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(2014
midterm assignment) Sample Student Midterm answers 2014 #1: Long Essay |
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Stephen Rodwell
3/4/2014
Which America do we teach?
Having taken American History, as a requirement to gaining a High School
Diploma, and having been taught the required lessons of, Christopher Columbus,
The Pilgrims, and the Native American Indians, I now feel that a great injustice
is being perpetrated upon our youth. There is little, if any mention of the
intertextuality between Columbus’s writings and those contained in the Book of
Genesis: The major Christian origin story. In his letters to Luis de Santangel,
finance minister to the King and Queen of Spain, who had supported Columbus's
voyage, Christopher described the West Indies very similar to the Garden of
Eden,” [mountains] most beautiful, of a thousand varied forms, accessible, and
full of trees of endless varieties, so high that they seem to touch the sky, and
I have been told that they never lose their foliage. I saw them as green and
lovely as trees are in Spain in the month of May. Some of them were covered with
blossoms, some with fruit …” (CC, 1.3). High School students today are taught
mostly about the Europeans, and their having settled the New World, but what
about the people who were here when the Pilgrims arrived: Which America do we
teach?
In America, we are taught that Christopher Columbus discovered the New World,
and that the Pilgrims sailed to America on the Mayflower. This is the Origin
story of our great nation; however, there are other origin stories taught in
America i.e. the story of how the world began, and how man was created. This
other origin story is religious, and it is the story most commonly taught to all
Christians, and can be found in the book of Genesis. The Native American Indians
have many origin stories, some of their stories resemble the Book of Genesis,
and some have different variations. “The Iroquois, for example, speak of a man
and a woman creator, a turtle that carries the world on its back, and animals
that are seen as benevolent creatures that come to the aid of man. The story
also speaks of two brothers that constantly rival each other as one is good and
the other bad, much like the story we know of Cain and Abel. Many other Native
American tribes have origin stories of their own” (L. Weatherly). Again the
question remains, which story do we teach? Does it depend where we grew up, or
does it depend where our ancestors came from? Chances are that it really depends
on who your ancestors are, and where you grew up i.e. if you grew up on an
Indian reservation you most certainly were taught the origin story of your
tribe, and if you grew up in any-town U.S.A. you were most likely taught the
Biblical version. So why does the Christian version always trump the Native
American version? Why does the dominant culture, expunge the other stories?
As we read through Christopher Columbus’s letters, to the King and Queen of
Spain, I noticed that he seemed to be exuding a macho, narcissistic personality
as he travels around claiming the various islands of the West Indies:
“I write this to tell you how in thirty-three days I sailed to the Indies with
the fleet that the illustrious King and Queen, our Sovereigns, gave me, where I
discovered a great many islands, inhabited by numberless people; and of all I
have taken possession for their Highnesses by proclamation and display of the
Royal Standard without opposition. To the first island I discovered I gave the
name of San Salvador, in commemoration of His Divine Majesty, who has
wonderfully granted all this. The Indians call it Guanaham. The second I named
the Island of Santa Maria de Concepcion; the third, Fernandina; the fourth,
Isabella; the fifth, Juana; and thus to each one I gave a new name” (CC, 1.1).
With little consideration for the island inhabitants, Christopher is compelled
to claim the islands for Spain. This Idea of “claiming” the territory,
regardless of those who live there, is reminiscent of the verity, that some
Christians feel, that their religion is the one and only true religion. I, for
one do not believe that there is only one way to do something, and I do not
believe that there is only one true religion. If this were so then all choices
would be removed and, I would not be in college, and I would not be studying the
Quran in my college courses. When Christopher was “claiming” the islands he was
not respecting the faith of the islanders, and in essence he was beginning the
eradication, of the Indigenous people’s Origin story.
The American Indians, on the other hand, have a very different story of how
Columbus discovered America. In the beginning of, Handsome Lake, the story
remains much the same, pertaining to how Columbus came to America, “Then did
Columbus secure some big canoes and raise up wings [sails] and he sailed away.
He sailed many days and his warriors became angry and cried that the chief who
led them was a deceiver. They planned to behead him but he heard of the plan and
promised that on the next day he would discover the new country. The next
morning came and then did Columbus discover America. Then the boats turned back
and reported their find to the whole world. Then did great ships come, a good
many. Then did they bring many bundles of the five things and spread the gifts
to all the men of the great earth island” (HL, p8). Instead of concentrating on
what should have been the blending of the two cultures together [syncretism],
the story illustrates how the white man destroys the Native American people with
their introduction of sickness, and immoral behavior. During the Dark Ages, when
the tribes of Europe began to unify, and Christianity tried to eradicate the
paganistic beliefs from the people of Europe, and in doing so people were
tortured for worshiping their way. Still today, we have reminders of this
European Pagan Culture, for example we have Christmas trees, and
Jack-o-Lanterns, both an example of Christianity’s failed attempt to control a
people’s belief. This attempt to merge cultures failed, then Columbus’s attempt
failed, as did many other attempts in America, so when do we stop trying to
force our way onto people, and which America do we teach?
On, July 4th, 1776, the day the Colonies declared their independence from
Britain, they too began their own origin story with the Declaration of
Independence, and Contained within that wonderfully crafted document are these
words:
” We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. —that to secure these
rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from
the consent of the governed.”
Today there are many cultures that exist in America, and one of these cultures
is the American Indian who, by the hand of the white man has suffered
Brobdingnagian hardships. Many of the hardships, if not most, are due to the
dominant culture practicing eminent domain. Time and time again, the American
Indian has been forced from their lands to another part of our country, and
placed on a reservation. The Native Americans are now treated as a minority in
their own land, and even their origin story has been suppressed from public
education. Isn’t it time we teach the whole story of how America was discovered
and formed, or do we continue to hide from our past? Which America do we teach?
