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HONORING GENOCIDE May 11, 2007 Susan Bates

Recently the Queen of England came to America to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. I watched while Americans waved flags and fawned over this old woman who spoke proudly of the great events that followed the arrival of the Jamestown colonists. I even saw some descendants of the Original People dance in her honor, I don't think it occurred to many in the crowd that they were also celebrating the continuing genocide of millions of People, the Original Caretakers of Turtle Island. The white man thought of the land in terms of great profits just waiting to be made, Our People saw the Earth as their Mother who had sustained them and sheltered them since the beginning of time. The colonists were escaping from a dismal world where poverty, disease and greedy land lords kept the majority of people hopelessly trapped. On this side of the ocean, we had no homeless orphans or starving people unless a drought or harsh winter made finding food difficult. We shared freely with those in need. We suffered no epidemics due to crowded filthy living conditions and polluted water. Our People were tender parents and our children were loved and taken good care of. We did not beat our children in the name of God to make them grow up to be God fearing. Our People love Creator. When the white men came, they brought their Bibles with them. They said this book would teach us about God. But we already knew God. He had given us our Creation stories and ceremonies that taught us how to live in balance. He taught us to take care of our women, children and elders. He gave us healing herbs and the knowledge of how to use them. We had no thought of owning land. The land belonged to all. But the white man's god told him he had a manifest destiny to own our land. In order to do this, the white man had to hate us and fear us so his conscience would allow him to exterminate us like rats. It took only 400 years to degrade this continent from a lush paradise to a ghostly shadow of what was. Our People tried to tell the Whites not to clear cut the trees. We said if you pollute your water and foul your nest, you will perish. If you kill all the buffalo, the deer and the fish, you will starve. They didn't listen. There was gold in the hills and they wanted it. In California Indian hunts were held after church on Sunday with bounties paid for every dead Indian turned in. We watched as they dug into Mother Earth to extract coal, uranium, plutonium and other minerals to make a few rich at the cost of untold human suffering. We watched as mountains were dozed down and high rises built to house the rich and not so rich. We built super highways, casinos, resorts, golf courses and Wal-Marts on top of the bodies of our slaughtered babies. Neon lights burn 24 hours a day so people can gather to enjoy the "good life." We've watched helplessly as alcohol, drugs, and moral decay have swept many of us away. And still the greed and ignorance continues. But now it's time to pay the piper. Maybe the Red Man was right after all. Yes, we should go solar. We should recycle more paper and plastic and eat organic veggies. If we all do our part, maybe the tornadoes and hurricanes will go away. If we cut harmful emissions, our leaders say we can reverse "Global Warming" and save the polar bears. But it is too little, and it is too late. We have gigantic appetites for durable consumer goods. We've been super sized. Sacrifice is what other people should do. Not us. We're Americans. We deserve the good life more than anyone else. God Save The Queen. <><><><><><<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> The white man told us to shut our eyes and pray. We did. And when we opened our eyes, we had the Bible and they had the land.

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