Here’s one of those issues that we rarely ever heard discussed in this part of the United States. In fact, I’m not even sure how would it might come about that anyone would ever consider reading about the history of Hawaii and the people who lived there long before some guy named “Dole” was given the power to make decisions about their fate. In the event that you end up one day visiting those islands to walk their “pristine” beaches, this might be worth having in the back of your mind.
The cartoon is by Marty Two Bulls, Sr., a Native American cartoonist who is saying something rather instructive about the recent Senate apology–the official U.S. Apology–to American Indians. Thought it might be worth reflecting on it today–Columbus Day. It’s an odd day to celebrate and my guess is that most of us would feel extremely uncomfortable doing so if we took just a bit of time to reflect on the history and current life conditions of Native Americans in both the United States and elsewhere in the Americas.
But we don’t…because THAT would require us to rethink the official story by which we live and that allows us to get on with our lives day after day and not feel some kind of way about the blood and bones that are buried beneath the land that we now own and the structures we now call “home.” And by “we” I guess I mean those of us who do not claim ancestry to some indigenous people or culture.
Genocide. There’s that unfortunate word again. Alcoholism and addiction. Unemployment. Reservations. Suicide. Rape. Violent attacks. So the apology is just a first step???
Take a few minutes (probably 6-8 total) and read the document–the apology. Unless you are Native American, it’s coming from you, afterall, and so you probably ought to at least know what it says.
