corruption and his support of slavery. His efforts to maintain the status quo of the rich by attempting to prevent both the Congress and the Supreme Court from outlawing slavery, creating an expansionist foreign policy, mishandling an economic depression, and passivity toward corruption and threat of secession show him to have been inept and completely out of touch with the great majority of Americans. History has a great tendency to repeat itself… If you don’t want a country where the policies and laws are shaped to benefit the wealthy, where the rich are the only ones whose voices are heard, a plutocracy where those who are considered middle-class or poor are viewed simply as fuel for the machine who bear the burden of paying the bulk of taxes and doing the bulk of the work… THEN STOP electing the rich to office!