No one is innocent in the ongoing debate about who killed who, who discovered what and who stole what here in America. The traditions of Thanksgiving should not be dragged into the narrow-focused historical spin as were the civil war and Christopher Columbus. How about we respect history, whether we agree with it or not, understand it, and leave it for future generations to understand honestly and without partisan spin?
By Ray Hanania
Who knows who was here first when the north American continent formed? Based on my studies in Anthropology at Northern Illinois University, and politics at the University of Illinois at Circle, it was pretty clear the first people to settle North America were Neanderthals who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago.
The Neanderthals were wiped out, massacred, by Homo Sapiens (our ancestors). Today, “Neanderthal” is a pejorative word, but because Neanderthals don’t really exist anymore, no one seems to care.
Neanderthals were followed by “Paleo-Indians” — Paleo, a Greek word meaning “ancient.” These ancient “Indian” or “aboriginal” peoples, including a group called the “Clovis” people, migrated from what we know as Africa and East Asia more than 25,000 years ago coming down from the north of the continent.
Now, you can be racist and condemn Neanderthals as not being “human” if you want, to justify their massacre at the hands of the Native Americans. But I think we must put aside the racism and be objective when addressing the question of who “discovered” America, and who did what to whom?
I mention this significantly condensed history because it puts into context claims made against Columbus and European settlers who arrived here from Europe in the 15th Century and established “Thanksgiving.”
When does the clock start ticking when it comes to race, ethnicity or religion?
Today, people argue the Europeans subjugated the most recent “Native Americans,” which is true. But of course, we know that Native American tribes subjugated those peoples who were here before them.
Violent native tribes spread across the Americas and massacred their rivals, men, women and children in bloodied conflicts.
We must recognize all this in order to also confront the false accusations of racism made regarding Christopher Columbus, who discovered, for the Europeans, North America during his voyage in 1492.
What is the difference? Columbus and the people who followed did a better job of documenting their travels and achievements than the many waves of conquerors who preceded Columbus.
More than a hundred years after Columbus, the London Company, which was tasked with “colonizing” the Americas, established a colony of pilgrims in 1607 led by explorer John Smith. It was called “The Old Dominion” and later renamed “Virginia.” They mingled with the Powhatan peoples who came before them at the banks of the James River. They called this settlement Jamestown.
About 13 years later, John Smith founded another colony called Plymouth, in an area he called “New England” (Massachusetts). The 102 settlers, including 40 Protestant Separatists (who opposed the Church of England), arrived in 1620 on a merchant ship called the Mayflower. They called themselves “Saints” but later became known as “Pilgrims.” (Today the “Saints” are a violent street gang.)
Although they were good at communications and documenting their exploits, they faced famine and disease and conflict in this new settlement. Colonist John Rolfe married Pocahontas, the daughter of an Algonquin chieftain.
Eventually, in 1621, the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag natives there shared an “autumn harvest” and feast. It was called “Thanksgiving,” a word that…
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